Reassure me

[DragonFaerie]

...that taking days off from school is not the end of the world.  *sigh*  It just feels like we're not getting anything done because we're missing so many days.  In February, we worked the first week just fine. Then we missed the second week due to all the snow (a fairly rare thing here in GA; I let my kids go out and play in the snow all week).  The third week was fine.  Then my grown DSS came to visit, so we took off the last week in Feb.  Then we got a full week the first week in March but lost two days of the second week due to a doctor's appointment and shopping for and buying a car.  Last week was good, but now we're dragging and taking today off.  *sigh*  I'm being a slacker, but I'm having a hard time caring.  *sigh*  We're only about 6 days behind the public school calendar, and we will do "homeschool lite" over the summer, but still I worry.  And yet, here I am on the boards while both my kids are still in bed (at almost 10 a.m.).  No biggie, right?  They can still get to college?  :001_unsure:

[JustEm]

Not a big deal at all. Just plan to school into the summer a bit. We took a week off 2 weeks ago because we all got sick. I spent the next week cataching up and just planned to continue till we finish our math book. Well as this week we had to take of again because we all got sick again. Not a bit deal, just means another week towards the end of the school year. Or just slowly catching up during the summer

[Danielle1746]

I don't really have any answers for you, but I wanted to reply just to let you know you are not alone.  If I didn't know better, I would swear you were talking about my kids and me.  I'm looking forward to hearing others' suggestions for you (us!).  Thanks for posting.

[Meriwether]

Only 6 days behind? You should be fine. We won't finish until the end of June.

We took an unexpected two week trip in February and lost a week in March to another unexpected trip. We lost a week in December due to morning sickness. We are just now finishing week 23. After next week, though, we will finish up one subject. We will finish one or two subjects every two or three weeks after that. We can either snowball some subjects and finish sooner or have 2 or 3 subjects for the last month. Either way, we've covered more than 2/3 of our work even though we are only 2/3 of the way through the school year.

We do math 2-3 times/week all summer. We need to spend time doing Latin this summer, too. When we have finished most subjects we will add science to our days, since we did poorly with that this year.

[regentrude]

Relax.

Kids learn all the time, not just on "school days".

Before high school, I would not worry one little bit about being a few days "behind" . In fact, since I was not using any scripted curriculum at that age, it would have been impossible to say what "behind" is supposed to mean.

And there is always summer. Reading will happen, field trips will happen, nature studies will happen, PE will happen - you have to spend the time doing something, right?

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks, y'all.  This was week 25 for us, but at this rate, we won't finish full days until the end of June sometime.  I really don't want to do that.  But, I'm hoping we'll at least be far enough along by the end of May that we can just alternate whatever's left and cut back to half days or less by June.  DD is in 7th and DS is in 5th, so no high school yet.  I just hate feeling so slack.  But, maybe the day off is warranted.  It's chilly and rainy out.  DD just woke up an hour again.  DS is still sleeping (so very unlike him; he's my early bird).  I don't think I could get anything done if I tried.

[regentrude]

What is a "full day" in your home school? At that age, I required my kids to do 4 hours of academic work per day. They certainly don't get that much actual time on task in ps.

[DragonFaerie]

What is a "full day" in your home school? At that age, I required my kids to do 4 hours of academic work per day. They certainly don't get that much actual time on task in ps.

 

For DD, it's 4-4.5 hours of academic work and 2 hours of her music study (clarinet, piano, theory, history).  For DS, he has a list of assignments to complete.  He could get it finished in 3-4 hours, but he's the king of procrastination so school can easily take until bedtime for him. :glare:

[OneStepAtATime]

Don't stress.  You will be fine.  Especially if you are doing some light schooling during the summer.  :)

 

I don't know if this would help, but this year I looked at all the things we were trying to accomplish, what date I was hoping we'd be able to take an extended break for summer day camps the kids want to attend, then worked backwards on a calendar plotting out the year and writing down goals for the month and week (real quick notes, not detailed lesson plans/lists but still specific to each subject).  I started structuring things so that we do normal school stuff M-Th, then Fridays are light days, with educational games, review in a fun way, field trips, etc.  I can switch that Friday to mid-week or whenever but we already have that day built in so I can schedule dr appts etc at that time.  I also have us on 6 week blocks, with one week off.  Or, with Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together, I used a 3 week on one week off 3 week on schedule at that time.  Knowing we have that week break built in to look forward to, and to have as our cushion to use for make-up work if illness/unexpected emergencies come up keep us from getting too stressed over not completing something when we plan to.  I have a hard time staying organized.  Having a clearly laid out overall plan for the year, that is easily tweakable, and has guaranteed breaks built in both weekly and by 6 week period is really quite a relief for us.  The kids also like seeing on the calendar that Fascinating Friday and our week long breaks are coming up (if we finish our goals-highly motivating for all of us).  And it only took one afternoon to lay it all out.  

 

Hugs and best wishes.  You will be fine.

[DragonFaerie]

Don't stress.  You will be fine.  Especially if you are doing some light schooling during the summer.   :)

 

I don't know if this would help, but this year I looked at all the things we were trying to accomplish, what date I was hoping we'd be able to take an extended break for summer day camps the kids want to attend, then worked backwards on a calendar plotting out the year and writing down goals for the month and week (real quick notes, not detailed lesson plans/lists but still specific to each subject).  I started structuring things so that we do normal school stuff M-Th, then Fridays are light days, with educational games, review in a fun way, field trips, etc.  I can switch that Friday to mid-week or whenever but we already have that day built in so I can schedule dr appts etc at that time.  I also have us on 6 week blocks, with one week off.  Or, with Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together, I used a 3 week on one week off 3 week on schedule at that time.  Knowing we have that week break built in to look forward to, and to have as our cushion to use for make-up work if illness/unexpected emergencies come up keep us from getting too stressed over not completing something when we plan to.  I have a hard time staying organized.  Having a clearly laid out overall plan for the year, that is easily tweakable, and has guaranteed breaks built in both weekly and by 6 week period is really quite a relief for us.  The kids also like seeing on the calendar that Fascinating Friday and our week long breaks are coming up (if we finish our goals-highly motivating for all of us).  And it only took one afternoon to lay it all out.  

 

Hugs and best wishes.  You will be fine.

 

Thank you.  I actually have our year planned out like this already.  That's how I know just how far behind we are. LOL..  I'm very, very organized, which is why I have such trouble going off-schedule like this.  I have finally learned how to not fret all the time, but it feels like it's too much time, now.  I appreciate the reassurances that it's not and all will be fine.
 

[kbutton]

Don't stress.  You will be fine.  Especially if you are doing some light schooling during the summer.   :)

 

I don't know if this would help, but this year I looked at all the things we were trying to accomplish, what date I was hoping we'd be able to take an extended break for summer day camps the kids want to attend, then worked backwards on a calendar plotting out the year and writing down goals for the month and week (real quick notes, not detailed lesson plans/lists but still specific to each subject).  I started structuring things so that we do normal school stuff M-Th, then Fridays are light days, with educational games, review in a fun way, field trips, etc.  I can switch that Friday to mid-week or whenever but we already have that day built in so I can schedule dr appts etc at that time.  I also have us on 6 week blocks, with one week off.  Or, with Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together, I used a 3 week on one week off 3 week on schedule at that time.  Knowing we have that week break built in to look forward to, and to have as our cushion to use for make-up work if illness/unexpected emergencies come up keep us from getting too stressed over not completing something when we plan to.  I have a hard time staying organized.  Having a clearly laid out overall plan for the year, that is easily tweakable, and has guaranteed breaks built in both weekly and by 6 week period is really quite a relief for us.  The kids also like seeing on the calendar that Fascinating Friday and our week long breaks are coming up (if we finish our goals-highly motivating for all of us).  And it only took one afternoon to lay it all out.  

 

Hugs and best wishes.  You will be fine.

 

Thanks for describing your approach.

 

[73349]

Sleeping later than usual is a clue that a child might be fighting off germs. Maybe the rest today will prevent missing next week with illness.

[DragonFaerie]

Sleeping later than usual is a clue that a child might be fighting off germs. Maybe the rest today will prevent missing next week with illness.

 

Maybe so.  It's also a sure sign of a growth spurt around here.

[Peaceful Isle]

We are all fighting sickness this week and my kiddos are sleeping in as well. Even the two year old! Now that is a miracle :)
It will be okay. Rest when you need to. You can catch up here and there during the summer.

[marmac]

When I pulled my kids out I went to Disneyland the first few weeks lol and then took 3 months to even get on track. I just look at it as public schools take off SO MUCH TIME. We don't even realize how much they actually take off. And you have like 7 or 8 years to teach them what you want them to learn. That's a LONG time. Don't hold yourself to your local public school schedule.

 

[boscopup]

6 days? Are you teaching your children, or are you teaching the curriculum?

[DragonFaerie]

6 days? Are you teaching your children, or are you teaching the curriculum?

 

I don't understand what you mean.  I use the public school calendar to help make sure that we're staying mostly on track with our number of school days (required by our state).

[texasmama]

Life has happened here, too, and my little dd has done very little besides piano practice, reading and independent written work for the past five weeks.  Some things will just fall off and not get done (WWE).  Others will extend into the summer (math, grammar).  I've quit my 25 hour a week job so I expect things to get on a better track.  Just trying to make you feel better, though. :)

[llifeon18wheels]

I'll be the oddball here because we school year-round. Last year, we started October 1st so I want to be done by Sept 30 this year. I've introduced 4 new subject/curriculum choices last month and so we are all messed up. My goal is to have all of them all wrap up at the same time but she'll get a week off in May, a week off in June and a week off in July for local classes.

We are truck drivers (see profile before) and the hotter weather doesn't mean we can spend it outside like if we were at home. Spring and fall are time consumers for us but we take about 8 weeks off total throughout the year.

[boscopup]

I don't understand what you mean. I use the public school calendar to help make sure that we're staying mostly on track with our number of school days (required by our state).

Out of 365 days of the year, surely you can find 6 days to match up with state requirements. So I'm still confused why you're worried.

You're OP sounded like you were concerned that your kids weren't learning enough because they had 6 days less instruction than public school kids.

My question was whether you are teaching your kids and focused on meeting certain goals for each kid, or if you are concerned with finishing x number of lessons of a curriculum.

Fwiw, we have a lot of slack off days around here, but I still usually have more days than the public schools, since we school through the summer. I tend to school when weather is too hot or too cold, and let them play on those really nice spring and fall days. :) I don't concern myself with whether we'll finish a particular curriculum at a particular time. We change levels in various subjects throughout the year.

[DragonFaerie]

Out of 365 days of the year, surely you can find 6 days to match up with state requirements. So I'm still confused why you're worried.

You're OP sounded like you were concerned that your kids weren't learning enough because they had 6 days less instruction than public school kids.

My question was whether you are teaching your kids and focused on meeting certain goals for each kid, or if you are concerned with finishing x number of lessons of a curriculum.

Fwiw, we have a lot of slack off days around here, but I still usually have more days than the public schools, since we school through the summer. I tend to school when weather is too hot or too cold, and let them play on those really nice spring and fall days. :) I don't concern myself with whether we'll finish a particular curriculum at a particular time. We change levels in various subjects throughout the year.

 

Ah, okay, I understand what you mean now.  Yeah, I tend to get a bit anal about finishing what we start.  Unless there's a particular reason to ditch a curriculum completely, I expect us to finish the whole book/workbook/lesson plan/whatever.  I can't stand the idea of not finishing something.  Maybe that's my real issue....

[VeteranMom]

My kids went to public school for the first few years of their schooling. Trust me, you aren't 6 days behind. The public schools are probably 2 weeks behind you when you factor in all the time they waste. I recall how painful it was just to watch the students line up to go to the restrooms or head to the library. I don't consider lining up and heading to the bathroom as educational hours. You and your kids are fine. How wonderful that they got to play in the snow- that's a memory.