The Loop Schedule????

[dhudson]

I have never heard of this type of schedule until I heard about it on the board a couple of weeks ago. Just wondering where it came from and if there is a web site, book or talk that explains it and how to use it.

 

Thanks!

[JudoMom]

I have never heard of this type of schedule until I heard about it on the board a couple of weeks ago. Just wondering where it came from and if there is a web site, book or talk that explains it and how to use it.

 

Thanks!

 

I believe it originated with a brainstorm I had.

[dhudson]

You're a genius! I have done something similar so that we get to all the subjects in a week but I haven't seen it put in such a clear format. I've been sharing it with a few of my friends who were having trouble getting to everything and it seems like it makes a lot of sense.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[magistramom]

We've looped for a couple years, but we did not have a name for it. People who follow TJEd - often loop, but it's not named as such there either. If you talk with veteran homeschoolers, many will tell you that they fell into this pattern, or that their students found the pattern. It allows the student to study a few subjects in depth each day. Schools teach in sound bites - homeschools do not have to - we have the flexibility to stretch out a few lessons over one day rather than try to insanely cram everything into one day. I love calling it "looping" because that is exactly what it is!

 

This type of scheduling was explained to me by number of subjects that you rotate through. Try to limit younger students to 5 subjects per day (e.g. math, language arts, science, history, Latin). Each day, you work on 3 of those subjects, over three hours. You will then rotate to the next two subjects and loop back to the first subject on the next day - and keep on going with that routine each day. During that time, YOU (the parent) are present and engaged in the mentoring process. The rest of the day, you can move onto your own interests. Of course you are available when needed, but you do not need to be hostage to a kitchen-school table. With looping, you also gain freedom to get work done AND take field trips. It's been very easy for us to have a field trip AND do our three hours together, even when that time is split during the day.

 

Older students typically have more "subjects". Ideally, you would help them whittle down the subjects to seven subjects (e.g. math, spelling, grammar, writing, science, history/geography, writing). With seven subjects, you'll need four hours per day to rotate through the schedule.

 

You can trust the advice, or work out the schedule yourself - but if you follow the 5 subject/3 hour loop or the 7 subject/4 hour loop - you WILL complete everything during the year in your textbooks. The philosophy that you want to instill in your child is to not just work on one assignment per day - rather, work forward in the book. The next time you go back to that subject, you begin where you left off.

 

Some high school students loop whole books at a time. They'll spend three months doing only math and grammar. Then two doing science and history. They'll get bored and go back to a new math book and move forward - then they'll want to go back to their history or science loves. Looping gives them the freedom to do this.

 

School does not typically end after the three hour loop ends for students that are in the Logic and Rhetoric stages. They use additional time during the day to work independently, and in depth on their assignments beyond the time spent with you.

 

When you draw this schedule out on paper, it you can see how you can divide your own time up with each student during the day. You can also make two separate loops and work with each student independently through the day on their loops. We have a family that loops their older students in the evening for two hours - so dad can be involved. All in all, as you go along, and as your student begins to take on more of their work, you'll probably evolve into a loop schedule. I say start looping as early as you can! Enjoy your new found freedom too!

[mycalling]

I'll have to look into this more. I wasn't interested before because I thought it put every subject on an equal level and I like tossing out the least important at the end of a busy day if we can't get to it. Can someone explain more on how it doesn't make all subjects equal for grammar stage students?

[chaik76]

I'll have to look into this more. I wasn't interested before because I thought it put every subject on an equal level and I like tossing out the least important at the end of a busy day if we can't get to it. Can someone explain more on how it doesn't make all subjects equal for grammar stage students?

Well, some people put those subjects they consider to be most important as a separate component of the loop, making sure to do those every day. Then they just loop the rest of the stuff...here might be an example (using our own schedule):

 

Every Day:

Math

Language Arts

Religion

 

 

Loop (do everything in order, when finished with loop restart...):

Ancient History

Biology

Art

Music

Sign Language

[rafiki]

.

[sandalwood]

I'll have to look into this more. I wasn't interested before because I thought it put every subject on an equal level and I like tossing out the least important at the end of a busy day if we can't get to it. Can someone explain more on how it doesn't make all subjects equal for grammar stage students?

 

We have classes one day a week with other homeschoolers for part of the year, so our schedule looks like this on our 4 day weeks:

 

4 days a week: From 7 am to 12 (take lunch at 11:00) all those days are the same. We do Bible, Math, Reading, Grammar, Mom read-aloud, Spelling. Then, after lunch on:

 

Mon., Wed. We have history where we read, do things like Story of the USA or Landmark, etc.

 

Mon. Wed. We have another LA program with copywork

 

Also, Mon., Wed., Friday We do science and any experiments usually on Friday.

 

Tuesday & Friday: We are making a state notebook, then follow with Geography games (board) or Mapping work.

 

Tue. We do poetry and any timeline figures for the week

 

With this schedule we are done by 2:30 everyday and it is so much nicer on us. We just got to a point where we had to make a schedule or we didn't get everything done. I'd have days where I'd get to the end of the day and throw out some subjects because we spent too long reading or reading aloud, etc.. This way, we get it all done and it is so much more peaceful!

[AudreyTN]

Here is my loop as it looks on my weekly planning sheet.

 

At first I made a "picture" one. (I'm a visual person.) Then I set it up in a planning sheet. This way I can just follow the sheet and cross off what we've done. I have to admit that sometimes I still do rearrange things. But everything gets done!

 

I don't have a set time limit per day. We just try to get as much in one day as possible. Which (dealing with 4 kids) usually equals out to about 4 hours anyway.

[dhudson]

I have been doing something similar to this since I began homeschooling (7 yrs) and I think my mom had us on a similar schedule when I was in high school but what I really like is that it makes sure that all the subjects get equal time - like science, art and foreign language.

 

Thanks ladies for sharing!