A homeschooled day/week in the life for a teen

[quark]

I'm very interested to see how your teen spends his/ her day with high school studies, extra curriculars, social life and so on.

 

We are gearing up for more challenging days ahead in the fall and I am at a bit of a loss regarding how to add some variety to DS's routine and protect his free time as much as possible. He has always had a good amount of free time but the hours are gradually growing fewer now as he handles more challenging work and I am trying to gather ideas to see if I should be suggesting anything different or if this is to be his normal.

 

Would you indulge me with a snapshot of an average day or better still, a week? I know some days/ weeks are always crazier than others, just looking for what a more normal week might look like for your teen with regards to time spent on studies, especially with heavier writing and math assignments and how that balances with the following:

- social life

- hobbies/ interests/ entreprenuership

- health activities (gym, sports etc)

- if your teen has a very strong interest in one area, what do they do to fulfill that

- especially interested in how they might juggle days when they have dual-enrolled classes vs days when they don't.

 

And, if you think it all balances out, how exactly does it balance out?

[idnib]

:lurk5:

[clementine]

Our sophomore dd schools at home 3 days a week and has outside classes 2 days a week.  

 

Our 3 days at home start at 8am and go til about 2:30pm - with lunch & a little time for social media mixed in.  She does 3 subjects at home & homework for her outsourced courses on those 3 days.  She is very independent and self-motivated, so we don't struggle much with time management.  

 

Her outsourced classes go from 10:00 - 2:00 two days a week, 2 classes each day.   No other schooling happens on those days, unless she needs to catch up.  

 

Her sport is about 15 hours per week and youth group activites happen one evening per week.  

 

Her social time happens on the days when she takes outside classes and during her sport practice or church activities.  Other than that, it's mostly texting & other social media with friends or getting together on the weekends.  

[Luckymama]

This year 9th grade dd does four subjects with me and two outsourced, online classes. She dances ballet as her main extracurricular and social outlet. She also participates on a homeschool group Science Olympiad team. That season runs from November to March. She studies and practices for her events during the school day and on the weekends.

 

Mondays---no outside activities. We call it our mellow day. One subject flows into the next. We'll take a relaxed hour for lunch and whatever we feel like doing. We start about 9am after discussing the week ahead. Sometimes she'll end at 3, sometimes at 4, sometimes after dinner. I do leave for 45-90 minutes for the gym during the late morning.

 

Tuesdays---work from 9 until 3:30ish, with ballet from 5:30-7:30 (later at times for rehearsals).

 

Wednesdays---online Arabic class 11:30-1. I try to have her complete two subjects before class. She takes 30-45 minutes for lunch, then we put our heads down and work steadily until 4:30. Ballet is 6-8 (maybe later).

 

Thursdays---I go to the gym while she has her second Arabic class of the week. Thursdays are pretty much like Wednesdays. Ballet is 5:30-7 (maybe later). She may do some work after dinner if there is no rehearsal.

 

Fridays---work from 9 until 3 or 4. Ballet is 6:30-8.

 

Saturdays--ballet class 11-1, rehearsals anywhere from 1:30 or 2 until 4 or 5. Dd and her friends leave the studio for lunch (university town---many places to eat!). They also bring schoolwork for during the break. Dd will work on Arabic or do some coding for fun.

 

Sundays--some weeks she'll finish up her English work (the class week runs Monday to Sunday midnight), spending 30 minutes to 2 hours. English is her least favorite subject and tends to be "forgotten" ;)

 

During dd's free time, she likes to read, read fanfiction, text her best friend who lives across the country, code on her computer, watch travel videos, listen to music, etc.

 

Next year will be much more structured because she'll be taking Arabic at the university four mornings a week. We don't know yet which class she'll take, either 10am, 11am, or noon. She'll need to be more disciplined about starting work early in the morning! Dd is also considering adding another extracurricular with a 2 hour meeting a week, prep work to do at home, and a three-day event in March or April. September could be interesting ;)

[Melissa B]

Dd 17 sets her own schedule. She is responsible for certain chores and meals. She is sometimes responsible for watching her younger siblings. Otherwise, her time is basically her own.

 

Dd 15 (will be working through the end of July to finish classes)

 

Mornings:

 

8:15 - 9:15 Math (with me)

9:25 - 10:45 Acting (local school, includes travel time)

10:45 - 12:00 History / Literature (with me)

12:00 - 1:30 Lunch, chores, free time (usually goes over play scripts, walks, plays guitar, watches movies, or naps)

1:30 - ??? Science / English (both online classes) *Had psychology online, added English class after finishing psychology

 

Monday - schoolwork until 6:30, ballet 7:15 - 8:30

Tuesday - schoolwork until 6:30 or 7:00

Wednesday - theater tech 5:30 - 10:30

Thursday - downtown theater 4:30 - 6:30, run to high school for theater tech 6:30 - 10:30

Friday - voice lessons 2:00 - 2:30, theater tech 5:30 - 10:30

Saturday - sleep in, catch-up in online classes, theater tech 5:30 - 10:30

Sunday - sleep in, theater tech 12:30 - 5:00

 

When not doing theater tech at the high school, there is always set build every weekend at the local community theater.

And she is always in at least one play, often two or more. And there is ushering on the weekends, and jazz classes when we can fit them in.

And 4-H, and driver's ed, and....  It is always a balancing act. :)

[Ann.without.an.e]

DD sets her own schedule and it looks pretty much like this...

 

6:00 - she gets up and exercises, showers, etc

Usually starts school by 8 or 8:30.

She works until late afternoon/early evening but she often takes a break in the morning to read with the 6 year old (she loves time with him) and her chore is to clean the kitchen after lunch.  She tends to work slower than average because she is very detail oriented and a perfectionist.  One of her lab teachers jokes that her notes should be framed.  Her evenings are usually taken by youth group, babysitting jobs (routine, two days a week), etc.  She volunteers one afternoon a week at a local Boys and Girls Club and mentors younger girls one evening a week.  She loves art and creative writing but she doesn't get much time for that unless we are on a school break.  She reads a good bit.

Next year she will have DE three days a week so things will be a bit different.

[regentrude]

Typical week for DS:

Monday: School work 8-3:30 with long lunch break; afternoon with girl friend, 7-9 Judo

Tuesday+Thursday school work 8-3:30 with long lunch break; afternoon with girl friend, 7-9 TaeKwonDo

Wed school 8-12:30, lunch, job 2-5;  6-10pm friends over at our house for martial arts practice

Fri school 8-12:30; lunch, job 2-5; afternoon+evening with girlfriend

Sat morning Judo class or Judo events

Sunday relax, work out, spend time with girlfriend

 

We made the conscious decision to allow DS to work two afternoons a week; we feel the skills and habits he acquires there are more valuable for his development than having him cover an extra book for English or doing a handful more chemistry problems.

As you can see, my DS' all consuming interest are martial arts. In addition to his classes, he also works out independently.

His other interest is creative writing; this happens in the late evenings and on weekends.

 

DD's last year of high school:

9 credit hours dual of enrollment classes with lots of homework

5 hours of volunteer work as a physics tutor

4 hours of choir; weekly events for English Honors society, horse riding (less towards the end)

no idea how many hours of school at home; we no longer logged time, and she was in charge of her schedule

plenty of time to hang out with friends

 

In 9th grade, she spent 6 hours daily on school work and spent 20 hours/week at the stable.

[Jenny in Florida]

I no longer have a teen at home. However, an average week of my son's last year of high school included:

• Three dual enrollment classes (9 hours) at the community college.
• Two online high school courses through Florida Virtual School.
• Prepping independently for two CLEP exams.
• Three hours of choir rehearsals and performances.
• 12+ hours of dance classes and competition team rehearsals.
• Five hours of assistant teaching at the dance school.
• Two hours of volunteering at the science museum.
• Church/youth group activities.

Monday: Wake up around 8:30. Shower, have breakfast and spend an hour or so planning his week before leaving for class at the college. He would check his assignments for the online classes and syllabi for the DE classes and rough out what he would tackle each day. Because his MW class ran until 12:45, we often grabbed a snack or lunch in the cafeteria before heading home. Back at the house, he'd devote another couple of hours to schoolwork, whatever combination of online courses, DE homework and CLEP prep he chose that day. He'd have another snack and then go to choir rehearsal for two hours. While he was gone, I would pack dinner, which he would eat in the car while I drove him from choir to the dance school. His second class ended at about 9:15, and we were home by about 10:00. He often ate one more snack and relaxed with a bit of Netflix, then went to bed.

 

Tuesday: Wake up at 8:30. Shower and eat, then leave for the college. Attend class from 10:00 - 11:15. Home by 12:00 to grab lunch and squeeze in some schoolwork. Pack food to eat in between dance classes and assisting duties (and when I could talk him into it, also pack homework to work on during breaks). Finish at the dance school at 9:30-ish. Head home for a snack and relaxing before bed.

 

Wednesday: The morning began like Monday, but then instead of choir at 4:30, he was back at the dance school from 3:00 - 9:00, again packing snacks and (sometimes) homework for breaks. Home in time for a quick snack and some TV, Netflix or reading before bed.

 

Thursday: Shower, breakfast, class at the college from 10:00 - 11:15, then a nice long stretch with time for schoolwork and an early dinner at home before heading to the dance school in time for class at 6:00. He usually finished competition team rehearsal by 9:00 or 9:30, then home for a snack, relaxing and sleep.

 

Friday: A typical morning with shower, breakfast, etc., then off to the college for his once-a-week class.  After he made it home a little after 2:00, he would use as much time as necessary to finish up whatever schoolwork had to be done that week. He did have occasional extra dance rehearsals on Friday afternoons/evenings. And during the spring semester, he attended dance competitions or conventions about once a month, which sometimes began or required travelling on Fridays. If none of that was happening, he would sometimes go out with friends (or even with his parents). He joined my husband's role-playing gaming group that year, and they aim to get together every other Friday. 

 

Saturday: The specific schedule varied, but he did most of his museum volunteering on weekends that year, with occasional shifts weekdays for special events. So, once or twice a month, he worked at the museum for between two and four hours on either Saturday or Sunday. Also about once a month, he had an additional choir rehearsal for three hours on a Saturday morning. During the spring semester, he had conventions or competitions about one weekend a month. If none of that was on the agenda, he might take the opportunity to sleep (very) late and/or plan something with friends. 

 

Sunday: Sunday school and church most weeks, plus youth group one afternoon a month. When they could swing it, he and his church buddies hung out and socialized after church, sometimes moving on to a coffee shop or one teen's house. About once a month, he would have to skip going to his own church because the choir was singing for the service at the cathedral at which they were based or another church. We also had the family's season tickets for the Shakespeare theatre for Sundays, with a show about every six weeks. 

 

In general, his social life was rolled in with his other activities. Most of his friends were in choir, dance or at church, and he was able to see them regularly around and in between those scheduled activities. As is probably obvious from the number of hours he devoted to those activities, he has a strong interest in performing arts, which--luckily--also serves as exercise (dance). He pursued that interest by making it primary and fitting in everything else--including school--around it.

 

 

 

[TrixieB]

My high schooler said, "I do whatever I want whenever I feel like it and get everything done.  I never thought of myself as unschooled, but compared to the schedules here, I feel like it."

 

Hmm.  I think "whatever I want" is in regards to organizing her day, not literally whatever she wants to do (eat cookies?  watch YouTube videos for hours?).

 

Here is her schedule:

 

Monday: co-op classes; youth symphony in evening.

Tuesday: schoolwork, exercise, music practice. 

Wednesday: schoolwork, exercise, foreign language prep class, music practice.

Thursday: music lesson, schoolwork, exercise, music practice.

Friday: schoolwork, music practice.

Saturday and/or Sunday: work, music practice.

 

Almost all of her classes are outsourced so she manages her own schedule to get her assignments done.  I work a couple of days per week so I actually have no idea how she arranges her day while I'm gone.  She also helps with household chores, some cooking, and helps her younger sibling with schoolwork when needed.  I'm pretty sure there is plenty of personal time for doing... whatever... built into her day, but she meets her deadlines so whatever she does is working for her.

[elfgivas]

we have two still at home, just finishing 9th and 11th grades.

 

for the rising senior, her days look like:

up at 7am.  makes breakfast, goes for short walk.

8am one hour violin practice

9-12  school work

12-1 lunch + short walk

1pm one hour violin practice

2-5 academics

5-6 one hour violin practice

6pm dinner

 

up until christmas, the last violin practice was earlier, and she left ~5pm to do 3 hours dance four days a week, and at 3:30 on wednesdays to 5.5hours of orchestra rehearsals.

in Feb, she dropped dance to leave another 3 hour academics block in the evenings.

 

she is doing three online classes, so there was also 3 hours of online spanish class, and one hour a week of study group for AP chem.

 

weekend days look pretty much like week days.

 

for the rising sophomore, she is up by 8am, breakfast, chores, then

9am one hour of violin

10-noon academics

lunch

1-4 academics

4-5 one hour piano

and then evenings the same as her sister.

however, she puts in 8+ hours of academics each weekend day.

 

she had three online classes, also, so 3 hours of spanish online, 1 hr physics, 1 hr english online.

 

hth,

ann 

[Harriet Vane]

My dd has typically worked six days a week. This is the equivalent to going to public school five days a week, doing homework nights and weekends.

 

Monday--Study at coffee shop 9-10am. Computer class 10-12am. I pick her up at noon. She eats lunch and studies. We leave at 2:45 to drop her off at community college at 3:15ish. She studies there until class at 4pm. Spanish 4-5pm. Dh picks her up and takes her directly to fencing, which runs 5:30-7. Dd has a quick bite to eat after fencing, then French class 7:30-8. She studies for another hour, then loafs around until going to bed.

 

Tuesday--She gets a little slower start, then studies most of the day. Skype Lit class at noon for an hour and a half. Often she will take a break to take a walk with me, and her lunch break is typically an hour. Fencing 5:30-7pm OR she'll head to youth group at 6:30 (depends on her schedule and if there is a tournament coming up).

 

Wednesday--She studies for a while first thing, then heads to computer class 10-12am. Meeting with church friend for Bible study at noonish, whenever she gets there. Church History at co-op 1-3 including driving time, then study for a few hours. Fencing 6:30-8. Often she will put in another hour of school work after.

 

Thursday--Co-op 8:30-11:30 including driving time. Work from 12:30ish until 4:30. Grab a quick bit to eat, then fencing 5:30-7 followed by French at 7:30. Sometimes she will work another hour after but often after French she is done for the night.

 

Friday--Her free-est day. She works all day, usually taking a break for a walk with me and a long lunch break also. Evenings are often spent with friends.

 

Saturday--Fencing 10-12. Study in the afternoon for a bit and also do some chores. Most Saturday evenings are spent with youth group.

 

Sunday--Almost never does anything academic this day.

[MysteryJen]

My dd1 is a junior. Her schedule:

M-F: up at 4:30 am, drives (25 minutes) to swim practice. Drives home, eats breakfast, starts school work. Works until around 11:15, eats lunch, does recruiting stuff (emails, phone calls, etc), works a little more, takes a short nap. Leaves for swim practice, listens to a lecture in the car, 2 hour practice, home, dinner, bed (usually asleep by 8:30).

On T/Th she has her cc class in the morning after practice. This is the last week for that.

Saturday, long morning practice. School work in the afternoon. Sunday is total rest day (with school work as necessary).

Unless we have a meet. Then competition (usually Friday night, Sat afternoon, Sun afternoon)

 

Ds2 is a freshman. He rises late (around 9-ish) works till a late lunch. Usually plays a board game or chess after lunch with his brothers. Does some more work, half-heartedly in the afternoon. He has aikido, M/W/F afternoons (overlaps with swim team-pretty convenient for all), judo T/Th evenings and 8-12 am on Saturday. He will do school work on Sunday with dd1 if necessary (they are doing Anatomy together).

 

Next year will look about the same. Hopefully, ds2 will get a job and maybe try a cc class in the spring. 

[MtnTeaching]

Just for the fun of it, here's more of a look at how our scheduling worked out for the four years...

 

High school has been a totally different ballgame for us than middle school was.  All that wonderful spontaneous "Look there's a new exhibit at the Science and Nature Museum" went away.

 

9th was still fairly scheduled as they began to take more online classes and all-day public school enrichment classes one day a week.  I worked with them to learn how to start scheduling their days for themselves. Keeping a calendar of their school, social, volunteer, sport, and church activities was a must.  We use a connected Outlook program and send invites to everyone else, so we all know what everyone is doing.

 

10th - more online classes and enrichment day classes.  This became harder to schedule due to the fact that they were "losing" a day of the week due to the enrichment day (which as my kids stated was a must for the social aspect, classes I had a hard time teaching, such as art, and their wonderful Musical Theater Program.  More classwork is now done on the weekend, since the week becomes crazy with social, sport, and volunteer activities.

 

11th - even more online classes and enrichment day.  At this point, the kids take pretty much full responsibility of their schedule.  They work until they are done and figure out how to fit their responsibilities and social "wants" into the schedule.  I still have a tendency to nag at this point and even get to say "I told you so" when they miss an assignment, but it works better than it did in 10th.

 

12th- definitely doing their own thing.  They need to be ready to do this in college.  Ds is headed to college next year.  Even now, he still needs to do a better job at being diligent about his schedule.  I guess he will learn the hard way next year.  He still tends to wait until the last day to do assignments.  College is going to bite him in the bottom if he doesn't learn that high school and college are two totally different beasts  :D .

[swimmermom3]

This has been a different year for ds. In the past, he has protected his free time and been almost rigid about school versus down time. Taking more challenging classes in 10th grade caused him to shift his perspective and this year, that original perspective has gone out the window.

 

He takes one AP class at the local high school and the class runs from 7:45 - 9:11 am every other day, so one week class is two days  and the next it is three days. He takes Honors 4 Spanish from an online provider. All of his homework is due first thing Thursday morning and he meets on Friday morning with the class for language practice through Skype.

 

His three other AP classes are all online with two of them requiring daily work and checking in, while the third was more flexible. The workload, thanks primarily, but not always to the AP Biology class, was 10-12 hours a day, including "class time."

 

He could never have accomplished this with his usually athletics schedule with fall sailing running from September through November (2 practices per week with a regattas a couple of weekends). The minute that is done, varsity swimming picks up with 5 practices per week and meets on Thursday night. The minute swimming is done in February, spring sailing starts with 2 practices per day and travel regattas on weekends and it runs through May. There are a couple of weeks off and then he coaches sailing anywhere from 20-40 hours per week all summer.  This year, shoulder surgery eliminated the sports and he had to work in 2-3 PT appointments every week as well as follow-ups with the surgeon's office.

 

The sailing and swimming are his primary social outlets as well as his job in the summer. When there is a rare down time, he likes to head out for a hike somewhere.  He and a sailing friend took this last Saturday and went for a hike that took about five hours including drive time. They both felt like they needed to clear their heads for AP testing.

 

He's our youngest and is fairly responsible, so he has a significant amount of freedom. He is driven, but not necessarily the best time manager, but that's getting better. I didn't record a schedule, because if he is awake and not at the sailing club, then he is usually doing homework.

[AK_Mom4]

When DD21 was homeschooling her senior year, her day looked like this:

6:30 Band Class at local PS

7:30-10:30 eat and school work

10:30-11:30 2nd Band Class at local PS

11:30-1:30 lunch and a nap

1:30-5pm work

6pm-10pm sports

 

When DS19 homeschooled, his day was similiar

6:30 Band Class at local PS

7:30-1pm eat and school work

1pm-2pm 2nd Class at PS

2pm - 5pm theater practice

 

 

[SkateLeft]

My older daughter was pretty atypical for a high school student. She started full-time college dual enrollment at 14 and graduated at 16. She spent most of her free time studying, creating digital art, birding or doing elaborate coding projects. When she wasn't on campus, she tended to be home, since she was introverted and struggled to find like-minded peers.

 

My younger daughter is more of the stereotypical high school girl than her introverted older sister was. She's almost 17, extroverted, loves clothes, make-up, music, boys and hanging out with friends. She's also a full-time dual enrolled student. She was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 10, but discovered that exercise is the best medication for her, so any time she's struggling to focus, she'll go work out. She hardly ever sits still.

 

She spends four days a week on the college campus, leaving about 8am and getting home around 3 or 4pm. Once she gets home, she usually goes for a run. Then she'll play guitar and sing for a couple of hours, study, eat dinner, then study and sing some more. She'll intersperse going for a walk, snapchatting her friends or talking on the phone. A couple of evenings a week, she heads over to church where she's active in a bunch of stuff. On Fridays, we go to co-op. She has voice lessons afterwards. On the weekends, she works as a swim instructor and lifeguard. In between all that, she'll go hang out at her friends' house or at the mall occasionally. On Sunday afternoons, all of my kids go to Italian school. She sings at church on Sundays and has youth group.

 

At this point, she's hardly ever home.

 

[Arch at Home]

My 10th grader has a pretty loose schedule. She is up generally to school work about 9:00 am. She either has a mid-to-late morning online 1 hour Spanish class or a CC class (2 1/2 hour including walk there and back) Monday - Thursday. She eats lunch when it fits in and then watches a video or two prior to getting back to school. Friday she has a CC class that run 8:30 - 1:30 including walk there and back. Afternoons she wraps up whatever schoolwork she has left by around 2:30. DD is lucky that this year one of her electives is musical theater which she unschools. She spends most of her free time pursuing this passion with voice lessons, reading, dance classes and watching videos. Two nights a week are filled with juggling and jazz when she is not in a theater production. DD volunteers Saturday's at our church's garden and has dance class and rehearsal for 3 hours. Sundays she attends church and puts in a couple hours of focused schoolwork devoted to projects.

 

Much to DD's chagrin the social aspects of her life are lacking. That social life which she has is tied to her activities.

 

Sarah

[catz]

These are fun to read.  I have an 8th grader doing high school level work (alg 2, physics, civics this year) and just got good first time ACT scores, so I'm going to play.  ;)

 

Monday - Long homeschool day: all subjects.  Music practice daily (piano, voice, guitar).  Evening - theater rehearsal and/or acro class with the occassional meeting for his teen theater volunteer board he serves on.

Tuesday - Short homeschool day.  Get together with a few homeschool families in the afternoon.  Evening - theater rehearsal (sometimes)

Wednesday - Long homeschool day.  Or short homeschool day and a club meeting or field trip.  Swim lessons for a while in the afternoon this winter.  Evening - took sex ed at our church this winter.  Possible theater stuff.

Thursday - Short homeschool day.  Voice and piano lessons.  Evening - theater rehearsal and/or dance class

Friday - VERY short homeschool day.  Co-op Day (conversational Spanish, guitar, physics, civics).  Evening - Possible Theater Rehearsal

Saturday - circus class.  Possible theater stuff

Sunday - music practice.  UU church programming.

 

Schedule is dotted with theater auditions and music performances.  Thinking about starting to look at a CC class or 2 next year.

[quark]

Thank you all so very much. I am so very glad that I asked. I am reading each one of your responses carefully and taking notes so that I can be more mindful of the pockets of time when DS can have more downtime while also trying out different scenarios in my head as to study hours etc. We obviously need to start waking up earlier in the mornings. We are so not morning people! Trouble is it's hard to get him to sleep early because the evenings are when he reads for pleasure or comes up with his math ideas.

 

My concern right now is also that so much of DS's time looks so very academic. He is really not into sports and whatever little he does of it is because it's forced upon him by us parents. He's okay with that because he knows he won't exercise otherwise. But it's really not a lot for a growing young guy.

 

I guess I am wondering how much of this will dwindle further given increasing academic load coming in the fall (stuff HE wants to do and will include additional piano time) and how to adjust to it and how to try to give him as much balance as possible. He is turning out to be the stereotypical geeky kid who doesn't want to do more than he needs to to be fit and healthy...and I worry about that. He is overall healthy and happy...no worries with that but I think his exercise time could be further affected next semester. Maybe I am just trying to make it all balance out too much?

 

I am really grateful for what you have shared and hope to dissect each post further for ideas. Thanks again everyone!

 

(edited for TMI)

[Greta Lea]

My son is 17yo finishing 11th grade, but plans to take a 5th year (his 9th grade year was spent doing remedial work and a couple of high school electives). 

 

Here's a sample of his week:

 

Monday:

-Biology class from 10-12pm taken with home school group

 **Usually the hour before biology class (9-10am) he is finishing up his Biology home work. 

 

-American Sign Language class taken at the same place from 1:30-2:30

**Between biology and ASL classes he and I go have lunch somewhere and then he spends some time studying for the ASL class.

 

-3:30ish to 5:00ish: he and I sit down for an Algebra I lesson (he struggles with math). If he finishes Algebra before 5pm, he sometimes will work on catching up on any subject he might be behind on from the week before.

 

-6:00-8:30pm: he volunteers at the Food Bank at our church.

 

Tuesday:

 

-10:00ish-12:30ish: final edit on that week's writing assignment and completes a history assignment 

 

-12:30-1:30 lunch

 

-IEW writing class (same home school group) from 1:30-2:30

 

-3:30ish-5:00ish: Algebra with me.

 

-6:00-8:30pm: volunteers at the Food Bank again.

 

Wednesday:

-10am-4:30pm: He has a part time job at our library coffee shop. It is often *extremely* slow until the high school across the street gets out of school. His boss allows him to work on school work during the slow times. He always gets a good chunk of the week's biology assignment complete and 1 history assignment done too *and* usually literature reading. This job is SUCH a blessing. 

 

-7pm to 9pm Youth group.

 

Thursday:

 

  --history lesson

  --works on writing assignment

  --Algebra I with me

  --Sign Language 

   -3:00-6pm: work at the coffee shop (busy time, so he doesn't take any books with him)

  --after work: literature reading

 

Friday

 

NO outside activities!

-history lesson

-continue working on writing assignment or self-edit

-Algebra 1 lesson

-American Sign Language

-Science reading or Literature reading

 

Saturday

-Works at the coffee shop from 10-4pm. He almost always gets a chunk of his science reading/taking notes completed and either a history lesson or literature reading.

 

Sunday

-church in the morning

-youth small group meeting in the late afternoon

-between those two events he will work on American Sign Language and other school stuff IF needed (usually a longer writing assignment or a tougher science module).

 

He will finish biology, writing and ASL classes in a couple of weeks, but will continue Algebra, history and literature over the summer.

 

By the way, I have to mention that he and I worked together to come up with this schedule. It's a loose schedule in that I don't care what time of day he does what, but the times I've written down are the times of the day he's figured out for himself that works best for him. He DOES have to do algebra at a decent time of day since it involves ME:)

 

When he decided he wanted to start volunteering two evenings a week, he also had to agree to do school during the summer since that volunteering time cuts into getting more school done on those days. 

 

I would NOT trade his job or the time spent volunteering for anything. My ds has always struggled with reading and math (although both are improving greatly!), so these two activities build his confidence and make him feel important to the world, which I think all teens, especially boys, need.

 

[regentrude]

 

My concern right now is also that so much of DS's time looks so very academic. He is really not into sports and whatever little he does of it is because it's forced upon him by us parents. He's okay with that because he knows he won't exercise otherwise. But it's really not a lot for a growing young guy.

 

I guess I am wondering how much of this will dwindle further given increasing academic load coming in the fall (stuff HE wants to do and will include additional piano time) and how to adjust to it and how to try to give him as much balance as possible. He is turning out to be the stereotypical geeky kid who doesn't want to do more than he needs to to be fit and healthy...and I worry about that. He is overall healthy and happy...no worries with that but I think his exercise time could be further affected next semester. Maybe I am just trying to make it all balance out too much?

 

If he is not interested in sports and "exercise", I would try to incorporate physical activity into daily life: biking for transportation, going for a walk with you while you discuss literature.... this kind of  thing.

 

ETA: And get a punching dummy for the basement or garage - great for getting out energy.

[momto2Cs]

Can I just say that this thread is kind of freaking me out? :scared: Some of those days look SO long... now I am totally worried that we are not doing enough, and that I am stunting my son's academic development. :001_unsure:

 

 

[Luckymama]

Can I just say that this thread is kind of freaking me out? :scared: Some of those days look SO long... now I am totally worried that we are not doing enough, and that I am stunting my son's academic development. :001_unsure:

1. My daughter's classes were chosen by her (well, except for English---she'd be happy never to take an English class again ;)). She says she is more motivated to study when she's interested in the topic. To which I replied "duh" :lol:

 

2. Ballet, her main extracurricular, consumes many hours a week. Again, it's her choice to participate.

[AK_Mom4]

Can I just say that this thread is kind of freaking me out? :scared: Some of those days look SO long... now I am totally worried that we are not doing enough, and that I am stunting my son's academic development. :001_unsure:

 

Don't freak.  What things look like when written down rarely tells the whole story.

 

My older kids intentionally took lighter loads their senior year so they could focus on their interests (sports, music, work, theater).  They could do that because previous years' academics had covered what was necessary.

 

DD13 will be starting in the fall with what I consider a moderate academic load for high school.  We built it that was so she has time for sports and music.  She is studying what is necessary and what interests her.  And that's enough.

[quark]

Can I just say that this thread is kind of freaking me out? :scared: Some of those days look SO long... now I am totally worried that we are not doing enough, and that I am stunting my son's academic development. :001_unsure:

 

:grouphug: I don't feel like DS is ready for so much either so one way we are honoring his abilities but also balancing how much he can actually do is to only focus on a few subject areas at a time and unschool the rest. The disadvantage (if I should call it that) is that the gulf between the two is widening hugely...but the advantage is that days are tailored for the benefit and comfort of my child without needing to compare ourselves to others because comparing doesn't help in the end and only stresses me out too (and DS picks up on that stress very easily).

 

I have to have a lot of trust in order to try it this way...some days I freak out but focusing on *my* child and what he can do...that helps a lot with my sanity.

 

[Momto6inIN]

My 9th grader gets up around 6:45ish and does his personal devotions and personal hygiene routine til about 8. Then breakfast and chores and practices piano til around 9.

 

At 9 we start morning meeting/history together as a group, then he heads off to do his more in-depth history assignment. Around 10 we watch his geometry video together, then he does his assignment and grades it. After that he usually work on spanish til lunchtime. He takes a big break between 12-2ish for lunch and whatever interests him. Sometimes that's playing around with Java and programming on his laptop, sometimes it's reading, sometimes it's texting/emailing, sometimes it's playing Legos with his brother ;) He usually tries to go outside sometime during that break if the weather is nice to get some fresh air and exercise.

 

In the afternoons he works from about 2-5:30 on Literature for about an hour and then one of his block subjects. (twice a week biology, once a week logic, once a week programming)

 

After supper and chores he's got more free time. He and my husband are into beekeeping together and he'd like to start that up more seriously as a business so that is often an evening activity after my husband gets home from work.

 

He likes to go to Wed night church (so once a week) and usually has a church young group activity once every week or so. He's not incredibly social and so far his younger brother is still his best friend, so he's content with that and we haven't had too many outside commitments so far. Not sure when that will/might change ...

[JennW in SoCal]

Thank you all so very much. I am so very glad that I asked. I am reading each one of your responses carefully and taking notes so that I can be more mindful of the pockets of time when DS can have more downtime while also trying out different scenarios in my head as to study hours etc. We obviously need to start waking up earlier in the mornings. We are so not morning people! Trouble is it's hard to get him to sleep early because the evenings are when he reads for pleasure or comes up with his math ideas.

 

He is turning out to be the stereotypical geeky kid who doesn't want to do more than he needs to to be fit and healthy...and I worry about that.

 

Yep.  To the both bolded sentences!!  We never got up and started early except for a community college course.  7am one semester!! At home we rarely started school before 10 but it wasn't a problem -- everything got done.  I never expected much output each day outside of math. Most of their mommy homeschool consisted of reading, watching some lectures or doing research, and talking with mom.  They would write papers or do projects on the days that were more open, and they figured out their own study times when doing outside courses.

 

Those free reading and thinking hours at night are really important, and it is something most of the public school kids I know don't get to do.  It has helped my kids in college and adult life as they can easily think "outside the box", their imaginations are vivid, and their readiness to learn has remained intact. 

 

As for exercise, well, it was a weak point with both my geeky boys.  The youngest did parkour at a gym. It a very popular geeky sport, a whole lot of fun and a full body work out.  He did it for a while on his college campus, til it started to snow!!  There might be some geeky pursuits your lad might enjoy -- juggling?  Unicycle?  I tell you -- musicians need something because we sit and practice too much!

 

Can I just say that this thread is kind of freaking me out? :scared: Some of those days look SO long... now I am totally worried that we are not doing enough, and that I am stunting my son's academic development. :001_unsure:

 

Some of the days people describe are long, but it works for some families.  That was not how we did things yet my boys got into college and thrived.  Do what works for your family, do it well and everything will be o.k!

[quark]

Jenn and all, I am not religious, but seriously, thank heavens the stars aligned somehow and I have the good fortune to be here to read and steep myself like a grateful teabag in all of your wisdom. :001_wub: I could seriously steep forever here. You guys are helping me so much!

[1Togo]

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (on days w/no appointments, special rehearsals, etc.) - Up at 6:30., 3 mile walk w/Mom, breakfast, begin school around 8:30 - Morning Time, math, composition, violin, lunch, test prep, science, violin, voice, electives, dinner, orchestra.  These days can go until 8:00.

 

Wednesday - Same as above except leave at 2:30 for photography lessons, youth praise team rehearsal, adult choir

 

Friday - Same as above except leave at 1:00 for violin lessons and grocery shopping w/Mom - our favorite day

 

Saturday - Clean in the morning and study after lunch, usually Latin this year

 

Sunday - Church at 8:30 for orchestra rehearsal, church followed by youth choir practice, followed by 2 1/2 hour youth orchestra rehearsal

 

During the school year, evening rehearsals for college orchestra concerts

 

Daily work around the house includes clearing the table, unloading the dishwasher, and keeping room/bathroom somewhat tidy

 

We school year round to make the music possible, but summer work doesn't have outside deadlines, which makes it more relaxed.  Also, no orchestra and no Saturday school work.

 

 

[...................]

Awesome thread. Thank you!

[Jaz]

My ds has had 2 very different high school years. For 9th grade, he had a very rigorous study load including things he really didn't want to do such as an online Spanish class and piano lessons. He worked until about 4-4:30 each day including going to the gym 3x a week for exercise in the mornings.

 

For 10th grade, I pulled way back, listened to what he wanted to study and created a much better year for both of us. My ds has never liked Spanish or other languages. He's interested in computer programming. He'll start at the community college and transfer to a college that considers programming a language. Instead of the online Spanish class, I found an in-person class which was much less stress for my ds and I let him finish after one semester.

 

We compromised about music. My ds was able to stop piano lessons in exchange for self-teaching guitar from youtube. He discovered he likes guitar. I found Excellence in Literature and let him choose which books he wanted to read. When he didn't really enjoy his chemistry textbook, I found great ideas for "real" books here and cut back his textbook requirement to 60% (what was required when I was teaching through an online school).

 

I let him sleep in and that helped tremendously! The only things he did out of the house this year were one semester of Spanish class, working out, a computer programming class on Sunday mornings, and youth group at church on Wednesdays. He did school until about 2-3pm then hung out with friends online or in person. He had a lot of down time and I'm glad we did it that way. He has his permit now and is talking about getting a job next summer. I see so much growth and maturity. I'm glad we didn't rush it or push him too hard.

 

For junior year, we're ramping up a bit. He's ready for more difficult school work and a busier schedule. He'll be taking an in-person Physics class along with competitive speech. He'll be volunteering in the tech area of the library and playing in the youth worship band at church. These activities along with our regular school work will make for a full year for him.

 

Good luck with your planning!