Julpost Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 The reality is that right now, I just can't get to all the subjects, with my 12yo ds. With my 10 yo and 8 yo dds, and trying to take care of our 3yo and 1 yo, I'm exhausted by 1pm, and beyond exhausted by 7pm. I've been trying to get math, writing, science, history, spanish, vocab., P.E., reading, spelling, grammar, and music 2x/week in and it's just crazy, we can't do it all. We're so far behind that I'm wondering how I'm going to prove that he has made "reasonable improvement" this year to the DOE. He'll take a standardized test and then we'll either submit a portfolio of samples for the subjects the test didn't cover or we'll just have a teacher come over and take a look at his work. He is a fairly independent learner. But he makes so many careless errors that I spend a huge amount of time explaining what needs to be changed and why and re-checking and then checking again. So I'm toying w/the idea of taking the Robinson Curriculum route....2 hours math, 2 hours reading, and 1 hour writing. Should I ditch the spelling (he's doing the ps Spelling Bee), grammar, vocab.(we're using Classical Roots), and spanish? We haven't even started logic yet and art doesn't even exist right now. It would just be for this year, next year I'm hoping to have him join the local Classical Conversations group, that should provide quite a bit of structure and accountability. I hate to ask what's the bare acceptable minimum that he should be doing but that's kind of the direction we're heading in. Or maybe I just need to manage my time better?? I don't know. I'm too tired to even think coherently. I just hope this post made some sort of sense...I really need some advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Yes, that's it - just 5 subjects/day MATH ENGLISH WRITING HISTORY SCIENCE Rotate out history & science on some days to get other things done (reading, spelling, vocab., etc.). Add music practice but that doesn't count as a subject in my book. Get reading done at night or on weekends. Forget logic and art - you're too busy to worry about those. Simplify history & science to audio or video (SOTW cd's with tests or video's from Netflix online or library). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I had a period like that this year. We've had a lot on our plate. I really stressed about not being able to get done what I thought we should be doing. It's hard to let the plan go! The reality is that this is the long jog that we are doing not the short sprint. Do whatever you need to right now to get through right now. Cut back to the bare minimum.... WITHOUT GUILT!!! Sure it's not your idea of how it should be happening but you are not talking about forever and in the end your kids will be just fine for a period of having only the basics. I'd be aiming for Maths. Lots of good reading (history and science related) and some writing occasionally. With those and lots of conversation I'm sure your kids will still learn heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julpost Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Somehow I just needed to hear it was ok to simplify for now. Thanks so much!!! I love the idea of using the SOTW CDs...that will help a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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