Fitting it all in...yet having a Schole experience???

[ByGrace3]

As I am working on a schedule for this school year...I just can't seem to make it all fit. I guard my "days" as best as I can, and there are sports every afternoon. In fall, my 8th grader swims for a private high school team so practice is at 3 every afternoon. 

Add in all the subjects, and live and online classes...  I just don't see enough hours in the day...I certainly don't see a jam packed schedule as restful...what am I doing wrong. 

Her subjects are with the time I am allotting (we won't be slaves to the clock, but I just do this for general scheduling purposes). 

daily piano practice (30 minutes)

bible/morning basket/read aloud (1hr)

Algebra 1 (1hr+1 hour live online class on mondays) Mr. d math

spanish (30 minutes + 1.5 in person class 1 day a week) Breaking the Barrier 

World geography and literature (1hr) mom made using MP 3 as a spine

Physical Science (1hr) Exploration Education

Grammar, writing, Vocab (in a 1 hour a day block with logic right now, but I'm not sure if this will be enough time) AG, writing across curriculum, and Word Build

logic (art of argument with Schole Academy--live class MW)

Right now I have her starting at 8, finishing at 2:30 with 30 minutes for lunch. 

We also have to add in piano lessons one day a week and school chapel (mandatory only for fall while she is competing with the school). 

What a I missing... I know sometimes things work better in real time than on paper...but I REALLY want a restful learning environment...and I was trying hard to go deeper this year to spend more time on one thing..a multum non multa approach...but I don't feel like I am achieving that...

[cintinative]

What grade/age is this child?

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

23 minutes ago, ByGrace3 said:

As I am working on a schedule for this school year...I just can't seem to make it all fit. I guard my "days" as best as I can, and there are sports every afternoon. In fall, my 8th grader swims for a private high school team so practice is at 3 every afternoon. 

Add in all the subjects, and live and online classes...  I just don't see enough hours in the day...I certainly don't see a jam packed schedule as restful...what am I doing wrong. 

Her subjects are with the time I am allotting (we won't be slaves to the clock, but I just do this for general scheduling purposes). 

daily piano practice (30 minutes)

bible/morning basket/read aloud (1hr)

Algebra 1 (1hr+1 hour live online class on mondays) logic (30 minutes +1 hr live online class on MW) Mr. d math

spanish (30 minutes + 1.5 in person class 1 day a week) Breaking the Barrier 

World geography and literature (1hr) mom made using MP 3 as a spine

Physical Science (1hr) Exploration Education

Grammar, writing, Vocab (in a 1 hour a day block with logic right now, but I'm not sure if this will be enough time) AG, writing across curriculum, and Word Build

logic (art of argument with Schole Academy)

Right now I have her starting at 8, finishing at 2:30 with 30 minutes for lunch. 

We also have to add in piano lessons one day a week and school chapel (mandatory only for fall while she is competing with the school). 

What a I missing... I know sometimes things work better in real time than on paper...but I REALLY want a restful learning environment...and I was trying hard to go deeper this year to spend more time on one thing..a multum non multa approach...but I don't feel like I am achieving that...

 

It's been a couple of years since I looked into the work of the Schole sisters, but I distinctly remember looking away from one of them when I realized that her key to serenity was to outsource more than half of her children's education to co-ops.

If you do that, you, too, will be able to enjoy peaceful morning meetings, etc. and then it's a matter of driving the kids to their de facto schools almost every day of the week.

Now, for homeschooling, whether you want to call it schole or multum non multa or whichever buzzword is possible, it's all about the same thing: Know your goals, simplify, and focus. As I look at your list, I get the feeling that you are simply allotting too much time for some subjects, and others could be streamlined:

Bible - that's good, but how about 20 minutes, and skip morning basket? This may be one of your non-negotiables, but I found that as my children grew up toward high school level workloads, the circle time, "one room schoolhouse" start to the day didn't work anymore. It took up too much of their time. 

Logic - you have math logic and English logic going, both; could you do one this year and the other next year?

Algebra - could you add one hour on Saturday, so that she doesn't have two hours on live lesson day? 

Spanish - ditto. Two subjects having homework on the weekend isn't bad, for 8th grade.

English - do you need vocab and Word Build? Did she get enough grammar in grammar school (grades 3 to 6'ish)? 

 

Don't compare to others; we're not in their homes and we don't know how their children are doing. Comparing their co-op style for elementary might not work for homeschooling 8th grade and older...your problem is that you need a shorter day for your child. There are a few ways to do it, but it boils down to the fact that something will have to go, and other things will have to be shortened. She might not need an entire hour for some of those subjects, for example. 

Please take what you can use and discard the rest. ?

 

[ByGrace3]

4 hours ago, Tibbie Dunbar said:

 

It's been a couple of years since I looked into the work of the Schole sisters, but I distinctly remember looking away from one of them when I realized that her key to serenity was to outsource more than half of her children's education to co-ops.

If you do that, you, too, will be able to enjoy peaceful morning meetings, etc. and then it's a matter of driving the kids to their de facto schools almost every day of the week.

Now, for homeschooling, whether you want to call it schole or multum non multa or whichever buzzword is possible, it's all about the same thing: Know your goals, simplify, and focus. As I look at your list, I get the feeling that you are simply allotting too much time for some subjects, and others could be streamlined:

Bible - that's good, but how about 20 minutes, and skip morning basket? This may be one of your non-negotiables, but I found that as my children grew up toward high school level workloads, the circle time, "one room schoolhouse" start to the day didn't work anymore. It took up too much of their time. 

Logic - you have math logic and English logic going, both; could you do one this year and the other next year?

Algebra - could you add one hour on Saturday, so that she doesn't have two hours on live lesson day? 

Spanish - ditto. Two subjects having homework on the weekend isn't bad, for 8th grade.

English - do you need vocab and Word Build? Did she get enough grammar in grammar school (grades 3 to 6'ish)? 

 

Don't compare to others; we're not in their homes and we don't know how their children are doing. Comparing their co-op style for elementary might not work for homeschooling 8th grade and older...your problem is that you need a shorter day for your child. There are a few ways to do it, but it boils down to the fact that something will have to go, and other things will have to be shortened. She might not need an entire hour for some of those subjects, for example. 

Please take what you can use and discard the rest. ?

 

I suppose some things were not very clear. bible and morning basket (our memory work) only takes 30 minutes together, the other 30 minutes is read aloud.

the only math she should have on live class day is the class...and 1 hour a day each day that is not class say. 

Only 1 logic class (art of argument)

grammar-- she is in the last season of Analytical grammar so it will only be the first 10-12 weeks or so. The rest of the year is light reinforcement pages. 

Only 1 vocabulary-- word build. 

 

I do hear you on the co-ops/ outsource thing...around here the co-ops are not... Enough... And online classes are so $$$ We stretched to make these 2 happen. I do wish I had more affordable options sometimes, but I am grateful I am capable of teaching well...and while it may not be as restful as letting someone else teach lol...I really do want to make it a more restful environment for me and the kids. We are diving deeper this year so while the schedule is full...I do hope it is somewhat enjoyable. 

[ByGrace3]

4 hours ago, cintinative said:

What grade/age is this child?

 

13/8th grade

[8filltheheart]

If you really want depth and focus, the. I would cut out what could be considered optional. You could cut out logic.  If the student has sports every afternoon, Imwould not have an hour of PE scheduled daily. I would cut back on science from an hour to 45 mins.  And if time is a real problem, I would not include the oldest in read aloud time and let her use that time for piano practice or her own reading.

[ByGrace3]

8 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

If you really want depth and focus, the. I would cut out what could be considered optional. You could cut out logic.  If the student has sports every afternoon, Imwould not have an hour of PE scheduled daily. I would cut back on science from an hour to 45 mins.  And if time is a real problem, I would not include the oldest in read aloud time and let her use that time for piano practice or her own reading.

 

I don't have PE scheduled, that's Physical Science. ;) the website for EE says 50 minutes a day, I scheduled an hour just in case...

i thought about skipping logic, instead I have her repeating the book we did on our own last year with an online class which I think she will enjoy. 

As far as read aloud, it ties into our world geography studies...though this will probably be the last year for her to be a part of read aloud so...the schedule is getting rough. 

So...I guess the question is...this is an ok lineup for an academic 8th grader? I'm not asking too much? It's so hard to balance wanting to encourage a love of learning with "trying to keep up" academically. 

[Another Lynn]

I think 8 - 2:30 or 3 is reasonable for 8th grade and I think it looks like a good list of classes/resources.  As long as this is not drastically more than your dd is used to doing (and I believe it's not), I think it's fine.    

As far as schole goes....  For us, I think the feeling of restfulness is greatly impacted by my own attitude about what we're doing.  Without going into detail, our schedule is really busy.  We do outsource some classes locally and we're on the go a lot for extra curriculars across all 4 kids, but I still feel it's what we need to do.  So, here's hoping I can remember to be glad about all of it, lol!  

[8filltheheart]

12 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

 

I don't have PE scheduled, that's Physical Science. ? the website for EE says 50 minutes a day, I scheduled an hour just in case...

i thought about skipping logic, instead I have her repeating the book we did on our own last year with an online class which I think she will enjoy. 

As far as read aloud, it ties into our world geography studies...though this will probably be the last year for her to be a part of read aloud so...the schedule is getting rough. 

So...I guess the question is...this is an ok lineup for an academic 8th grader? I'm not asking too much? It's so hard to balance wanting to encourage a love of learning with "trying to keep up" academically. 

I see that now.  I skimmed it and processed it both as physical science and physical education.  So much for my skimming skills!!

 

2 hours ago, Another Lynn said:

I think 8 - 2:30 or 3 is reasonable for 8th grade and I think it looks like a good list of classes/resources.  As long as this is not drastically more than your dd is used to doing (and I believe it's not), I think it's fine.    

As far as schole goes....  For us, I think the feeling of restfulness is greatly impacted by my own attitude about what we're doing.  Without going into detail, our schedule is really busy.  We do outsource some classes locally and we're on the go a lot for extra curriculars across all 4 kids, but I still feel it's what we need to do.  So, here's hoping I can remember to be glad about all of it, lol!  

I think Lynn's answer hits the main point.  The expected amt of time isn't how I determine whether or not our homeschool is satisfying our need for a fulfilling learning environment. I really don't relate to the entire "restfulness" mantra.  I teach from a place of inner confidence bc I am well-prepared for engaging my kids in academic learning.  There is no frenzy or panic or chaos bc I spend time being prepared.  Our days are as long as they need to be for mastery of our daily assignments.  I plan according to what I know they are capable of achieving and what I believe is age appropriate.  My 8th graders are spending anywhere from 6-8 hrs on solid academic work.  I don't think "schole" is from short days.  I believe it is from succeeding in providing an excellent education that meets my children's individual needs and providing them the skills for mastering what they are learning.

Honestly, I never understood why so many homeschoolers thought the views on peaceful homeschooling or teaching from rest from someone with so little actual homeschooling experience were somehow authentically insightful.  Tibbie's post reaffirms my initial gut reaction to the "schole" movement.  ? Homeschooling is hard work and time consuming.  There is no way around it.  It consumes your days (as it should when you are talking about kids approaching high school.)  But, it does not need to be frenetic.  They can be some of the best full-time days in your parenting experience.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I would just add that creating a peaceful atmosphere may be more about you putting in prep work upfront than about any actual division of the day or curriculum choice.  This is something I personally struggle with, but I know when I put the time in upfront, my kids do have a very peaceful experience because *I* am projecting a pretty calm and enthusiastic presence.  

[ByGrace3]

I just re-read all of your replies. Thank you for taking time to help. I feel confident in our plan of what we plan to cover this year, it may just take some tweaking to be sure the schedule works. And yes, ultimately, the frantic feeling in our home is often due to my preparedness or lack thereof. I am looking forward to starting back in a few weeks...new routines, new perspective. I will just have to adjust as needed...Thank you all! 

[GeoKitty]

Exploration education takes about 15-20 minutes Monday through Wednesday.  And 30-45 minutes on Thursday and fridays.... except some of the projects like the airplane take hours to build.   

My DD, also starting 8th, is a competitive gymnast who has practice four hours daily.   To accommodate her schedule, we cut out all busywork, and do lots of reading and discussion, rather than writing everything out.  She likes to study many different subjects, which she does informally, on her own time.   HTH

[ByGrace3]

2 hours ago, GeoKitty said:

Exploration education takes about 15-20 minutes Monday through Wednesday.  And 30-45 minutes on Thursday and fridays.... except some of the projects like the airplane take hours to build.   

My DD, also starting 8th, is a competitive gymnast who has practice four hours daily.   To accommodate her schedule, we cut out all busywork, and do lots of reading and discussion, rather than writing everything out.  She likes to study many different subjects, which she does informally, on her own time.   HTH

This does help, thank you! I was hesitant about the 50 minutes daIily the website said it took. I am glad to know it doesn't take that much time every day!

[Bluegoat]

On 7/22/2018 at 5:30 PM, ByGrace3 said:

As I am working on a schedule for this school year...I just can't seem to make it all fit. I guard my "days" as best as I can, and there are sports every afternoon. In fall, my 8th grader swims for a private high school team so practice is at 3 every afternoon. 

Add in all the subjects, and live and online classes...  I just don't see enough hours in the day...I certainly don't see a jam packed schedule as restful...what am I doing wrong. 

Her subjects are with the time I am allotting (we won't be slaves to the clock, but I just do this for general scheduling purposes). 

daily piano practice (30 minutes)

bible/morning basket/read aloud (1hr)

Algebra 1 (1hr+1 hour live online class on mondays) Mr. d math

spanish (30 minutes + 1.5 in person class 1 day a week) Breaking the Barrier 

World geography and literature (1hr) mom made using MP 3 as a spine

Physical Science (1hr) Exploration Education

Grammar, writing, Vocab (in a 1 hour a day block with logic right now, but I'm not sure if this will be enough time) AG, writing across curriculum, and Word Build

logic (art of argument with Schole Academy--live class MW)

Right now I have her starting at 8, finishing at 2:30 with 30 minutes for lunch. 

We also have to add in piano lessons one day a week and school chapel (mandatory only for fall while she is competing with the school). 

What a I missing... I know sometimes things work better in real time than on paper...but I REALLY want a restful learning environment...and I was trying hard to go deeper this year to spend more time on one thing..a multum non multa approach...but I don't feel like I am achieving that...

 

I would probably ditch morning basket and read aloud at that age.  If you enjoy reading aloud as a family, make that family time when you choose.

I would look at counting outside classes like algebra as the work time for that day.  So, if she does an hour class she doesn't do another hour of math that day, for any outsourced classes like music.

I would be doing music, math, and Spanish every day.  I'd do some LA every day, but not necessarily every program you are using.  And probably also literature.

For logic, geography, and physical science, I would not do all three every day, I might even just do one a day in rotation of some kind.

[nixpix5]

I would say 8-230 looks good and keep in mind that 8th graders in a traditional school setting have the same hours plus many more hours in the evening doing homework. 

[mamamoose]

On 7/23/2018 at 6:30 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

I see that now.  I skimmed it and processed it both as physical science and physical education.  So much for my skimming skills!!

 

I think Lynn's answer hits the main point.  The expected amt of time isn't how I determine whether or not our homeschool is satisfying our need for a fulfilling learning environment. I really don't relate to the entire "restfulness" mantra.  I teach from a place of inner confidence bc I am well-prepared for engaging my kids in academic learning.  There is no frenzy or panic or chaos bc I spend time being prepared.  Our days are as long as they need to be for mastery of our daily assignments.  I plan according to what I know they are capable of achieving and what I believe is age appropriate.  My 8th graders are spending anywhere from 6-8 hrs on solid academic work.  I don't think "schole" is from short days.  I believe it is from succeeding in providing an excellent education that meets my children's individual needs and providing them the skills for mastering what they are learning.

Honestly, I never understood why so many homeschoolers thought the views on peaceful homeschooling or teaching from rest from someone with so little actual homeschooling experience were somehow authentically insightful.  Tibbie's post reaffirms my initial gut reaction to the "schole" movement.  ? Homeschooling is hard work and time consuming.  There is no way around it.  It consumes your days (as it should when you are talking about kids approaching high school.)  But, it does not need to be frenetic.  They can be some of the best full-time days in your parenting experience.

This is exactly why I have spent my entire summer planning. I have not found a plan that suits us so I adapt and I want it all scheduled. Down to the script, almost. So I do it myself while my kids climb trees and swim in the pond. But our school year is as restful as it can be.

[BetterthanIdeserve]

I'm trying to figure out the exact same thing for my 8th grade daughter as well. I really want to add Latin her schedule, but I'm afraid it will be too much. We have a long Morning Time (Bible, read aloud for Tapestry of Grace, and memory work - How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare) this year, but we quit our co-op this year to enjoy doing more as a family before she starts high school next year. 

I think her schedule will roughly look like this:

8:00 Morning Time (Bible, history read aloud, memory work, fine art appreciation). Some days we get in one mile walk as well. 

9:00 Jacob's Algebra

10:00 Tapestry of Grace History/Literature  plus a short break around 10:30. 

11:15 Apologia's Physical Science

12:00 Lunch

12:45 Rod & Staff English 7 (we are a year behind because we tried to do Latin Alive instead last year but it was basically a bust ) - we skip most of the composition assignments because we do Tapestry writing. 

1:30 Tapestry of Grace Writing 3x/week, The Fallacy Detective Logic OR Study Skills 1x/week

2:15 Tapestry of Grace Worldview 2-3x/week, Geography 1x/week, and Philosophy 1x/week

3:00 Break and then Flute practice

I'm hoping she'll be done closer to 2:30 than 3:00, but this schedule has a little margin built in.

She'll have 80 minutes of band practice one morning a week and 4 hours of Speech & Debate club every other Friday afternoon (which will usually fall on our day off of school because we do a longer school year and plan to take every other Friday off). I'm hoping to work in some biking/running before school. She is often up by 6:30am and if she doesn't have a good book, she has been known to start school early in the past. However, she seems to be needing more sleep lately, so that could look different this year. 

So I don't have any advice to offer, but wanted you to see what we're doing. If we add Latin, I'll probably drop English (but I really wanted to get through Rod & Staff 7 first) or Worldview/Philosophy so that school will be more of a schole experience. I've been telling myself all summer, I'm going to have to say no to good things. We just had our first full week of school. One day she was done by 2:00 another day she was done after 3:30. I haven't ordered Latin curriculum yet. I thought I'd reevaluate after a couple of weeks.  

 

 

[LMD]

It doesn't look completely unreasonable for 8th to me. I would think about what I could cut if it turns out to be too much. Probably logic and vocab, maybe move the geog/lit to morning read aloud and that original morning read aloud to bed time or audio book in the car. Or perhaps cut grammar and logic to twice a week each instead of both everyday.

I totally get your struggle though, I also struggle with wanting time to go deep/relish, short lessons and 'broad feast', down time and masterly inactivity,  self directed interests,  practical and family/friend life etc. And then fitting in my other 3 students. Not enough hours in the day...