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New to HS! Scheduling question...


AlmiraGulch
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My rising 8th grade dd will be homeschooling for the first time next year. I'd like to know how people handling scheduling for kids this age. Meaning, do you have a certain amount of time that you require your dc to work on each subject per day? Or, do you set out what needs to be accomplished each day or week, and however long it takes him/her to finish that is fine?

 

Also, I'm obsessing over curriculum right now, but I'd appreciate any feedback on my current lineup. You should know that dd is very bright but sometimes a bit lazy. Meaning, she'll do the minimum required to get by. Also, I'm leaning toward secular curriculum:

 

TRISMS History Makers with IEW (History, LA, Reading)

RS4K Chem 2 and then ???? for science

Teaching Textbooks Algebra

Rosetta Stone Spanish

Tae Kwon Do for PE

Local HS enrichment class 1 day a week for 4 hours: Art, journalism, classical literature discussion, photography

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!!!

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My rising 8th grade dd will be homeschooling for the first time next year. I'd like to know how people handling scheduling for kids this age. Meaning, do you have a certain amount of time that you require your dc to work on each subject per day? Or, do you set out what needs to be accomplished each day or week, and however long it takes him/her to finish that is fine?

 

 

 

I think this depends on the child. My three eldest children have all functioned differently. My first dd did well with a weekly assignment sheet. Everything was listed that she needed to accomplish in a week. She was able to manage her own time and get everything accomplished.

 

My second dd is a perfectionist, and this worked against her. She could not handle a weekly list of assignments. She would get started on something and spend way too much time on it. She didn't want to stop until she was finished, but her mind needed a break. She has funcitoned best with a time schedule. She spends a prescribed amount of time in each subject area each day. Because of her perfectionism, she won't allow anything to go uncompleted, and if the time allotted wasn't enought, she'll work extra in the evenings.

 

My third child, a boy, couldn't handle either of these methods. He felt too much pressure having a weekly list hanging over his head. He never felt "free" until it was done. He felt in prison by a time schedule. He functions best with a list of daily assignments, although they are all on one weekly page, he knows when "Monday's work" is finished. I do think it helps to move them to manage their own time by the end of high school and we are working towards that.

 

HTH,

Leanna

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I create a schedule of assignments and however long it takes, is however long it takes. Sometimes it takes 4 hours, others as much as 6.

 

Here's a link to my 6th grade schedule, I should have my new 7th grade one up in a week. I know your child is older, but you might find looking at the way the schedule is laid out helpful. It does take time to type this up, but it makes our school year go by very well organized. We all love it. I keep a copy for me, and I print a copy for he to mark through when she's working independently. It also makes for a nice record of everything we did for her academic portfolio, and serves as an attendance chart....notice the date section at the top.

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4250976/0809-Master-Grade-6-Schedule-PDF

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We do kind of a mix. My kids have a list of assignments scheduled for each day that they are required to accomplish. But for math we do it strictly by time limit...so my 6th grader is required to spend 30 minutes (next year it will be 40) working on math while my 4th grader is required to spend 25.

 

Math is the biggest struggle for us because some topics just click right away while others don't. It helps my kids to know that they only have to spend x amount of time on something that may be tough for them. When they reach one of the sections that seems easier to grasp, they tend to fly through it so they make up most of time where they were a bit bogged down.

 

Kelli in WA

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Thanks so much for your replies!

 

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and my dd tends to be a bit of a procrastinator (just like her mother!). :D I'm afraid that if we just say that she needs to accomplish x, y and z over the course of the week she'll wait until the last minute to do it. She may be ok with that, but it will drive me bonkers! After all, I'm in grad school myself (and work full time, and am a single mother), so I certainly don't need to worry about her not finishing her work when I'm concerned with finishing my own (sad, I know).

 

Prisca Sapientia, your schedule is crazy good, but I have to admit I DREAD putting together stuff like that!!!

 

That said, I know it will be better for me to do it. That way, we'll be able to guage if we're getting done what needs to be done in a reasonable amount of time. Plus, if she wants or needs to adjust, at least we'll have a jumping off point.

 

Thanks again!

 

Oh...and if anyone has any thoughts our comments about what I think is going to be her curriculum (i.e., too much, too little, missing something obvious), please chime in on that, too.

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I want the following done every day:

Writing

Literature reading

Math

Religion

Spelling

Grammer

 

Every week:

Science at least 2X

History at least 2 X

One day of outside classes (this year it is a Nature Awareness class)

Vocal music

Logic--2 X

Proofreading--1X

 

I would like to add foreign language, but tend not to. Blush. Also science experiments--we are far less hands on then I would prefer.

 

So, DD knows to do the daily stuff first, pretty much, and we talk about how to handle the rest on an ad hoc basis. We generally cover more material than I have on the schedule, which I consider kind of the MDR.

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Prisca Sapientia, your schedule is crazy good, but I have to admit I DREAD putting together stuff like that!!!

 

I'm going to heartily agree with the first part of this statement.

 

For the second part. . .go to my blog. It's honestly not a shameless plug; I'm offering help.

 

On my blog there are a number of schedules FREE for your use. Just grab them and go.

 

For example: TT Al. 1 -- it's there. (ETA: err, no it's not! It's done, I just haven't uploaded it! I'll try to get to that this week. :lol:)

 

Have a subject that's not pre-done? There are blank schedules available for you to fill in; thus, saving you the time and effort of formatting.

 

HTH

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I give my kids a planner with all their assignments broken down into a.m. and p.m. They know the a.m. work has to be done by lunchtime. We have to leave for activities at 3:30 every day, so they know the p.m. assignments have to be done by then. Anything not done is homework.

 

I have these in Excel files. I would be happy to send them to you, just pm me with your email address.

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For the second part. . .go to my blog. It's honestly not a shameless plug; I'm offering help.

 

On my blog there are a number of schedules FREE for your use. Just grab them and go.

 

For example: TT Al. 1 -- it's there. (ETA: err, no it's not! It's done, I just haven't uploaded it! I'll try to get to that this week. :lol:)

 

HTH

 

Thank you! These are great! And I'll definitely be checking back awaiting your TT Algebra 1 schedule....I'm so stealing it! :D

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Thank you! These are great! And I'll definitely be checking back awaiting your TT Algebra 1 schedule....I'm so stealing it! :D

 

Okay, I THINK it's up and running. You'll have to let me know if you run into problems.

 

Oh, and it's not stealing if it's been offered. ;)

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:thumbup:Thankyou from me, as well, for your schedules, and for sharing them! I just printed out the Apologia Chemistry schedule, as that's what my ds15 is doing next year! What a time and life saver! Thankyou so much!:hurray:

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