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Raise your hand if you are using a loop schedule this year.


rafiki
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Okay- well based on some of these new replies- I think I already do this to some extent...

 

Audrey- that was VERY helpful!!!! Thank you. I think I am understanding it more now.

 

Moms of many- why is this working so much better for you?

Thanks,

Rebecca

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Audrey- that was VERY helpful!!!! Thank you. I think I am understanding it more now.

 

Moms of many- why is this working so much better for you?

Thanks,

Rebecca

 

You're very welcome. :001_smile:

 

Is 4 considered "many"? :001_smile: I always found that my Ker was getting dropped off of the schedule. NOT GOOD! And we also dropped other things... mostly art appreciation and science. Now, we are getting it all done!

 

Mostly it helps me because my dh works odd hours and sometimes I'll have just enough time to squeeze something in. I feel a little more at ease with doing 1 subject if that's all I have time for.

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I appreciate the details...that helps a lot!

 

You are right though....It isn't that hard...just write down all the subjects you want to cover....and go in order, LOL!

 

Tammy

 

Oh, that's what we've been doing then. But what's the difference between that and block scheduling then?

 

Pardon me if my ignorance is showing ;)

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okay...

 

I've read all the links and such and am feeling really stupid...

 

Is it basicly:

 

-working for a set amount of time each day

-working with each child starting with the youngest first

-rather than doing everything every day - the goal is to get it all done by the end of the week, so you just pick up where you left off the day before

 

if so....

 

That's pretty much what I do.

 

Our "loop" would look like this

independent work for olders while I work with youngers >

youngers playing or completing whatever project I gave them while I work with each of the olders in whatever subjects they need assistance with > group activities (history, science, logic, or faith rotated each day) > back to top

 

For us, this works because I'm not constantly being pulled in a million directions, littles or olders aren't always left for last, and since we have an idea what needs done by the end of the week - there's less stress. I tend to look at my weekly work load, not my daily load, which keeps me from getting bogged down when we have a rough day in any given week.

 

We school mostly from 9 - 1. Mostly, sorta all year. (Breaks for births, puking, holidays and such.)

 

so am I a "looper" and didn't even know it?:confused::)

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I'm thinking that if I threw my stress & guilt out the window when we don't get all the designated subjects done on a certain day, we'd take an entire calander year to get it all done. I'm still stuck on having the bulk of the summer off, at least one and a half or 2 months. We pretty much stick to a traditional schedule, with holidays off (but not for weeks on end). Could looping work with that?

This sparks my interest because we end up doing school in the evenings and on weekends to make sure we finish up, and it's become very oppressive. Exactly the opposite of what I envisioned when I set out to homeschool.

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Our loop is going really well. The kids actually like to start different subjects at odd times instead of the same thing every day. That happens often when we have something in the afternoon and miss just one subject. They get bounced around often but still get in what is important to them, and they don't get in a rut.

 

Here is our loop.

 

http://konkadoo.blogspot.com/2008/09/loops-again.html

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Ok... I'm trying to get some sort of a plan for how this could work today. Yes, I'm starting late... it's 9:08am on Monday. :tongue_smilie:

 

What's tripping me up right now is how to schedule reading time. We are doing MFW Explorers to 1850 and there is a LOT of reading out loud. And with interruptions, it often takes us 60-90 minutes per day to get it all done. It's nuts! I'm not sure how we can spend that much time on that, plus get 3 hours of regular school done. Frankly, I'm getting tired of doing 5 hours of school every day. Should I do that based on a time limit too? Maybe read for 45 min. and just see how far I get? :confused: And I can't save reading time for after lunch, because that means it won't happen. We've always done best doing it first thing... it's just taking too long.

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How long do you designate for each subject per day?

Thanks,

Rebecca

 

I don't allot time for subjects. I allot # of lessons per subject, usually 1 per day. I'd rather get 1 lesson done excellent and fairly happily than spend any amount of time on mediocore work while battling attitude. NOT saying you're doing that type of work! Just saying for *my* kids they are more motivated by having a clear work expectation than a time limit. If I told them they had to work on something for a certain time, they'd drag or rush the work and gripe the entire time.

 

What's tripping me up right now is how to schedule reading time. We are doing MFW Explorers to 1850 and there is a LOT of reading out loud. And with interruptions, it often takes us 60-90 minutes per day to get it all done. It's nuts!

 

That IS nuts! My throat hurts just reading it!

I'd decide how many chapters or whatever I wanted read and go from there. Can you have them read more to themselves? Or maybe during lunch? Or have an older child read some of it to a younger child? That way you have time to work with one of the other children or whatever?

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Here's what I've figured out so far:

 

 

My oldest has his own loop:

 

Daily no matter what: Bible, piano, spelling, math

 

2 hours per day on Loop: logic, cursive, English, science reading, typing, history summary, science kit, Writing strands

 

 

 

Reading time fix: I'm going to read for 30 minute on MFW schedule, then perhaps another 15 minutes if things are going well. Then the next day I'll start reading wherever I left off the day before. So MFW will be it's own loop. :) I don't know how long it will take us to get through it all, but I can't spend longer than that reading out loud per day.

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  • 10 months later...

Well, after a lot of planning to work out the kinks, we're giving the loop a trial run, and we're all excited about it. Is there anyone else with a high school aged student who is using it?

 

In any case, our "loop" is complicated by the fact that my husband will be doing some of the "classes" as well this year for the first time, so our loop has morphed into a loop for me, a loop for my husband, and a loop for each of the children for their independent work. Furthermore, since he'll be on duty in the afternoon while I do medical transcription, the kids actually have a morning loop and an afternoon loop, and Friday is totally separate as well.

 

It sounds a little crazy and loses much of the simplicity of the loop, but it still retains the advantages of making sure that every subject gets attention and the little kids don't get lost. The subjects that the kids do on their own with mostly just checking on progress (like typing, handwriting, logic, poetry memorization, and Italian) are on their loops. The subjects that my husband or I guide (like Analytical Grammar, All About Spelling, Apologia Biology) are on our loops.

 

For this to work with 5 children, we've set up a sign-up sheet that they sign in for when they have questions so as not to interrupt someone else's lesson, and in between each lesson, the parent on duty will answer any questions needed.

 

Anyway, all of this is quite new to us, so we'll see how it goes. Anybody else out there who attempted a loop schedule and was happy or unhappy with it?

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  • 1 year later...

I wanted to bump this because I have been LOVING my loop schedule. I do it a bit differently though... I have a separate loop for each child because they are all doing different curriculum.

 

I just keep the documents open on my computer for each one to see what they each have to do next. I love not having a set amount to do each day, but we do all we can in the time we do have.

 

Here is a little example of one of my kid's schedule: (It actually has over 1,000 items on it, but i'll post the first 35 or so. I just delete the top one when it is done and work on the next. When I want to add more in I just add them throughout the schedule)

 

Darren Loop Schedule

Reading, Writing, Grammar, Math, History, Science, Latin, Spanish

 

 

  1. Life Science - Lesson: Topic Test
  2. Math Whizz – 30 Minutes
  3. Bible – Read 1 Chapter
  4. Writing – A Reason for Handwriting B (pg 33)
  5. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  6. MS Spanish 1 – Lesson 68, 69 & 70
  7. Aleks Math – Master 1 Topic (87 out of 282)
  8. Language Arts 7 - Lesson: Topic Test
  9. Math Whizz – 30 Minutes
  10. Discovery Streaming - Empires: The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization: The Golden Age (55)
  11. Prima Latina Lesson 1 – Part 1
  12. MS World History - Lesson: Persian Attacks on the Greeks
  13. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  14. Life Science - Lesson: Introduction to Plant Reproduction
  15. Aleks Math – Master 1 Topic (88 out of 282)
  16. Prima Latina Lesson 1 – Part 2
  17. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  18. MS Spanish 1 - Complete Lessons 71, 72 & 73
  19. Dreambox – 30 Minutes
  20. Language Arts 7 - Lesson: Communication: Responding to Literature
  21. MS World History - Lesson: The Age of Pericles
  22. Bible – Read 1 Chapter
  23. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  24. Prima Latina Lesson 1 – Part 3
  25. Aleks Math – Master 1 Topic (89 out of 282)
  26. Life Science - Lesson: Topic Test
  27. Language Arts 7 - Lesson: Grammar: Irregular Verbs
  28. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  29. Prima Latina Lesson 1 – Part 4
  30. Aleks Math – Master 1 Topic (90 out of 282)
  31. MS Spanish 1 - Complete Lessons 74, 75 & 76
  32. MS World History - Lesson: Topic Test
  33. Structured Literature Reading – 30 Minutes
  34. Life Science - Lesson: Cumulative Exam
  35. Prima Latina Lesson 1 – Part 5

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