Is this too rigorous?

[Melinda]

This is for a 4 year old (H) and a 5 year old (J) who thrive on structure...*LOTS* of hands-on activities and field trips, etc planned. Please tell me what you think.

 

So, my SIL (who is a public school teacher and has been for many years) was telling me that when she was in college, they were taught about the way education/school is approached in different parts of the world. In Japan for example, students attend school 6 days/wk, with only Sundays off. School time is very structured, but with lots of "wiggle breaks". The young children (not sure about older ones) work for only an hour at a time, with short exercise breaks (think recess or running for 10-15 min) between work sessions. Apparently, getting all that energy out keeps them more focused for the times they are required to sit still and listen.

 

Anyway, my whole point with this is that we will be using somewhat of a Japanese school schedule for now. Here is what our schedule looks like right now:

 

Monday

(J/H) Sentence/drawing page - 8:00-8:15

(H) Saxon K - 8:15-8:30

(J) Saxon 1 - 8:15-8:30

(J) MUS Primer - 8:30-8:45

(H)ETC - 4 pages per day - 8:30-9:00

(J)OPGTTR - 8:45-8:55

(J)Bob Books - 8:55-9:10

(H)***BREAK*** - 9:00-9:30

(J)***BREAK*** - 9:10-9:30

(J)ETC - 4 pages per day - 9:30-10:00

(H)OPGTTR - 9:30-9:40

(J/H) “Where do I live?†book and activities - 9:40-9:55

(J/H) Health, Nutrition, and PE for PK-K - 9:55-10:10

(J/H) Spanish lesson - 10:10-10:30

***Leave for riding lessons at 10:30***

Hannah horseback riding lessons 11:00-12:00

***LUNCH*** - 12:30-1:30

(J/H) Konos - 1:30-3:00

FHE (family) from 7:30-8:30

 

Tuesday

(J/H) Sentence/drawing page - 8:00-8:15

(H) Saxon K - 8:15-8:30

(J) Saxon 1 - 8:15-8:30

(J) MUS Primer - 8:30-8:45

(H)ETC - 4 pages per day - 8:30-9:00

(J)OPGTTR - 8:45-8:55

(J)Bob Books - 8:55-9:10

(H)***BREAK*** - 9:00-9:30

(J)***BREAK*** - 9:10-9:30

(J)ETC - 4 pages per day - 9:30-10:00

(H)OPGTTR - 9:30-9:40

(J/H) Atelier Art - 9:40-10:40

(J/H) Recorder Lessons - 10:40-11:00

(J/H***BREAK*** - 11:00-11:30

(J/H) Cooking - 11:30-12:30

***LUNCH*** - 12:30-1:30

(J/H) Konos - 1:30-3:00

 

Wednesday

(J/H) Sentence/drawing page - 8:00-8:15

(H) Saxon K - 8:15-8:30

(J) Saxon 1 - 8:15-8:30

(J) MUS Primer - 8:30-8:45

(H)ETC - 4 pages per day - 8:30-9:00

(J)OPGTTR - 8:45-8:55

(J)Bob Books - 8:55-9:10

(H)***BREAK*** - 9:00-9:30

(J)***BREAK*** - 9:10-9:30

(J)ETC - 4 pages per day - 9:30-10:00

(H)OPGTTR - 9:30-9:40

(J/H) Rod & Staff Bible stories - 9:40-10:00

(J/H)***BREAK*** - 10:00-10:45

***Leave for swimming at 10:45***

Hannah swimming lessons 11:30-12:00

***LUNCH*** - 12:30-1:30

(J/H) Konos - 1:30-3:00

 

Thursday

Co-op day every other week. Catch up/fun day on alternating weeks.

Hannah dance lessons 5:30-6:15

 

Friday

(J/H) Sentence/drawing page - 8:00-8:15

(H) Saxon K - 8:15-8:30

(J) Saxon 1 - 8:15-8:30

(J) MUS Primer - 8:30-8:45

(H)ETC - 4 pages per day - 8:30-9:00

(J)OPGTTR - 8:45-8:55

(J)Bob Books - 8:55-9:10

(H)***BREAK*** - 9:00-9:30

(J)***BREAK*** - 9:10-9:30

(J)ETC - 4 pages per day - 9:30-10:00

(H)OPGTTR - 9:30-9:40

(J/H) Draw*Write*Now - 9:40-10:00

(J/H) McRuffy K Science - 10:00-10:30

(J/H) Konos 10:30-12:00

***LUNCH*** - 12:00-1:00

***Leave for PE class at 1:00***

Jared Homeschool PE class 1:45-3:15

 

Saturday

Jared swimming lessons 12:00-12:30

120 min family Konos activities

[In The Great White North]

What strikes me about this schedule is that, even though they are "doing school" for an hour, they are frequently switching subjects after only 10 or 15 minutes. For example on Monday morning, between 8 and 9, they switch three times (sentence to Saxon to MUS to ETC/OPGTTR). All within one hour! They don't get to focus on one subject before they have to move to the next. It would drive me nuts.

 

My dc took more than 10 minutes for each transition!

[Jennefer@SSA]

It looks like you have chosen solid resources for your children but I agree that might be a bit more transition that most children that age are capable of dealing with. You are the mom and you know your children...but for my ds, that would blow his mind! ;)

[Carrie12345]

Maybe it's because my girls probably have ADHD. Maybe it's because *I* have ADHD. That schedule would make me bonkers, lol.

 

For us, it takes a few minutes to "get into" what we're doing, and it takes a a few more minutes to wrap up what we're doing. 15 minutes of math or 15 minutes of anything, really, would never let us accomplish anything.

 

Plus, with 15 minute switches, getting delayed for even 2 minutes between topics would have the entire schedule out of wack before even getting half way through the day.

 

I need to go take a nap after reading that. :lol:

[LNC]

Did you see the ages of her children? I think the short lessons are great for those ages :). I would probably choose just one math program and eliminate some of the handwriting (ETC might be overkill w/ Draw Write Now, OPGR and Bob books) though. Have fun!

[Carrie12345]

Did you see the ages of her children? I think it looks great for those ages :). I would probably choose just one math program and eliminate some of the handwriting (ETC might be overkill w/ Draw Write Now, OPGR and Bob books) though. Have fun!

 

Yup. They're almost exactly one year younger than each of my girls (Mine are 5/30/02 and 7/1/03).

It could just be us, but I know with 100% certainty that my kids would go bananas. One trip to the bathroom and it'd be all over.

[purplecow7]

I afterschool - not homeschool, but I do have 4.5 year old twins. My thoughts for what they are worth.

 

I like the schedule, but I would put more wiggle room in it as far as what you want to get accomplished in the end. Some days everything I have planned works and well other days nothing works.

 

The other thing is that I find my 4.5 year olds need alot of one on one time with me. I can't have one doing handwritting and the other one doing math. I am using signapore K for the twins and I find I get more done doing 5 minutes alone with one then 20 minutes together.

 

I do my reading and my math in 5-10 minutes and then off to play or use manipulatives. For me to help with the interuptions I set the timer and give each person their own time.

 

It sounds like a great plan. I would try it out and if does not work then try something else. I am a big planner - I find I work best with a plan and then adjust it as I need too.

[Paula in MS]

The only way you will know if it works is to try it. Try it for 2 weeks and see how it goes. If all goes well, keep going or tweak a little. If it is a disaster, do something different. This is how it works in homeschool land. Trial and error.

 

Paula

[Haiku]

Whew! I'm overwhelmed just reading that schedule! (Although I do tend to be easily overwhelmed.) There's a lot going on there ... I think that maybe you are trying to cram too much into too short a time. That's a Lot of transitions for little kids, and your schedule leaves no time for transitions or bathroom trips.

 

Were it me, I would either do fewer things overall or do some things fewer times per week but spend more time on them. Probably I would go with the "fewer things overall."

 

Oh, and I don't know how well your kids write, but I have a K boy who doesn't write well at all and one page of ETC 1 is all he can handle per day. I have a 1st-er who writes well but I only require two pages per day from her. Occasionally she asks to do more, and I let her, but I have noticed that her precision really starts to slip after three pages and, although she may enjoy doing it, she's not doing quality work by that point. Perhaps you want to re-evaluate how many ETC pages you're aiming for. We started school on June 30th. We took a one-week break last week while my 1st-er was at camp and we have had a few others days off, too. At two pages of ETC per day (plus a few random multi-page sessions) she will finish ETC 1 on Wednesday.

 

Tara

[lovemyboys]

This is for a 4 year old (H) and a 5 year old (J) who thrive on structure...*LOTS* of hands-on activities and field trips, etc planned. Please tell me what you think.

 

Saturday

Jared swimming lessons 12:00-12:30

120 min family Konos activities

 

Phew. My advice, since you asked all of us, is Try It.

 

You have at least a half-dozen outside activities and lessons scheduled, plus I imagine naps for one or more of the kids, you will be hopping. But you know your kids best.

 

My other advice would be to stay really flexible in your expectations. For instance some of the handwriting (4 pages of ETC every time) might be too much on some days as the lessons get harder. Or a new math concept might take more explanation. The precision and complexity of the schedule may be too much after a couple of weeks.

 

So, stay flexible if it's too much for all of you, particularly you, to manage things like sticking to the schedule, getting out the new material, preparing for the next lesson, filing the paperwork, and keeping up with life in general.

 

Don't be hard on yourself, or feel like a failure, or feel like you've got to keep up with any other family here or IRL.

 

Believe me, you don't want to end up becoming some harsh schoolmarm just to keep up with a schedule. I speak from experience. These are the years for doing handwriting in shaving cream on the table and counting with chocolate chips and doing sidewalk chalk problems and taking lots of fieldtrips. Before you know it, you'll be where many of us are, with lots tighter schedules and subjects.

 

just my .02, hope your first year is fantastic!

[Melinda]

Thanks for all of your opinions! I noticed when I was reading over it that I forgot to include Singapore for the 4 year old and that the 5 year old has a few late-morning things that are scheduled to happen at the same time -- I will have to fix that. It *is* an intense schedule, and I'm glad to have an array of opinions for feedback. I definitely tend to over-plan and have more activities than I have time to actually get done. That way, we are always striving to do better (hope that makes sense). This is way over what I find minimally acceptable and I agree with whoever said we need to be flexible. I will try to get all this done every day, but it is not the end of the world if I don't -- I also don't have a certain amount of work they have to get done in that amount of time except for ETC. Oh, and as for the writing in ETC, both kids really enjoy it. Thanks again!

[Confuzzled]

Wow!

 

When do they get to play?

 

And did I read it correctly that they both will be doing two math programs?

 

My daughter didn't do four ETC pages until she was eight!

 

Each of us is different (obviously) and our children have different needs so I suppose it's possible that this is a good idea for your family. I suppose it's also possible that I'm not rigorous enough!

 

To me it looks like a crazy, intense schedule for pre-k and k that leaves little room for them to just play and be kids.

 

Kris

[Testimony]

I was looking at the schedule. I can only give my opinion on what works best for me. When my sons were 4 and 5 years old, I allowed a lot more play time and a lot less work time. I think that your transition time is OK.

 

I would do my schedule more like this:

 

Reading to children

Math and games

Science

Crafts

games and physical education

Lunch time

End of day

 

I use to go to the park a lot at that age. I took them to local concert hall and would see symphony orchestras and ballets. I took them to museums like science and art ones. I did a lot of stuff more like that than sit down academics. This is what worked for me.

 

I just think that I would do less academics and more reading to them and field trips.

 

Blessings in your homeschool journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Rosy]

I would try it and see how it goes, but it would be WAY too much for my kids. Last year we did 45 min. max, we'd to 15 min. math, 15 min. phonics, and 15 min. misc...and we rarely even did that with DD5 (now 6). DD4 (5 tomorrow) would do workbook pages (numbers and handwriting) for as long as she was interested.

 

The key for me has always been motivation--when they're young, I don't want school to be a burden. Once they get to 1st grade, they need to be doing core subjects daily (or close to daily)...and I did push my son a little last year and eventually he grew to like math and phonics, but for me there's no reason to stress myself or them out with schoolwork when it isn't necessary. DD did a bit more at that age, but she loved it and worked mostly independently.

[Annie Laurie]

Wow!

 

When do they get to play?

 

And did I read it correctly that they both will be doing two math programs?

 

My daughter didn't do four ETC pages until she was eight!

 

Each of us is different (obviously) and our children have different needs so I suppose it's possible that this is a good idea for your family. I suppose it's also possible that I'm not rigorous enough!

 

To me it looks like a crazy, intense schedule for pre-k and k that leaves little room for them to just play and be kids.

 

Kris

 

ITA. I think most kids would end up burned out with a schedule like that, maybe mom too.

[Woodland_Mom]

Preschool and Kindergarten years are such sweet golden years. Allow your children PLENTY of time to play all through the day. At this age they are constantly learning and do not necessarily need worksheets in every subject to do so. IMHO, they need time to explore and create; time to be active and enjoy all that life has to offer. Lots of fun field trips, hands on activities and learning through play is good.

 

You know how you need to operate and what your children need, but you'll have plenty of years to come where you need to do worksheets, assignments and bookwork. Have fun learning now, do the worksheets later!

 

I agree with some of the other posters. It you could stick with one math per child and ditch most of the writing and/or ETC worksheets. Let them master reading and enjoy hearing read alouds. Read books of every kind together. That's where much of their "academic" work can take place aht this young age.

 

30 minute bursts may work well. Your kids can get their science and history from reading books and doing activities and experiments with you. My kids are 6 and 8. My biggest piece of advice is to just enjoy your children and enjoy learning alongside them. It looks like you have some great ideas and plans. Once you begin your schooling, you'll get a sense of what seems to fit and what seems to be "too much."

 

When my oldest was 4 I was very excieted and eager to "do school" as well. I restrained myself, mostly because of some advise that I had received from seasoned homeschoolers. Looking back, I'm VERY glad I did! We had so much fun and my kids still learned lots more than the "regular" school kids. Good luck!

 

Best wishes,

Angela

[Haiku]

I know I already had my say but I'm going to chime in again to agree with others that multiple math and reading/phonics programs are overkill and will likely be confusing to your kids. I'd pick one program and go with it.

 

My K son uses ETC and a book called The Reading Lesson. My 1st-er daughter uses ETC and a variety of readers. Both are progressing very well on a simple regimen.

 

Tara

[Chris in VA]

Yes, I'd just pick one math and one phonics curriculum. Adding MUS, Singapore and Saxon all together = overkill, for that age esp.

 

It's so hard if you are a lover of curricula and planning, like me (like you seem to be!), to pick just one thing, when it seems great and necessary to cover all the bases.

 

Relax. My mantra has become, "Small things, over time, add up." Or something like that.

 

Play alot, Read alot, give their fine motor and gross motor skills a good chance to develop before requiring so much writing, and truly, enjoy those littles.

[LanaTron]

Nicely said, lovemyboys!

[8filltheheart]

Since you asked if it is too rigorous, my simple answer is yes.

[siloam]

Really when I had a 5yo, 3yo, 2yo and not even 1yo I...well first I took a year off when my youngest was born, but restarted when my oldest was 5.75. We did SL Core K, with LA K, Pre-ETC, Singapore Early Bird (all 4), Sonlight Science and some critical thinking books. Anyway the whole thing only took 1.5 hours in the morning and we were done for the day.

 

The next year I had a 6yo, 4yo (almost 5), 3yo and 1yo. We did SL Core 1, Science 1, LA 1, Mystery of History 1, ETC, Singapore/Miquon, Singapore Early Bird and SL LA K. Even all that only took about 2 hours total.

 

Yes I do think it seems to be a little much. If I were in your shoes I would do everything in the morning, and give them the afternoons free to play.

 

Heather

 

p.s. My oldest dd's 3rd grade CAT 5 scores were outstanding. (I don't test every year.)

 

[sagira]

I haven't read all the rest of the posts, but I think what you're trying to do is Charlotte Mason -- shorter lessons that slowly add up to longer lessons in the later grades. I'm going to be doing the same thing, only with one child. This way it will keep him interested and his mind fresh for each new subject.

[KrissiK]

I'm a newbie here, but I'm hsing my 2 boys ages 4 and 5, both in kindergarten and we're basically doing phonics and math each morning for about 45 minutes total. We include some social studies or science as well, we sing and before nap time is our Bible/ read aloud time. For this age, it works quite well and it's all they'd really be able to handle. I really believe young children learn as much from their play as they do a structured school setting. And I must admit, I was so excited about hsing. I'd been going through the catalogs for years, planning everything to the last degree, but I think what we're doing now works for us and is what they need at this age.

[bkpan]

I haven't read all the rest of the posts, but I think what you're trying to do is Charlotte Mason -- shorter lessons that slowly add up to longer lessons in the later grades. I'm going to be doing the same thing, only with one child. This way it will keep him interested and his mind fresh for each new subject.

 

Yes, it does sound similar, but CM didn't encourage ANY academics until at least 6yo. My vote is that the schedule is too intense and rigorous for little ones. Enjoy those little ones - the ground you would attempt to cover now, could be covered in 1/3 of the time in a couple of years. HTH

 

Kim

[Melinda]

Sounds like I should re-work the plan. Thanks for all the honest opinions :)

[8filltheheart]

I didn't elaborate under my OP b/c I wasn't sure if you were open to other ideas. However, since you are, you might want to spend some time reading about research on cognitive development. Research proves that dramatic/imaginative play actually develops higher level cognitive skills than academics in young children. Until about age 7 (the average age of mental developmental shift), playing will promote higher executive functions and higher analytical skills than structured academic work.

 

HTH

[Melinda]

I didn't elaborate under my OP b/c I wasn't sure if you were open to other ideas. However, since you are, you might want to spend some time reading about research on cognitive development. Research proves that dramatic/imaginative play actually develops higher level cognitive skills than academics in young children. Until about age 7 (the average age of mental developmental shift), playing will promote higher executive functions and higher analytical skills than structured academic work.

 

HTH

 

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

[Ummto4]

It's too much for a little girl and a little boy.

Just pick one math and one phonics program, and if you want to add more content, add literature based unit studies like homeschoolshare.com, or five in a row (or even before five in a row). They're v. suitable for this age and v. flexible. You can even do those things orally.

 

Or forget about the 'content' subjects altogether . Use the K and Pre-K time to introduce your children to the beauties of literatures. Get a list of that in Ambleside oNline or HOney for the child's heart books. Science can also be through stories, nature walk, weather journal and field trips. So does social studies.

 

And give plenty of time to play. My boy and girl love to act out of the literatures I read to them.

 

So the schedule can be like this:

- 20 mins phonics.

- 20 mins math (or more, if it's a hands on program like what we use (Right Start)).

- 30 mins read aloud, including discussing the book (if you want).

- *optional*: handwriting. MAy be like 10 mins.

 

Then you can schedule few days of the weeks for: art, craft, cooking, Spanish, nature walk, gardening, field trips, swimming and things like that.

Little children thrive on play and hands on stuff.

 

Even with the above schedule, you may want to lighten this up a bit for your 4 year old. Four year old is very young. Even my advanced daughter cannot do phonics and math consistently, for more than 5 mins each. SHe thrives on read aloud though. And she loves drawing and writing on her doodle. And of course play.

 

I think a five year old can handle slightly longer phonics and math lesson. But don't be surprised if your four year old cannot do that/

[lovemyboys]

I didn't elaborate under my OP b/c I wasn't sure if you were open to other ideas. However, since you are, you might want to spend some time reading about research on cognitive development. Research proves that dramatic/imaginative play actually develops higher level cognitive skills than academics in young children. Until about age 7 (the average age of mental developmental shift), playing will promote higher executive functions and higher analytical skills than structured academic work.

 

HTH

 

Great point! We've found here that forcing academics, especially with boys before they're reading and writing easily, is just an exercise in frustration. Fortunately for us, I quickly realized that 1st ds was not a workbook-kinda kid, so I backed off, regrouped and came at the whole thing from a much different angle.

 

What's been interesting is to see the fruits of that early play in so many aspects of how they approach things now. (Is there any grammar in that?) I'm a firm believer in really taking it easy until 2nd grade or so, depending on the child. The amazing thing is that they learn things easily and well when it's not forced, and they're still ahead of the game.

 

After all, we're developing lifelong learners here, right? You'll do a great job, Melinda, stay flexible and make it enjoyable for all of you.

[arcara]

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

 

I know where you're coming from :) My kids at those ages loved doing 'school work,' so I think it's ok to get them some ETC books and a fun math intro curriculum. But, I really think an hour max should be enough. They shouldn't require constant attention and structure from you. They may be coming to you asking for something to do, but I think it's important to make kids entertain themselves. I think self-entertainment is an important skill for kids to learn. They learn so much when they learn to do this! One may learn that he loves to draw. One may learn lots about bugs while following them around outside. One even learn to read flipping through books over and over, day after day, on his own! Who knows!!!

[lovemyboys]

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

 

Have you started yet?

 

What I found was that 2nd ds here really wanted to *do* school until I asked him to do more than one ETC page or he had to do more than one math problem, out of a page with 3 or 4.

 

Turns out he wasn't as interested as he thought he was. So, I had him do different things. After ds1 was done with his pattern blocks, ds2 got to make whatever patterns he wanted to and we talked about the shapes casually as he used them. He got to measure everything in the room with a tape measure. He built with k-nex and legos and toys. He played for hours with all the instruments around the room.

 

So, by the time we hit Saxon 1, we breezed through lessons because he knew what a trapezoid was, he understood standard and nonstandard measures, etc. That doesn't even begin to cover the creative attitude that ds here bring to things which I'm convinced comes from so much imaginative play.

 

If they're keen on starting with *school* worksheets and things like that, go ahead. Just be ready to put the work away and let them learn in more unconventional, less concrete ways, if they're letting you know they don't want to do it anymore. At that age, they just may not be ready for a yearlong traditional school, I think that's what others are trying to say here about the curriculum.

 

For me, I didn't like looking at workbooks and those summer bridge books and seeing them half-finished. Until I realized that they knew all the material there. Then I didn't mind putting them away or tossing them, as is.

 

Most of all, be kind to yourself, this is a long journey, if you choose to homeschool through highschool or even just through gradeschool. You don't want to burn out at the start. Don't compare yourself to others, here or elsewhere, you'll do what works for your family best. The *older,wiser* folks here have helped me alot too.

 

hth

[EKS]

I know that *I* would go nuts after the first day trying to implement something like that. With that age, what I did (granted it was just with *one* child) was have a plan for what I wanted to finish each day and a general order for how things were done. My son then chose what movement/break things he wanted to do between subjects. But we didn't go by the clock for how long we did each subject. We either did things until they were done or until I started to lose him.

[ahousefullofjs]

The only way you will know if it works is to try it. Try it for 2 weeks and see how it goes. If all goes well, keep going or tweak a little. If it is a disaster, do something different. This is how it works in homeschool land. Trial and error.

 

:iagree:

[The Governess]

I agree, try it. You know your kids better than anyone else. You will be able to tell pretty quickly if they are thriving on your schedule or if you need to cut back. I say let them tell you how much is too much.

 

I have a four year old who also *loves* to do school. She asks me every day. We haven't even officially started our school year yet!! She can easily sit for an entire two hour stretch to do her Earlybird, ETC, and HWT workbook pages. I seriously have to cut her off. There have been days where we have done 15 math lessons in a row because she doesn't want to stop. My goal for her for this year is no more than one hour sitting at the table, and up to another hour doing other "school" activities - reading, being read to, art and science projects, games, etc. Then in addition to this, time outside each day. And of course, free play. Which my kids do all day long as long as the TV is turned off.

 

But how much time you can allot to each activity I think depends entirely on the personalities and interest levels of your kids. I think the most important thing at this age is to help your kids get excited about learning. If your kids think that school is fun, then you are doing a great job. And what is fun is different for every child. I think your schedule is a fine starting point, and it sounds like you are willing to adjust it as you go, which makes it even better.

 

Good luck!! I hope you have a wonderful year.

[Haiku]

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

 

My kids wanted to do "school work" too. At these ages, school work is what you say it is. If you do a page or two of ETC, 20 minutes of math, and read a "history" or a "science" book to them, that can be school and you'll be done in less than an hour. They don't need hours and hours of work to be "doing school." Our "school day" is 3 hours long, but that includes 45 minutes of me reading aloud to them and a 15-minute snack break as well as some sort of a hands-on activity each day.

 

I agree with the above poster who said that if your kids are constantly coming to you asking for things to do, that's a different issue than them wanting/needing school work. My kids really enjoy the school work we do, and when it's over, it's over. I don't use schoolwork to keep them occupied.

 

Learning to occupy themselves is a skill that all kids need to learn. Some 4/5 year olds have the skill, some don't, but it's certainly something you can help them develop, and keeping them constantly busy doesn't help with that.

 

Another thing that I have noticed with my kids is that when we are very busy outside the house, they are more restless and "bored" when we are home. When we do less outside the house and spend more time just being home, they find a lot more to do to keep themselves busy.

 

Also, while I think it's a good idea to schedule frequent breaks to work off some energy, I don't think that should be counted as "play time." 20 or 30 minute breaks punctuating schoolwork doesn't give kids enough time to really sink into their play. It's a diversion, not a play time (at least, imho).

 

Tara

[teamturner]

I'm going to go way out on a limb here and suggest that using an educational model from Japan is not a good idea when you're talking about such young children. Japan as a whole is a workaholic society. I think it trickles down to their children as well. They really push their children to be successful. I spent some time there working when I was a career gal and the workaholic mentality was amazing and very sad.

 

Your schedule and number of subjects/materials looks like a lot to me. I agree with others who have said to pick one source for each subject. When my kids were PreK we did Five in a Row and lots of mommy reading time. When they advanced to K, I added Phonics Pathways, MUS primer, and A Reason for Handwriting K. I didn't to ETC until 1st grade. If you want them to work on fine motor skills then just let them cut lines on paper. Oh, my PreK dd did Rod & Staff preschool workbooks while I worked with her older brothers who were K'ers then.

 

Blessings,

[8filltheheart]

:iagree:

 

It becomes a matter of what is being provided for activity. "School" can be taking a box full of dress-ups, a simple suggestion, and having them create a play to perform. It can be turning the kitchen table into a cave or pirate ship or a secret passage.

 

None of my little children up to now have asked to do hours of workbooks. But, even if they had/did, I would not (have) let them. My POV is that until they are approaching high school, daily expectations are what I set, not them. That may sound obnoxious. I don't mean for it to. It is simply a matter of perspective. I know what is better for them than they do. (Or we would be having some serious daily diets of cookies and ice cream. :tongue_smilie: )

[angela in ohio]

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

 

This is how my dc always are. That's why it's good to read eveyone's answers, but then judge what is right for your own family. We are more "studious" than many families, and my dc are happier that way. My 5 yo ds would be so sad last year if we didn't "do his school" (about 2 hours of structured work.) Giving this to a child who loves it is totally different than forcing it on a child who doesn't. You can't truly understand one or the other unless you have that type of child, I think.

 

That said, I would just make a change to math. I would pick one math program, and only one level of it to teach them together. This way, you can really focus your energy on teaching it well, as well as adding in plenty of math literature and manipulatives.

 

Also, I assume the Konos has you reading aloud to them but if not, I would throw some of that in somewhere.

 

I always kept a whirlwind schedule when my dc were littler, and they look back fondly on it. We loved going to all of the activities together. Having so many great experiences young really set the stage for learning later.

[Nakia]

Hi Melinda! It looks like you've chosen some great curriculum, just too much of it. For my children (and me!!) it would be way too much. But I do tend to lean towards starting formal school later. I still do K with my kids like it was done when I was in school--learn to tie your shoes, learn to recognize and write your abc's and the sounds they make, learn to add a little, play, and nap. :D

 

But, that said, you definitely know your babies best. You will make the right decision! Have fun!

[chaik76]

Just wanted to pop in and say that we have always used two to three math curricula concurrently. All of them come from different points of view. We willingly and readily skip lessons that ds7 knows very well and doesn't need to repeat, but I love the flexibility of doing more than one math at a time. If he doesn't understand the concept in one book, he's sure to in another.

Currently we do Singapore Math (using a HOD schedule) and one lesson of Saxon per day. Singapore has always been our "spine", for our second (and sometimes third) math we've used Saxon, MCP, T4L, and Developmental Math. We've honestly loved it.

[teamturner]

I totally agree with that, but what if they *want* to do school work?

 

Find some fun preschool workbooks (like Rod and Staff preschool or Kumon) that are just coloring, tracing letters/numbers, cutting and pasting things. When they get enough of that they will go and play. Keep educational toys around like pattern blocks, play money, sorting shapes, lacing toys, puzzles, etc.

[Terabith]

It sounds a bit structured to me, just because we don't do well with days structured to minutes. We have a sort of "flow" to the day, but not a schedule per se.

 

My kids are 4.5 and 3. My three yr old is going to preschool 2 days a week. (She needs some time away from her big sister, so she can play somewhere where she is not the little one and always being bossed.) I also work three mornings a week. They stay with Grandma during those days, though one of those mornings Catherine is at preschool, and on Fridays they both go to Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

 

We have a number of outside activities during the week. On Monday afternoons, they both have Musikgarten classes (one after the other); on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings my older one has swim lessons; on Wednesday they both have gymnastics class. (Well, it's My Gym. Sorta gymnastics.) They have church activities on Sunday and Wed night, and Cathechesis of the Good Shepherd Friday mornings. Anna goes to library story hour on Thursday mornings while I'm working and Catherine is at preschool. Anna also does ballet and varioius parent/ child introductory sports from parks dept (soccer, basketball, softball) on Saturday mornings.

 

In terms of homeschooling, I set up several different documents. Five times a week, we have academics. Anna does a reading lesson. (Currently Headsprout; when we finish we'll do the blending/ segmenting supplement from ABeCeDarian and the I See Sam readers. May throw in other easy books or Dancing Bears from Promethean Trust.) She is working through Handwriting without Tears Pre-K. (If we finish, we'll move into the K program.) We're working through the Singapore EarlyBird math workbooks. I expect we'll be done with all four of them by Christmas, tho if we don't, it's no biggie. I plan to start Right Start A after Christmas. Anna also does thinkng skills as part of her academics: Developing the Early Learner, Primary Thinking Skills, and Visual Perceptual Skill Building. Catherine is doing the Core Knowledge Preschool program. I may look into some Kumon or Rod and Staff workbooks to have lying around, but I don't know.

 

Also, five days a week we do read alouds for about an hour or so: Sonlight 4/5 prek program, Five in a Row, and a LOT of other books. I have various science and social studies units where we pick a subject and then read a ton of books about that topic.

 

Three days a week, I dig out the Mary Ann Kohl's Preschool Art and we do crafts and art experiences. (Is Atlier or Draw Write Now worth it for this age group?) Also, three days a week we do centers (Montessori practical life, play board games, do puzzles, and do a learning center activity: one oriented to Anna and one to Catherine.) Three days a week we have a circle, where we talk about the calendar, work on memory work, review basic skills, sing songs, recite nursery rhymes, go over phonograms and phonemic awareness, and do some motor skills.

 

They play a lot, outside and inside, and run around the block with dad a good bit.

 

It feels like we do a lot, but I don't have specific times for any of our activities. Sort of when the play stalls and the kids start whining, I'll suggest we do some schoolwork. I really feel like play is the priority.

[Tess in the Burbs]

it's too much. why double math? both are good programs on their own. no need at this age to have double math! at this age you can't do too much(ask me how I know!). they will burn out. read, write, math. focus on that and then add in other subjects later. seriously, when the old timers say to lighten up they know what they are talking about! we have accelerated kids and both did K at age 4...but it was the basics. we added science last year when oldest was 5.5. this year will add history....and we had to take a long break last spring due to meltdown in the math dept just doing one program.

 

seriously, enjoy them. do the 3 R's and lots of field trips. maybe ONE sport and ONE other activity. enjoy them!!!!

 

mine are now 6.5 and 5 and I took the slow down advice last year after pushing too hard when 4....sure yours might ask/enjoy school but don't make it this hard. maybe an hour a day for K. add subjects each year. there is no rush. you really want to send them to college at 14?