Critique My Day: Memoria Press and Build Your Library?

[TheAttachedMama]

Hi Everyone,

 

Yet another planning post from me.   (Ducking.)  

Before I hit the "buy" button on next years curricula,  I am wondering if I could get a few set of eyes to look at my finalized plan and give me their feedback.    Am I overdoing things?   Am I buying too much?  (I value honesty.)   And if you think I should cut something, please let me know what.

 

Essentially, I think I am going to be using almost ALL of Memoria Press Grade 4 (with the exception of their literature and their writing program and their American Studies) -and- Build Your Library Grade 5.    Plus, I am doing two different languages (Latin and French) and a whole host of other little things sprinkled in.  When I say that, it sounds like way too much.   BUT---I plan to do most of the memoria press stuff orally.    I am also planning on taking a lighter year on English grammar and spelling compared to past years.   

 

Edits in blue~

Will be teaching the following to DS (grade 5), DD (grade 4), and DS (age 4)----

 

8:00AM-8:30AM- Assigned Independent reading older kids (BYL Grade 5), preschooler will have "alphabet school" with mama

 

8:30AM-9:00AM- Morning Time

Sing a Hymn, Family Devotions, Read 1 CC Timeline Card, Narrate/Discuss AM Reading

 

9:00AM-10:00AM- Latin, Math

Monday-60 minutes of Latina Christiana

Tuesday-Friday:  30 minutes of Latina Christiana, 30 minutes of Singapore 5A/5B (Maybe up the amount of time I spend on math?)

 

10:00AM-11:00AM- History, Physics

Monday- Pin It Maps (US version), put CC timeline cards in order

Tuesday-Friday-  30 minutes BYL Grade 5 History (Read 1-2 chapter of A History of US by Hakim, plus occasional timeline entries, occasional mapping assignments)  +  30 minutes of Elemental Physics Logic Stage (2 days per week)  + Logic Liftoff Workbooks (2 days per week)

 

11:00AM-11:30PM Grammar and Composition

Memoria Press Grammar Recitations (10 mins)

Work on Writing using IEW or CAP Narrative 1 and 2 (20 minutes) -or- Assigned Outlining/Written Narrations from Physics and History

 

11:30AM-12:30PM Lit and Lunch

Eat lunch as a family.   Listen to the BYL Grade 5 literature books on audiobook as a family while we eat.   Discuss/oral narrations.   (30 minutes of pad time is added into this block which they may spend playing or finishing up anything.) 

 

12:30PM-1:30PM  30 minutes one-on-one tutoring with mama with each older kid

15 mins of ANKI to review memory work in all subjects (CC history, foreign language vocab, memoria press recitations, poems)

15 minutes devoted to spelling lesson (spelling plus word lists) + copywork (3 days)/dictation (1 day) from Spelling Wisdom or BYL Grade 5 audiobooks

(Each kid gets to play for 30 mins while they aren't being "tutored") 

 

1:30PM-2:30PM- Rest

30 mins Outside Time +  (Up to an hour?) 

30 mins of free reading (older kids), Read Aloud time for preschooler, then nap

 

2:30PM-3:30PM Afternoon Symposium (aka Nap Lessons) + Snack

Monday:   STEAM Co-Op

Minecraft Mod Programming alternating with Art Project + Physics Lab

 

Tuesday - Friday

30 mins French (GSWF or French for Children)

30 mins Classical and Christian Studies using Memoria Press  

Loop:

Day 1:  Classical Study-Memoria Press D'Aulaires Greek Myths

Day 2:  Nature Notebooks- Memoria Press Astronomy

Day 3:  Geography- Memoria Press US State Study

Day 4:  Christian Study-Memoria Press Christian Study 1

Day 5:  Poetry, Artist Study

 

3:30PM-4:15PM

Piano Practice (30 mins) + Typing Lesson (15 mins) 

 

Free play

 

7:00PM-Dinner + Simply Charlotte Mason Laying Down the Rails at night and Family Read Aloud

 

8:30PMish Bedtime

 

Edited April 8, 2017 by TheAttachedMama

[almondbutterandjelly]

It seems like you are skimping on math.  Four days a week for only 30 minutes.  Are your kids super-fast at it?  I would think you would need to allow an hour (you might not use it every day, but you might need it some days) every day for math.

 

For your "Nap Lessons" block, you might consider spending a Tues-Fri on the same subject that week, rather than switching every day.  For instance, do Greek Myths every day for a week.  Then the next week, do Astronomy every day that week.  The following week, do Geography every day.  And so on.  Rotate back through.  That's what worked better for us, although I only did that with History and Science.

 

Also, that's a really long day.  

[Peaceseeker]

It looks very ambitious! The only thing I would say is it seems like a long eight hour day for elementary school. Even lunchtime is part of the school day with reading and discussion and the one hour of free time is half spent reading. My kids would be exhausted by this schedule but maybe yours hold up better than mine 😉

 

I would consider giving them the full hour of free time to do whatever they want after lunch. This might actually increase productivity. They have so much reading already, I wouldn't insist on it during that time if they would rather relax in another way. They might be more recharged for the afternoon enrichment block after a full hour of unstructured time with no expectations on them to do something else productive.

[AimeeM]

That is a really, really long day for elementary kiddos. I don't mean to come down on it -- I know how tempting it is to try to fit in everything -- but it looks about a mile wide and only an inch deep, kwim? You're doing a little bit of everything, but only for short increments. And it looks like almost the entirety of their day is completely scheduled (no down time). 

 

Overlap.

You are doing Greek mythology, geography, CC Timeline, and American history. <--- That's several years' worth of history strands you have going on at one time.

You are doing three different threads of science, it appears -- physics, nature, and astronomy.

Two languages, on top of regular English Studies.

 

I see very little time (comparatively) devoted to skill subjects (mathematics, composition, etc.). 

 

You didn't list their ages, but going by the cores you are using, I'm going to guess 4th/5th grades? This is the time that they really need to be working on those skill subjects to prep for upper-level maths and writing. 

 

Edited April 8, 2017 by AimeeM

[calihil]

Wow that's.... a lot...

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[TheAttachedMama]

Thanks everyone for your feedback!  

 

California Dreaming, I like your feedback about upping their outside play time each day after lunch.   I think I will do that.   We never spend a full hour on lunch because we do really simple lunches.  So think that is going to be an easy change.  I used to have all of the kids help clean the kitchen after lunch (that is why I have 60 mins scheduled), but I honestly, I often just shoo them out the door to play so I can make some tea, listen to my audiobook, and clean in peace.   I know long term that isn't probably the best parenting choice because they aren't being trained how to clean, etc.   But I sure do look forward to that cup of tea and time to clean/listen to my audiobook.  (Is that sad?!  hahaha) 

 

Concerning spending more time on math:

We school math year round, so we can finish an entire grade level only working 4 days per week.  Singapore is not like Saxon for those that are not familiar with it.   It is really efficient and the lessons are short.  My kids naturally just get math and really enjoy it.    I know that next year we will start AOPS math, which will probably require a lot more time from us.  So I was thinking that this year might be a good time to focus on some other subjects (other than math).   But I will consider spending more time on it.  I think that is good feedback.  We all love math here...so it would be a labor of love. 

 

 

That is a really, really long day for elementary kiddos. I don't mean to come down on it -- I know how tempting it is to try to fit in everything -- but it looks about a mile wide and only an inch deep, kwim? You're doing a little bit of everything, but only for short increments. And it looks like almost the entirety of their day is completely scheduled (no down time). 

 

Overlap.

You are doing Greek mythology, geography, CC Timeline, and American history. <--- That's several years' worth of history strands you have going on at one time.

You are doing three different threads of science, it appears -- physics, nature, and astronomy.

Two languages, on top of regular English Studies.

 

I see very little time (comparatively) devoted to skill subjects (mathematics, composition, etc.). 

 

You didn't list their ages, but going by the cores you are using, I'm going to guess 4th/5th grades? This is the time that they really need to be working on those skill subjects to prep for upper-level maths and writing. 

 

 

Thanks Aimee!   You always give good advice.    I too worry that it is too long of a day.   That is why I posted here. 

 

Concerning downtime:

The kids will have an hour of downtime in the middle of the day, and then about 3 hours of downtime after school and in between dinner.   They also have a 1/2 hour of downtime while I am doing one-on-one tutoring with their sibling.   That adds up to 4.5 hours a day.    Is 4.5 hours a day not enough?  What would everyone say would be a good number/goal to shoot for?   Maybe if I block off our free time FIRST, I will better be able to prioritize our day. 

 

Concerning history overlap:

I don't really think there is a lot of overlap in history.   D'Aulaire's greek mythology is not really a history study IMHO.   That is more literature or "story".  History this year will be year American history...and geography is directly tied into this study.  We memorize the CC timeline every year so there will always be some type of overlap/review there.   (But 5 mins a day is a nice short time for review.  And I think it gives the kids a better sense of chronology.) 

 

Concerning science overlap:

Astronomy is nature study this year not a separate subject.  So I am doing two things:  our main study will be physics.  Then once per week we will do nature study (astronomy focus).  (Astronomy study will tie in nicely to the greek mythology.) 

 

Skill subjects:

Time devoted to skill subjects will be...

1 hour per day to language arts.  (grammar, composition, copy work/penmanship, dictation, and spelling.)  

1 hour per day devoted to foreign language.  

30 minutes per day devoted to math.  (I may need to up math to an hour.  I think that might be good feedback.)   

1.5 hour per day devoted to reading/literature split over audiobooks and assigned reading (1 hr) then 30 mins a day of free for fun reading.  We also usually have a family book going at night where I read to everyone...that way Dad can have some shared language/story.  ;) 

 

 

[Peaceseeker]

I see that you have a lot of downtime after school before dinner. I was just thinking that if I were a kid it would feel like forever until that block of time finally arrived after a very long day of school. So I was just suggesting breaking up the long day and getting more of a relaxing lunch/recess to recharge before proceeding. If all the kids are thinking is "when will this all be over so I can go play?" then they won't be getting much out of the extra school time you are putting in, ykwim?

 

And it gives you more tea time/recharging too!

Edited April 8, 2017 by CaliforniaDreaming

[fralala]

Is this more or less what you're doing now in terms of time devoted to school/play? I think that's the biggest thing for me in planning what comes next-- to write down exactly what happens now (not what I want to happen, but what actually happens for one whole school day!) and then sort of go by that in terms of what I can expect in the future, although of course things change-- unfortunately my planner doesn't seem to be the magical instrument of change I would wish.

 

I really posted though to tell you I've had about the same experience as you with Singapore Math-- lessons and practice don't take that long, and we do it year-round so if we spent an hour on it each day, my kids would probably accelerate straight into a wall (eventually). I have a-- well, I want to say basket, or bin, but I'm going to have to say 'heap'-- of math and logic games that we can choose from each day once math is finished, and math/logic/puzzle books.

 

I can see how if you're doing a lot of reading and read-alouds the schedule you posted wouldn't feel as intense to your kids-- my children would be perfectly content if I would read aloud to them all.day.long, whether it's history, science, literature, operating instructions, nutrition fact labels...so I can understand that.

[....]

I'm thinking math 4 days a week (for 30 mins at a time) is plenty for a 4th grader/5th grader...  My 9 year-old probably spends about 20-30 minutes a day on math.  An hour is a long time for a little kid.  Even I start mumbling incoherently after an hour of math.  

 

 

 

This is coming from someone who burned out her gifted dd on math a few years ago, so I am really paranoid about preventing burn-out.   :(

[Chelli]

I tried a schedule very similar to this earlier this year. It crashed and burned for one simple reason: too time dependent.

 

I might have math and assigned reading scheduled for an hour, but inevitably it wound up taking an hour and a half due to delays, finding books, bathroom breaks, and general dragging their feet. So the time we actually finished our day was right before dinner with the kids not having any or very little downtime. This was not sustainable for any of us.

 

I followed the advice on padding your schedule in the book Teaching from Rest, so instead of exactly one hour to do those things, it now became an hour and a half to complete those things. I did that with each time block. What I discovered was that when I padded the time, it put us right up to dinner time to fit it all in, so I started cutting things and I changed the way I schedule.

 

We try to start around 9 or 9:30 and we stop at 4:00. The stop time is firm. I have 5 blocks of time in our day. We work through those five blocks until we hit 4 and then we stop and the kids begin their Afternoon Chill activities (piano practice, drawing, free reading, play outside, watch a documentary, typing practice, Prodigy Math, etc.) We eat around 6:30 and after that the kids have unrestricted free time to do whatever they wish until bedtime (usually playing on tablets, watching TV, playing a board game, etc.) If we don't make it through all 5 blocks in one day, then we just pick up where we left off the day before and work through our blocks of time until 4 that day. It's looping, but looping entire portions of your day instead of subjects. It's been working beautifully and no more school until dinner. 

 

ETA: My 5 Blocks: Math, Assigned Reading, Foreign Language (Block 1), Neighborhood Walk (Block 2), Power Hour (Block 3), History/Science (Block 4), Language Arts (Block 5)

 

Now if your kids are diligent workers and will stay on task for exactly the times you have worked out, then totally ignore my advice. But in honesty, I think you'll find that your days are going to run WAY longer than what you have on paper.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Chelli