So this was brought up on that board, and while I'm trying not to pay attention to what others do (I'm too easily influenced), I thought it might be interesting to see how other plan their day or how their day "just happens". Do you have an order to your subjects? Do you have a specific reason you do things this way? For me, I have learned I am great at letting the "cake" subjects slide. I know and the kids know we HAVE to do the skill subjects every day.. Math and Language Arts. We are lazy and once these are done, we are done for the day.. no joke. I have had to open my eyes to the fact that most days these are all we do. We don't touch science topics (though lately they have been asking for Bill Nye.. YAY!!), social studies or the icing subjects of art, music, spanish. If we put those subjects first, they get done... but I'm having a hard time making myself put them first... again probably because I'm lazy! We are doing a Native American study before we begin our Complete Book of United States History and they are pretty into that and it's getting done too.. but not as often as I would like it to. Anyway.. how do your days look?
I'm not there yet, but my plan is also to focus on Math/Language arts and do the others here and there. I'm going to buy curriculums for Math/Language arts, but right now I'm not planning on purchasing curriculum for the other subjects next year. I figure I'll use free resources on science/history/ect for the time being. She'll technically be a 1st grader and it'll be my first year of homeschooling so I'm trying to not get too overwhelmed (ha! I haven't even started and I'm terrified).
We have fallen into an order that seems to work well for us. I didn't really plan it and I'm not even sure why it works. My sons seem to like knowing what comes next. We do switch things up from time to time. It isn't a strict schedule. Bible Handwriting Math Science Language Arts History Computer (this means games right now but will include typing in the near future) We don't do science and history every day. Some days we will do both, some just one, and others neither. I know what I want done in a week and I plan around what days are busier in a particular week.
Math and language arts are done daily. It seems that everytime i set up a schedule for science, history etc it never gets done. If there is no schedule we tend to do things like those every week but there is no rhyme or reason to when they get done.
This has always been us! Do math and language arts and then maybe just maybe we would hit another subject in the week.. yes just 1 other... and those are the things we enjoy. I need to get them into our regular "schedule".. I'm not a scheduler, but I think if I say we need to do "something science on Monday and Wednesday, and something Social Studies on Tuesday and Thursday and either art or music on Fridays... and put those things FIRST in our day they are getting done a little more regularly.
Now that my kids are older, we start with prayer, the kids going upstairs for Bible reading, and then I read aloud. After that, I meet with Phillip and go over language and history and whatever I need to go over and give him his assignments for the day. Then go over math and history and whatever else with Faythe, and give HER assignments for the day. Carl will go over Phillip's math with him sometime in the afternoon. The rest of the day is spent with them doing the lessons.
I make my 2nd grader practice piano first. Otherwise we forget. So I guess we need the extra stuff in early too.
Our days pretty much go like this: Bible Foreign language PE Math Language Arts Exercise History, Geography, Art, Music, or Logic and Guitar practice Science Child-chosen independent study
Since I have had my daughter (she is 3 1/2 months now) I have had to reorder some things. Now, my son's workbooks are placed where he can grab them when he is done with breakfast/morning chores and start working on them. It is such a help for him to start on his own! He can also do them in whatever order he wants, because we almost always get stuff done on the day that I have scheduled them to be done. He likes to have that little bit of control over his work, and it isn't that big of a deal to me. I think it will really help when my middle child starts school this fall also for him to be a bit more independent.
I make a list of everything that has to be done each day for a week. We get started on it in the morning after breakfast. If it's all completed by afternoon, we do "whatever" (x-box, errands, legos, etc.). If we have one of "those days", I toss the list out the window and start over the next day.
For us lots of trial & error last year as it was my 1st year. This school year the biggest thing I have had accept is that we just cannot do every subject every day.....and relieving myself of that pressure . We have fallen into a nice block like schedule that seems to be working. Daily: Bible, handwriting & reading M,W,F : math, ETC online & spelling, geography/ S.S T & Th: nature study through the outdoor hour challenge, sketch / write in nature notebook, picture study, music ( which sometimes is just listening to the orchestra during lunch & talking about the instruments we hear) , co-op P.E. class that I teach F - Any art projects we desire to do & wrap up unfinished items. -Game Day- periodically we do a game day. All academics aside for the day & do geography games, math games, word games, strategy games etc. ....which is still educational but breaks up the mundane of day to day . Next year I am adding sign language & vocab. So I will be figuring out the best way to add those to our schedule. Who knows I may have to re vamp things and try it slightly different. Ahhhh.... The beauty of homeschooling.
We're pretty much a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants family. When we sit down for school it's Bible first, then reading and math or math and reading. Then, it's fun stuff, history and science, music and art. I've been letting art slide...a lot... I love learning with the kids though, so that makes it easier. Like next week we'll be studying bluegrass music and learn the history of the Banjo...I'm excited
We have fallen into a routine that seems to work well for us...but I have no idea how we landed here or why it works! Bible and History first. (We do these everyday and all three kids do the same topic.) Oldest and youngest then do math, middle does IEW Middle does math, oldest and youngest do grammar Each do their own "thing" - youngest spelling, middle vocab and reading comprehension, and oldest Latin and vocab. We throw in art, music, and science here and there throughout the week. For whatever reason this has just seemed to be the pattern we fall into where everyone gets more done with less grumbling. I'm all about that!
We have been doing something like this most days: Get up and do chores, take care of pets, breakfast, showers, make beds etc. They get to play video games or PS3 or watch netflix for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then they do the selfdirected subjects for about an hour. We do lunch. Then we do the rest, the harder subjects where they need my help or that we do together.
Order? I LAUGH in the face of ORDER Seriously... my kids are now older so they do everything on their own - I check in 1x per week or more if needed. I spend a lot of my time working around here, doing paperwork and such.... so I'm available if needed (the 17 year old is JUST figuring that out). With such a wild life on the farm, some days all of it flies out the window. DH has been home on medical leave for the last month - just after he was home a LOT last year because of me - so starting next week, hopefully all will be well and the kids and I can get back into the routine of who does what and when. Doesn't help the kids work schedules keep changing.... but we will manage.
We have a tentative schedule. The kids are allowed to do ost of their lessons in which ever order they choose, except history and science, which I teach. I usually try to teach those lessons or do one on one work when the baby takes her nap, which is around 10:30am to 12:30. Other than that, the boys work independent and just ask me for help when needed. We do school 5 days a week from 8:30-2:00, give or take. We do each of these subjects LA, math, history, science, foreign language, geography, and typing 4 times a week (not all on the same day). When its Awana season, we throw that in there too. We have a schedule posted on the wall of what subjects to do each day. We work better on a schedule. On days when we don't work off the schedule, the kids are a lot more wild and take advantage of the free time.
We do math, grammar,reading,spelling,Geography,and xtramath.com every day.. I'm trying REALLY hard to find a history curriculum that we like, but we haven't found anything as of yet.. NEXT YEAR WE WILL DO HISTORY no matter what! Science we are still on the fence with.. I have decided that we DO NOT LIKE APOLOGIA.. We don't have an order really.. I go over each of the kids work before they are given their daily assignments and then they choose what they want to do. That way I'm on top of it.. Otherwise, my laziness sets in and I don't look at the kids work and they don't do it because they know.. :/
I've learned we do much better with a bit of a schedule. At the risk of appearing quite rigid, I'll share what has worked for us this year. We have it posted on our wall (we do this 4 days per week): 8:30 - 9 Bible 9 - 10 History / Geography (map work some days wich includes a great site called Seterra.net, read aloud or audio book daily during which both dd are doing some kind of hand craft or drawing while listening) 10 - 10:45 Science (includes youtube or library animal videos, usborne - type science books) 10:45 - 11:15 Language Arts (rotates through the week with spelling, creative writing, handwriting practice, typing a poem or short story they've written) 11:15 - Noon Math Lunch / free time 1:00 - 1:30 Quiet reading time (I try to sit down and read during this time as well) 1:30 - ??? Instruments (both dd have a main instrument and a second one they don't have to spend as much time on.) I found that with this "outline" of what a day might be, I have some accountability for getting subjects done most days. The times are of course flexable - if we sleep in and get a late start, science is what gets dropped. Or if there is a very interesting rabbit trail, we follow it and turn it into science or language arts or more history. My direct involvement with the kids is done after language arts is done. Even some of their LA is independent. So math (teaching textbooks), quiet reading time, and instruments are all on their own - I'm just their to help with problems. It took some time to develop the 'habit' of this type of schedule for all of us, but once we got the hang of it, this really has become the best year of school for all of us. I wasn't the "bad guy" anymore for making sure things got done. I could just say, "the schedule says..." And I love being done myself by noon-ish. My afternoons can be reletively my own for business work, cooking, etc. Sorry I got so long-winded!
If I put any "fun" subject first in the day the "boring" ones don't get done. My kids have to have the boring first so they have something to look forward to.
