smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 I have this coming year roughly planned out but I have this nagging feeling I’m not doing enough. But I’m also trying to be realistic. This is probably the least planned year I’ve homeschooled yet but most of what I’m doing is just “open to the next lesson and do that” so I haven’t done too much planning. And much of what I have planned is fairly mom-intensive due to my kids just not doing very well working independently on anything for varying reasons. So, looking at my signature which is my plan for the year, are there any glaring gaps? We’ll do history, read aloud, some shakespeare, some science, some music study, etc in our morning time together and then I’ll rotate between kids for their individual lessons, probably starting with K’er since I can get his LOE and RS done fairly quickly and he can go play with the baby. The 2nd grader is quite bright and I’m not certain how to keep him challenged. I’ve kept him reading all summer and he’s doing much better than I anticipated so the reading work I was planning to do with I’m not sure I need to do anymore. But then what do I do in place of it? The 4th grader I feel pretty good about. I know she’ll do fine with the IEW stuff and she’s loving BA. she does pretty well with the arrows too. And we’ve been working together to build her a spelling dictionary and homegrown lists. I think this all will keep her pretty busy. I've never taken such a laid back approach to planning as I’m taking this year but I’m tired. And really, can’t we just go on to the next lesson in everything? Am I seriously messing up by backing off on the planning? Of course I’ll look ahead as we go to make sure I have supplies and books we need from the library. Argh! Why do I always second guess myself?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 I have kids those same ages. Your line up looks good to me. The only other things that we do are programming and memorization for my older two and daily Spanish practice for my 5, 7, and 9 year olds. They all attend a weekly Spanish immersion class, and to make sure they are thriving in the class and steadily building their skills, I schedule Spanish time every day for speaking, listening, practicing vocab, etc. Wendy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 It looks fine to me. I'd probably want more history and science, but I know that many people don't and it's fine. If you want to have some low stress 'more stuff', fill a basket with age-appropriate literature, historical fiction, living science books or science picture books, puzzle workbooks, etc and have your kids spend 15-30 minutes doing whatever they want from the basket. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Enough is such a subjective word. Write down what your goals are for overall education. What do you think is important during your time together? Then compare that to what you've organized this year. I have a friend who would say that's certainly not enough. The children should have more nature study, discovery play, and music/art. I would have others say that is more than enough - the basics are just fine for elementary. Different philosophies, you know? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acresoft Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 If you have all that stuff in your morning time, have good quality math and spelling programs, have Bible time, and let them continue to read in their spare time; you should have a fairly rounded course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 2nd grade is a good time to add chess on the computer. We did Fritz & Chesster around that age. Also Zoombinis, a logic game, is good. Maybe they have app versions now too, hmm. Amazon has a STEM kit club you can just for just $20 a box, and it will magically appear at the frequency you specify. Some things like that might help keep him occupied. On the enough question, I think your plan to focus on basics and then keeping them happy (answering their questions, facilitating them pursuing their interests in their free time) is a good one. When you're burnt out especially, it's a really wise plan. Taking care of yourself is the best way to be able to do more later. Have some goals for each dc, all written out, so you'll know that whether you get a ton done or less at least you hit your most important GOALS for the year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 5 hours ago, PeterPan said: 2nd grade is a good time to add chess on the computer. We did Fritz & Chesster around that age. Also Zoombinis, a logic game, is good. Maybe they have app versions now too, hmm. Amazon has a STEM kit club you can just for just $20 a box, and it will magically appear at the frequency you specify. Some things like that might help keep him occupied. On the enough question, I think your plan to focus on basics and then keeping them happy (answering their questions, facilitating them pursuing their interests in their free time) is a good one. When you're burnt out especially, it's a really wise plan. Taking care of yourself is the best way to be able to do more later. Have some goals for each dc, all written out, so you'll know that whether you get a ton done or less at least you hit your most important GOALS for the year. This is a good idea with chess! It will keep him busy and he craves that ‘video game’ time. I’ll have to look into those STEM club you mentioned. I was planning to ask for some kind of kit thing like that for his birthday gift or Christmas gift from grandparents so that could work. I have the snap circuits but I haven’t let him do them on his own because I dknow not want him to blow anything up. ? I'm just concerned about there not being enough of me to go around to all of them, given the choices in curriculum we’ve made. Maybe it will be better than anticipated. I need to keep reminding myself they are all different and have different levels of needs. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 17 hours ago, wendyroo said: I have kids those same ages. Your line up looks good to me. The only other things that we do are programming and memorization for my older two and daily Spanish practice for my 5, 7, and 9 year olds. They all attend a weekly Spanish immersion class, and to make sure they are thriving in the class and steadily building their skills, I schedule Spanish time every day for speaking, listening, practicing vocab, etc. Wendy What programming have you started with? I have a scratch book/app but I feel like it’s something I need to sit down with him to do. Is there anything I can let him loose on his own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 8 hours ago, ClemsonDana said: It looks fine to me. I'd probably want more history and science, but I know that many people don't and it's fine. If you want to have some low stress 'more stuff', fill a basket with age-appropriate literature, historical fiction, living science books or science picture books, puzzle workbooks, etc and have your kids spend 15-30 minutes doing whatever they want from the basket. We actually do quite a bit of history reading with TOG so I think I’m set there. I haven’t scheduled any more science than we cover at our co-op mostly because I just haven’t had enough time in the past. I do want to do more nature study; I’ll just have to see how smoothly this year starts out... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 8 hours ago, HomeAgain said: Enough is such a subjective word. Write down what your goals are for overall education. What do you think is important during your time together? Then compare that to what you've organized this year. I have a friend who would say that's certainly not enough. The children should have more nature study, discovery play, and music/art. I would have others say that is more than enough - the basics are just fine for elementary. Different philosophies, you know? Thats the problem, right? Comparison. I know this covers the basics plus some in our morning time... and I tend to want them to accomplish more than perhaps they’re able so I’m trying to be more realistic this year. Maybe once we get back into our rhythm we’ll find those gaps and fill them with something fantastic. ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 8 hours ago, acresoft said: If you have all that stuff in your morning time, have good quality math and spelling programs, have Bible time, and let them continue to read in their spare time; you should have a fairly rounded course. Spelling is probably our big weakness. For the boys, LOE has them covered, for now. For my daughter, on the other hand, I have an idea but not a curriculum... I’ve been considering adding a spelling curriculum in for her... during the summer I’ve had them reading quietly every day for 45 minutes and plan to continue that. It’s been fun to see the 2nd grader improve so much this summer! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 53 minutes ago, smarson said: What programming have you started with? I have a scratch book/app but I feel like it’s something I need to sit down with him to do. Is there anything I can let him loose on his own? We like to start them with code.org which is free online. It has fun programming challenges based around popular themes. They are drag and drop coding (snapping together code blocks), so it doesn’t require typing or worrying about syntax. By the end, though, they do require some pretty deep thinking and problem solving. I like that the challenges start easy, but after a while my kids have to slow down, really think through the problems and keep trying several times before they solve the puzzle. Wendy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarson Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Thanks @wendyroo! We’ll give that a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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