Swamped by Afterschooling

[jaysdarlin]

Dear All,

 

As per my intention of starting to Afterschool over the Christmas holidays, I have found myself swamped with the amount of stuff I'm having to do.

 

We have 1/2 hr of Religious Devotional Study before school. This obviously had an impact on our school mornings, but things have kind of tweaked themselves and we are doing ok.

 

2nd, we have 1/2 hr of Religious Memorization practice after school, which fits in ok, unless I get sidetracked into doing other things - things that should have been done while kids were at school.

 

3rd, we have one-to-one study, where I take each child (I have 3) for 40 minutes and work with them. We finish at about 7:15 - kids are in good spirits - but I am shattered.

 

4th, to do all of this smoothly, I have to sit and plan their lessons while they are at school- it takes about an hour, as all three are at different levels.

 

5th, I have not been marking much of their work - and realise that I will have to to take more time during the day when they are at school to plan AND mark aswell. make that about 1 hr 20 minutes. :001_huh:

 

Which leaves me with the question - Is it just teething problems or will Afterschooling always be like this? I am totally swamped! All my day-time gets spent in housework, cooking, power nap, lesson planning, that's it! The other day i had to go out to do some errands - and by the end of the day I was exhausted!!!

 

Also, I am feeling like I have lost touch with the outside world - that of my extended family, who wonder what on earth I do sitting at home all day, and why I'm not coming over to visit/phoning them.

 

Advice anybody?

[BabyBre]

It is what you make it. If there just aren't enough hours in the day to fit it all in, there just aren't. Your dc spend a huge part of their day away, leaving you with very limited time to accomplish all you want with them.

 

Can they work more independently? Can the older ones help the younger ones at times? Can you find a curriculum that doesn't require as much prep time?

 

I'm amazed at what we manage to get accomplished in our short time together, and usually still have a little leisure time before bed. My day while the kids are in school is tightly scheduled, but that actually includes time for running errands and visiting relatives. I don't mean to be presumptive and certainly not to offend, but maybe try a different scheduling plan?

[Mandamom]

You need to determine you priorities. Why are you afterschooling and what do you hope to accomplish?

 

For me I'm working on reading and math. That's it. I have many ideas of other things I would love to do but I know there isn't time for them so we're not doing them.

 

Good luck.

[amsunshine]

It's so hard to really give you any advice, because, other than your religious studies, you don't say exactly what you devote the other study time to. Be that as it may, it does sound like you might need to do some rearranging. It sounds like religion is a high priority for you, but does it absolutely need to be done 5 days per week? Is there any way to consolidate those things into 2 or 3 days per week? If changing that schedule is not negotiable, it may be that you might have to do some other things on weekends. Afterschooling 3 kiddos is really ambitious -- I only do it for 2, so I really feel for you!

 

I find that switching off days for certain things helps -- and I can typically try to work in piano practice for one while I'm working one on one with the other. I only do science once per week (sometimes only on the weekend, and it's usually a fun experiment of some sort -- I try to keep it fun) and I'm saving formal history for the summertime (although we do occasionally read historical biographies during the year). I also don't do formal math every day -- I substitute math or logic games they can play independently on a couple days of the week.

 

Music appreciation a la Themes to Remember is done in the car, as are audiobooks and spanish sometimes. I rotate as needed.

 

Afterschooling is really difficult to schedule and keep your sanity -- be easier on yourself and see if there aren't creative ways to accomplish your end goals. Sometimes that means cutting the time spent on one thing or another, but you are still doing something wonderful for your children! Hang in there!

[jaysdarlin]

Thanks guys. Lots to think about reading all your replies, heres what we have been attempting to do:

Grammar, Fiction, Non Fiction, Poetry, History, Science, Maths. - Maybe I can give poetry a miss seeing as we reead poems once a week before going to bed?

I am trying to keeping it really fun for the kids, its me thats a bit overwhelmed. They were always used to 1 hr of formal studying a day. I really like the idea of re-scheduling! Maybe I can keep the religious studies in the morning, just alternate bewteen what I am teaching.

 

I've been thinking about the question "Why do I want to Afterschool?" and that would mainly be to widen my children's education as the school education they are getting is very substandard. I would love for them to be learning without limits and bounds. Also, I want to instil a love for the religion, by having it an integral part of our lives.

 

Thank you. :001_wub:

Edited January 9, 2009 by jaysdarlin

[G5052]

A good friend of mine from college was afterschooled all the way through because the schools were very poor in his area, they couldn't afford private school, and homeschooling was extremely rare then (I graduated from college 25 years ago!). He and his siblings all did extremely well in college and ended up with graduate degrees, and he always credited his mother for their success.

 

She actually kept it pretty light. Each child had an ongoing reading list that they had to work through, and they had to come discuss each book with his mother after they finished (I assume that she read all of them). If it was a historical novel, she had them look up the history in an encyclopedia before they read. They discussed the characters and main ideas, nothing major. They also had extra math from her, mainly drill and word problems. And she taught them Latin when they got to high school. After dinner she read to them for awhile.

 

Then in the summer she had them do the same work she assigned during the school year, plus they did a lot of writing and pursued various science interests as a family.

 

We're homeschooling, but I've always had that model in the back of my head if I need to send them to the classroom at some point.

[jaysdarlin]

One of the main reasons that I am getting disheartened is that I just do not have a good maths curriculum. I am always looking on the web for suitable worksheets - a lot of sites ask for subscriptions - I took out a subscription and its extremely substandard!!!

 

I hear so many opposing views to the curriculums out there, and they are so costly, I dont know what to do.

[Haiku]

This might be a silly question, as I know nothing about your situation, but if you are spending your days preparing to afterschool, I assume you are not working. Can't you just take your kids out of school and homeschool them?

 

Tara

[jaysdarlin]

Hi Tara,

 

Yes the whole scenario does sound strange. I have my in laws living with me, and we were initially HSing the kids (eldest went into school at 5) - but my in laws were so upset all the time that it just didnt work out.

Edited January 10, 2009 by jaysdarlin

[hischool]

Maybe you can cut back 30-50% of the current workload? For example, you can do one-on-one with one child a night and extend it to an hour. That should help with the lesson planning time too.

 

I work full time and we only afterschool 3 nights a week. I see afterschooling as a Marathon and my goal is to keep going. I know if I push too hard, we will just get burnt out and quit!

[littlefamily]

It is difficult to balance what is too much and what is "necessary". I had great plans for our afterschooling, but the reality is that my girls don't want to do school after spending all day in school. And I want to enjoy the time we have together afterschool and not spend it wrangling with them to get more "school" completed.

 

That being said, our agreement is that they can continue to go to school, but they need to complete some extras at home. They understand that school doesn't provide everything and the key to being successful in life is to learn what is necessary and not wait for school to provide it....

 

Math is very important to me (and they do Everyday Math at school which I am not crazy about...) so they have to complete 3 math lessons of my choosing every week. I use Singapore math extra practice books and the Challenging Word Problems series. Very thorough, but not overkill.

 

We also keep up with reading lists individually and we also read together every night. You can cover so much by doing that - grammar, writing, logic, etc... Again, fun together time, but not overkill.

 

Finding the balance that works for you and your family is not easy. But if you are creative, you will find it!

Edited January 10, 2009 by littlefamily

[Guest wittygal]

I just started Afterschooling around the same time as you. I too am a little flustered but I have taken the approach of BABY STEPS. I really wanted to start off fun so my children would want to come home from school and continue learning. The forums have helped me tremendously. Right now we do religious studies but I pick a person from the scriptures or we call it a SCRIPTURE HERO. The kids enjoy learning and we always do a review about what principles were taught and what they learned from the HERO. We also do Unit Studies, which I love. It makes preparing easier and opens the door to SO many fun activities and field trips. I also have one on one time to help with homework. I am currently searching forums and the internet for a math curriculum, writing ideas and world history books and activities. I am really glad that we have baby stepped into Afterschooling because my children LOVE it and so do I. Now I feel like I can slowly add more learning and growth without to many moans and groans.

 

http://adventuresinafterschooling.blogspot.com/

[SonshineLearner]

I'm just wondering, if you're home during the day, can you jump in and homeschool? Or, maybe your husband's not up for it? My husband thought that our 5 year old might end up not doing enough for kindergarden, and then this year happened. He's just recently admitted that he's more than fine.

If that happens to be the reason.....a good conference helps....

Otherwise, easy does it:-) A little afterschooling and summer schooling should get you there. Also, reading books with your goals in mind. I love Greg Tang's and Cindy Neuschwander's...and playing games:-)

Carrie:-)

[jaysdarlin]

Witty Gal, I just adore your blog. Thanks for sharing you world with us!

 

<<<BIG HUGS>>>

[PenKase]

Hi all,

 

I just wanted to add my experiences here as well. I'm glad to get online and see this post. I was wondering how to fit all our "Smartwork" (that's what we call our afterschooling) into our busy schedule. I have two girls, ages 8 and 5. My dd5 goes to Pre-K in the afternoon and we school in the morning. This works very well for us. We do RSA, Headsprout, HWT, ETC, and Phonics Pathways, independent read aloud and story time with Mama. This takes us about an hour each day and I feel very confident that she is getting a great start!

 

I also schooled my dd8 in the early years. Things have been going well for us until this year, 3rd grade, when the school load and extracurriculars have greatly increased. While I can't do as much as I would like to, I have had to get creative with our use of time. We work through RS and AAS about 3x per week. I also think it important to do handicrafts and I am teaching her to crochet. We have "book club" every Thursday where we meet in Mommy and Daddy's room and read in bed for 30-60 minutes. We then share what we've read with each other. My dd8 came up with the concept all by herself and I thought it was just brilliant!! On Sunday's we write letters to relatives and friends and every night both girls read before bed and write in journals. I am working on adding history ver soon. I've just completed a Book of Centuries to use both with what we do at home but also with what dd8 is learning in social studies at school. While I set my history plans, the Book of Centuries will help her put all the hisotrical context she is learning as school into a format that will make sense to her. I also plan to teach them conversational Spanish and am coming up with plans for that as well.

 

Well that's what we're doing in a nutshell. It is a challenge most of the time but the benefits great. Yes, not everything gets done all the time but having the plan makes this sometimes daunting task very bearable.

 

I know that my children have really benefited from the work we do at home and I also agree that school cannot provide everything that they need. This is something my husband and I really feel strongly about and we'll continue to do it indefinitely.

 

Barack Obama's mother used to wake him at 4:30 am to school him before he went to school. I always remind my girls of that fact when they start to complain!

 

Great job every one and I wish you continues success!!

 

-Cassie

[Renai]

One of the main reasons that I am getting disheartened is that I just do not have a good maths curriculum. I am always looking on the web for suitable worksheets - a lot of sites ask for subscriptions - I took out a subscription and its extremely substandard!!!

 

I hear so many opposing views to the curriculums out there, and they are so costly, I dont know what to do.

 

For worksheets, have you tried http://www.mindsprinting.com? It was suggested to me by someone else on this board awhile back. It's free and it's worked great for us.

[Grammar Stage Parent]

Hi,

 

Let me put a vote in for the high-quality Singapore Math, which is very affordable ($5.50 each for two workbooks and $10.95 for the essential teacher's book and that's all you need for six months).

 

As for the other subjects, why not combine religious studies with composition, spelling, or history? We complement the science and history curricula, and all you need to do that is a good chronology of science, like *The Timetables of Science* by Alexander Hellemans and Bryan Bunch.

 

__________________________________________________

Daughter: 8; Singapore Primary Mathematics 2B; Story of the World Level 1; Writing Strands 2; Spelling Workout Level C; Science experiment books recommended in WTM

 

Son: 5: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons; Singapore Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics 2B