Carolinagirl1 Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Can anyone please look at my schedule and give me some feedback? Are we doing too much? Is there somewhere that we can condense or combine subjects? I feel like everything we do is (almost) essential, but we are wearing out! I have a 4th and a 6th grader. We try to do each of these everyday Math (CLE) Language Arts (CLE) Reading (CLE) (takes anywhere from 30 min -1 hr) Latin (Song School Latin DVD or workbook- takes about 15 minutes) Science (BJU DVD and workbook- 45 minutes) History (Veritas Press Online Self Paced - 20-30 min) Loops - we try to do at least 2 of these a week Geography (The Africa book from Simply Charlotte Mason - takes 5-10 minutes, or map drawing based on the Classical Conversations week) XtraMath (Drills take about 10 minutes) Typing (Typing.com - takes about 10-15 minutes) History Pockets (Ancient Egypt - almost never get to this) Extracurriculars: Tuesday - 9am-2:45 - out of the house for piano lessons and lunch. We try to get Math, LA, and Reading done while waiting for our lesson turn The teacher wouldn't be able to take us in the afternoon because she is full with school kids. Wednesday - 11am-12N - Tennis lesson. (Kids want to start back to Community Bible Study which would put us out of the house from 9am-12N) Thursday - CC Foundations 8:30am-1pm. I consider this an extracurricular because I like to go deeper with science and history so we have separate curricula for those and we just listen to the Foundations CD in the car, but I like for them to have the presentation experience, the fine arts, the classroom experience, and the social fun. So, we try to cram in a lot of school work in the afternoons on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday We are not getting a formal writing curriculum done this year (yet). We did Essentials last year which included IEW. Could I use IEW as a reading comprehension curriculum as well as the writing curriculum? Ugh, I know it is hard to look at someone else's schedule and curriculum and give feedback, but if you have any insight, please give it to me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowlark Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 I think it would be very hard to cram all of that into 3 days a week. I'm doing CLE math and CLE language arts, and it's very thorough. Do you think you NEED CLE reading? I know opinions vary on this, but I'm not convinced that a formal reading program is necessary at those ages. Maybe...for the 6th grader, but not 4th. Do you have to do science everyday? I'm not familiar with the BJU DVD's but 45 minutes every day for science seems excessive. My last thought is that it seems like you are out of the house quite a bit. I know *I* wouldn't be able to do that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinagirl1 Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 I'm not sure if I need the reading. What do you do for reading instead? Part of me would like to just ditch it, but I know that at least in the 6th grade, my daughter is learning literary terms like idioms, hyperboles, metaphors, similes, etc, in addition to poetry inflections. Do I need that? I don't really know. I just don't want to miss anything. Science - no, I don't really need to do it every day. BJU is not really meant to be done everyday, but we are using the 4th grade level for my 4th and 6th grader, which I think is definitely advanced enough even for the 6th grader, and I would like to catch up enough so I can move on to the 5th grade level, so that is why I have been cramming it into every day. You are right, though, I probably don't need to do it every single day, especially once we catch up. I hate being out of the house almost every day!! I cut out CC essentials this year because I felt like CLE LA was sufficient and I wanted to be home in the afternoon. I said I wouldn't do Community Bible Study this year because it takes us out of the house for half the day on Wednesdays, but I am just feeling the pull to go back! Maybe I should not do it and do Bible study at home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 I think your schedule would be fine if you were home every day or at least 4 days per week--but it doesn't seem very realistic with being out of the house 3 days a week. If being out is your priority, then I think you have to rank the other subjects priority-wise and be willing to cut some. I agree that fewer science days per week and the formal reading program would be two places I'd consider cutting, plus the loop items. I'd do independent reading of great literature instead of a reading curriculum, and they can fit in reading at other times easier. Independent reading, Math, and LA would be my top priorities, but the others could vary quite a lot depending on family goals. You might consider two loops, if you really want to keep your current loop items. Do Math, LA, and independent reading daily. Put History, Science, and Latin on their own loop, and add them in as you are able. You really are doubling up those things between CC and doing extra resources, so consider the overall time you are spending on them and what's really realistic to continue with. One thing I really wonder about--why does it take 5 hours and 45 minutes for two piano lessons? Is it a really long drive to the person's house, and she won't do them back to back or something? (You said piano lessons & lunch have you out from 9-2:45 that day--maybe you meant 12:45?). Is there some way to change this dynamic (for example, what time do her school students start--2:30 or 3? is it possible to add in lessons on either Wed. or Thurs. after your other activities for you but before her public school students for her, and get you an additional full day at home that way? If you were able to do that, I might not do any other school on that one day, or I might just do math and independent reading--something much smaller/shorter in other words). I think when one has a lot of outside activities, you have to either purposefully choose some subjects that have fewer lessons, or be willing to let curriculum take more than a year. Another thought is a more year-round model for homeschool. We have always schooled 4.5 days per week (Friday afternoon is friend day for us), so I do a shorter summer break to get my days in. Maybe you want to spread out what you do a bit so that the overall pace fits your goals and lifestyle better? I think I would spend some time praying about your priorities and the priorities God would have for your kids. Take into consideration their passions and what is really adding a benefit to your lives--but maybe there are some things that aren't. It does seem like something would need to give with such a busy schedule, and it's either going to be the subjects you can cover at home or how often you are out. I find a time of prayer and reflection usually makes those choices clear, even if they are difficult choices. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinagirl1 Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 Piano has us out of the house mostly because of the driving time. The teacher's house is approximately 45 minutes away, so we leave the house just after 9am to get there by 10 give or take a few minutes. We have a lesson from 10-10:45, 10:45-11:30, and 11:30-12:15. (I take lessons as well - it's really the only thing I do for me.) Then we meet my husband for lunch from 12:45-2:00, and then head back home. At least we are able to get some Math and LA done at the piano teacher's house, and we usually watch the science DVD in the car on the drive. I am liking the idea of doing Latin, Science, and History as loop subjects!! I know, realistically, that we are out of the house too much. I could honestly probably cut back on the Wednesday activities. I could probably move the tennis lesson or let go of CBS, although I hate to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 I would do math, language arts, and silent reading/read aloud plus either Latin or typing (alternate days) four days a week*. Mondays and Fridays I would add geography, the math drill (only if truly necessary), science and history. I would seek to supplement the CC material with additional readings, video, and projects rather than trying to complete full curricula. If you really want to do full curricula, plan to continue these subjects through the summer. I would drop the reading curriculum. Read books instead. * I would consider any schoolwork done on Tuesday a bonus. I would use Tuesday afternoon for library visits, the park, or errands. Any chance of moving the tennis lessons to Tuesday afternoons? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Given the time commitment for extracurriculars on Tuesday and Wednesday, I would consider only doing purely the basics on those days, and shifting content subjects to a weekend day. Otherwise, I think you're simply going to have to prioritize what is important. I would drop a reading program and have kids choose decent quality books for themselves. Assuming their reading skills are strong, you could also sub in audiobooks during the long car rides. Most science programs are set up so you could start at any grade level without doing the previous ones. Could you just move them on up to fifth grade? Or finish fourth at a slower pace and then move directly into sixth? The stuff you have on a loop I would currently set aside completely. Sometime down the road, you can consider taking a year off from history to do a world geography class. The muscle memory for typing doesn't really get developed unless the practice is being done daily, so put that aside until you can find a couple of months where it can be done regularly. Do they need the math drills, or would they do ok with what they get in their math curric? Or, not knowing how CLE is set up, could they be assigned a bit less from their math curric 2-3 days/week to manage the extra minutes for drill? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowlark Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 (edited) For us, reading has been pure immersion reading. Note-my oldest is in 4th so you're a few years ahead of me. So take this advice knowing that :-) I've tried to just instill the love of literature in them from a very young age and cross my fingers that it happens. Well, both of my older boys are avid readers. For their actual reading-I have a list of about 20 novels that they have to choose from for each year. These are from various booklists that I could point you to if you're interested. We're 2 weeks into our school year and both have read about 5 so I will go through many more and will need to start collecting more. Of those books that they read, I ask occasional questions such as "how did you like that? Tell me about one of your favorite characters", etc. Just very casually. I found out quickly that making my kids answer questions or doing any kind of workbook absolutely killed their love of reading. So I backed off on that very quickly. So that's my plan until 6th grade. I was going to reevaluate at 6th doing CLE reading because 1) a heavier workload would be appropriate at that age and 2) I WOULD like him to start learning all of the things you mentioned. Oh-and my son was tested last year for reading for the first time-ITBS. I was petrified. He scored 98 on reading comp so that reaffirmed my belief that a reading program is not necessary. HTH! ETA: I DO absolutely adore the CLE and Pathway readers, so those are thrown in with the novels. Edited September 2, 2016 by Meadowlark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 I think you've been given a lot of good advice. Minimizing how many days (not necessarily how many HOURS) we're out of the house is key for us. We have given up some daytime activities just because, as dd has gotten older, it's become more and more imperative to have longer stretches of time for her to work. It's harder to just fit subjects in here and there between other activities as the work becomes more complex. I would second the advice to streamline your outside activities if at all possible -- combining as many to one day as you can, and looking for ways to cut down on the amount of time they take, especially time that's not really spent on the activity. Find a closer piano teacher, and make lunch with Dad an occasional treat instead of a weekly date. Of course, maybe Dad works until after bedtime most nights and this is the only quality time you and the kids get with him during the week. In that case, well, that's important too. You need to determine your priorities and set your schedule accordingly. Lots of things are important, but not everything is EQUALLY important, you know? For example, could you meet your goals for CC (social interaction, presentations, etc.) in a more efficient way? Make sure your time commitment to any particular activity is in line with the importance of that activity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 I agree with what is being said. I would also give them homework and have them do typing and Xtra math daily in the evening. Another idea would be to consider Tues your Saturday and do school Sat. Morning. When my DS was entering sixth I realized that I needed to really limit our days and mornings out to one co-op a week. We needed to be home every morning so I just had to cut back and say no. I stopped morning Bible Studies. There are churches that do evening ones for working Moms and now that your kids are entering middle school, the homeschooling Mons job becomes even more a full time job. If you want the extra science, history and loop subjects, and they matter to you and you feel they are important, I don't think you can do CC and take a day for piano. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 I would be burnt toast with that outside schedule. I would drop the cc for a start. Liking it is not enough, it has to earn it's spot on your schedule. The reasons you listed for liking it aren't compelling enough for me. They can get all of those things in other ways more efficiently. I would keep piano but, yes use that time! I think the meeting dh for lunch is valuable so I'd just be strict about waiting for lessons = school hours. Just make sure that they can actually do the work independently - I'd consider bringing the laptop and doing the veritas & Latin then. I wouldn't worry too much about after piano school, maybe just reading... Tennis on it's own would not be enough for me to get out of the house and I'd be tempted to look at a tues afternoon option - even just getting to the court yourselves for a play after meeting dh? The bible study would be tempting, but for me would depend on what other faith community activities they do, and what the people in this group are like. I wouldn't worry about formal writing, I do SWB'S writing across the curriculum from the complete writer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Piano has us out of the house mostly because of the driving time. The teacher's house is approximately 45 minutes away, so we leave the house just after 9am to get there by 10 give or take a few minutes. We have a lesson from 10-10:45, 10:45-11:30, and 11:30-12:15. (I take lessons as well - it's really the only thing I do for me.) Then we meet my husband for lunch from 12:45-2:00, and then head back home. At least we are able to get some Math and LA done at the piano teacher's house, and we usually watch the science DVD in the car on the drive. I am liking the idea of doing Latin, Science, and History as loop subjects!! I know, realistically, that we are out of the house too much. I could honestly probably cut back on the Wednesday activities. I could probably move the tennis lesson or let go of CBS, although I hate to do it! If the tennis lesson (or tennis playing time) was Tuesday afternoon (LOVE that you can meet dh for lunch that day!), and you dropped CC, you'd have 4 full days at home for school--that's really worth considering. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 You've got several different history/geography things going on - could you combine them? You'd still learn them both, but doing the geography of the same area that you're learning the history of might mean that you don't have to switch gears as often. I'm also wondering if it might feel calmer if you did alternating units - a week or month of science and then a history unit. My kids seem to do better when we can spend longer blocks of time on fewer subjects each day, and it helps on days that we do 'car school' because they can look at a book on a topic for a while in the car. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Can anyone please look at my schedule and give me some feedback? Are we doing too much? Is there somewhere that we can condense or combine subjects? I feel like everything we do is (almost) essential, but we are wearing out! I have a 4th and a 6th grader. We try to do each of these everyday Math (CLE) Language Arts (CLE) Reading (CLE) (takes anywhere from 30 min -1 hr) Latin (Song School Latin DVD or workbook- takes about 15 minutes) Science (BJU DVD and workbook- 45 minutes) History (Veritas Press Online Self Paced - 20-30 min) Loops - we try to do at least 2 of these a week Geography (The Africa book from Simply Charlotte Mason - takes 5-10 minutes, or map drawing based on the Classical Conversations week) XtraMath (Drills take about 10 minutes) Typing (Typing.com - takes about 10-15 minutes) History Pockets (Ancient Egypt - almost never get to this) Extracurriculars: Tuesday - 9am-2:45 - out of the house for piano lessons and lunch. We try to get Math, LA, and Reading done while waiting for our lesson turn The teacher wouldn't be able to take us in the afternoon because she is full with school kids. Wednesday - 11am-12N - Tennis lesson. (Kids want to start back to Community Bible Study which would put us out of the house from 9am-12N) Thursday - CC Foundations 8:30am-1pm. I consider this an extracurricular because I like to go deeper with science and history so we have separate curricula for those and we just listen to the Foundations CD in the car, but I like for them to have the presentation experience, the fine arts, the classroom experience, and the social fun. So, we try to cram in a lot of school work in the afternoons on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday We are not getting a formal writing curriculum done this year (yet). We did Essentials last year which included IEW. Could I use IEW as a reading comprehension curriculum as well as the writing curriculum? Ugh, I know it is hard to look at someone else's schedule and curriculum and give feedback, but if you have any insight, please give it to me!! I would drop the XtraMath and the History Pockets (which you say you almost never get to anyway). I would drop the geography and the Veritas history. Yes, I know you like to go deeper, but girl, you just don't have the time as long as you are out of the house so much. CC Foundations is enough for this age. I believe that BJUP's science at this age is just a one-semester course, so maybe if you figure out how to spread it out over a whole year it will work better for you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Piano has us out of the house mostly because of the driving time. The teacher's house is approximately 45 minutes away, so we leave the house just after 9am to get there by 10 give or take a few minutes. We have a lesson from 10-10:45, 10:45-11:30, and 11:30-12:15. (I take lessons as well - it's really the only thing I do for me.) Then we meet my husband for lunch from 12:45-2:00, and then head back home. At least we are able to get some Math and LA done at the piano teacher's house, and we usually watch the science DVD in the car on the drive. I am liking the idea of doing Latin, Science, and History as loop subjects!! I know, realistically, that we are out of the house too much. I could honestly probably cut back on the Wednesday activities. I could probably move the tennis lesson or let go of CBS, although I hate to do it! That explains the piano. If you guys all enjoy taking lessons and having lunch with dad I might keep that. My ideas are that is too much work to get done with how much you are out. I would probably drop CC if you feel it's more a supplement or do less science and history at home and utilize CC more for that. If you already feel stressed, I would add more to your day so I would skip the bible study but probably keep the tennis for PE. Could that be moved to the afternoon? On piano days, I'd assign them some independent work to do well you do your lesson and maybe do some one on one with each child. Could you try some "car school" practicing maybe your Latin and listen to an audio book while you drive. If they don't get carsick maybe they could bring a clipboard and do a bit of work and bring a book to read. Utilizing an 1 1/2 in the car round trip could help them get a lot done! I'd probably do science 2x a week and history 2x a week. I'd try to get down to only 1 "out day a week." For reading at their age, I'd just do reading books related to the science and history topics they are studying and through in some art and music books here and there. Then I'd schedule on free choice reading. My kids do book basket for 15-20 minutes a day, reading books on our history topic or science, about 4 days a week, independently. Then they do about 20 minutes minimum of free reading whatever they got at the library or from their own collection. They usually like to read longer than that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 A couple ideas. I have found better success with alternating science and history so we can take our time and dig in deeper. We also do writing from that days topic using IEW techniques when needed based on age/writing skill. I would consider eliminating the worksheets/questions from the science DVD and instead write and notebook about that topic. My kids learn more from that and it kills two birds with one stone. For history, I would only do lessons 2x a week, writing about it too and then lots of books to read. I like the book basket idea. They can read while in the car, listen to audio in the car or you can read aloud at bedtime with books from history (science too!). While I aim for history M/W and science T/Th the truth is it functions more like a loop. If we miss a day we just do the missed topic the next day and keep going. That would be the main and first change I would make. Also, if you are not also gone in the evenings then this is more doable. But I would make sure my kids knew that the trade off was working on stuff in the evening. Even if it's just reading books from your history topic. Hope this helps a bit. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 I also never did science and history in the same day with my younger kids. It didn't hurt them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Do you own the TM of BJU Science? BJU science turns into a full year program at grade 4, But in the TM some lessons have a * and others not in the schedule With just doing the *lessons you are bringing back the full year course to a semesters course. Then you can finishing the course in a year with 2-3 times science a week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinagirl1 Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Do you own the TM of BJU Science? BJU science turns into a full year program at grade 4, But in the TM some lessons have a * and others not in the schedule With just doing the *lessons you are bringing back the full year course to a semesters course. Then you can finishing the course in a year with 2-3 times science a week. We are doing the Distance Learning DVDs. I looked in the facilitator guide, but didn't see any lessons marked with an *. There are 116 lessons included. I would love to know which lessons are optional!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinagirl1 Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 I am absolutely amazed with the outpouring of advice on my schedule!! Thank you all sooo much! I have so much to think about and work with here, from cutting back on our history and science to cutting back on the days we are out of the house, to combining subjects! I appreciate all the responses!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistachio mom Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Hi Friend, We too have a crazy schedule. You have some wonderful advise above that I enjoyed reading. But one thing I have learned: we have to guard our instructional time and schedule around it. By the time a child reaches older elementary years - you need a 5 day week with afternoons to get the work done. For us - anyway. We do use Veritas Self paced here. It is a help to me to have great teaching that I do not personally have to do. Sometimes, I have my girl do this first thing in the morning - to get her going. Are they doing the first one about ancient history? If so, I recommend changing your lit program to include some of the books in the Veritas catalog and whatever your library has to fill in with similar books for the rest. To get it done - you really need to do it at least 4 days per week. You could use an Evan Moor book to fill in with Geography or Terri Johnson's Map Trek to fit in with the Veritas. I do not see how you can follow a CC and Veritas program at the same time. It seems to me too much. Have you ever made a list of how much teaching/work time each subject takes and tried to fit it in? This activity has helped me to make decisions about how much I can fit. On days we need to leave by 2:45 for afterschool classes ( we try to take easier subjects (like lit or map work) We do the harder ones at home before we leave. Do you have a specific time of day that you teach each of your children one on one? I have had to make a plan of how to split my day for between 3 children for individual instruction - with the others still in forward gear with a list of what to work. I saw a list of someone else's daily schedule on the web. She is a consultant on the Homeworks website. She had it arranged like a chart- table. It was a help to me to see how one person's family arranged the day. Her day was mostly video instruction for her children - but it was a help to me to see this person's schedule and how much time she allowed per subject. For us, time disappears between subjects - so we have to be really careful with transitions. Is it possible to start earlier and get one subject done before a breakfast break? I do this for my high school student for Geometry and Logic - before her sisters are up and noisy .... Good Luck, and may the Lord guide you as you consider so many details :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 I don't think you're trying to do too much schoolwork. I think you've got too much time outside the house. I'd either cut back the outside things or consider doing school on Saturdays, too. Also, if you want to spend about 15 minutes a day on Latin, I suggest Getting Started With Latin. You will progress so much more quickly than you will with SSL, which is a program for grades K-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Reading further: if you're going to do Latin on a loop, I'd just drop it. If you really want your kids to learn Latin, you have to be consistent with it. Fifteen minutes two times a week, for example, won't really do anything for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 We are doing the Distance Learning DVDs. I looked in the facilitator guide, but didn't see any lessons marked with an *. There are 116 lessons included. I would love to know which lessons are optional!! Mostly the crafty lessons. We also skipped the writing portion at the end of a chapter. We did not skip the tests as they require to learn how to outline (BJU science is made to be outlined :) ) I've never used the DVD's, I taught BJU science myself, so I can't help with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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