I have been feeling doubts about my plan for Z's homeschooling recently.
She has all these extra curricular classes that she loves and they really eat into the amount of time we can spend on academics. And I don't really want to skimp on the academics - math and writing are really necessary and she loves science and history and reading.
There are a lot of creative and fun things I would like to do with her but I feel like I don't have enough time.
I made a schedule around her classes and if I keep the classes that I teach her down to 1/2 hour each we are done at 3:00 on most days. That schedule includes the classes she takes outside of the home and one hour projects in most subjects once a week.
Wednesday she is out of the house the whole day at our homeschool park day and she _loves_ that. So that leaves four days a week where we are starting after breakfast and going until the middle of the afternoon. Then there are play dates with her friends. I worked in time for one play date on Fridays - but Z has a lot more friends than that.
I am working on starting a local group for families with gifted kids - maybe I can get all my friends together for that so I don't have to meet each of them separately. *grin*
Anyway, if she ends her days at 3:00 then she has about two hours of free time before her father comes home at which point she usually abandons whatever she was doingg to play something with him. Then it is dinner time and bedtime soon follows.
I suppose we can use the weekends to make use of our memberships to the zoo, natural history museum, etc - that is more fun anyway because then Pere gets to come with us and he always has a lot of information to share with Z.
But still. I am worried that Z is going to look back on her childhood and feel like there was too much learning. I don't know, maybe that is crazy thinking. I have worked hard to make learning enjoyable to Z and she doesn't seem to be complaining. But still I hate feeling like I need to choose between sitting on a comfy chair looking out of the window with Z sitting on my lap watching the squirrels play in the trees and practicing her voice lesson. :(
I know there is a way I can make this work. And I know that this year all her age mates who are in school are there working at their desks for as many hours as she is and their work is, probably, not as enjoyable as hers is. I know that I can probably still do all that I want if I am smart about it and Z will probably look back on her childhood and feel that it was very special. but what if she doesn't?
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Here is the schedule I worked out
Monday
7:15 – 7:30 Voice/Yoga - her voice teacher uses yoga to open up her body before lessons
7:30 – 8:00 Bf/Music - we listen to a CD while we are eating our breakfast
8:00 – 8:30 Math
8:30 – 9:00 Language Arts
9:00 – 9:45 Science - extra long class to set up this week's topic
9:45 – 10:45 Voice - class
10:45 – 11:15 Japanese
11:15 – 11:45 Social Studies
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 Reading
1:30 – 2:00 Art
2:00 – 2:30 free
2:30 – 4:00 Piano class - this includes 15 minute drive time each way and a 1 hour class
Tuesday
7:15 – 7:30 Voice/Yoga
7:30 – 8:00 Bf/Music
8:00 – 8:30 Math
8:30 – 9:00 Language Arts
9:00 – 9:30 Japanese
9:30 – 10:00 Science
10:00 – 10:30 Social Studies
10:30 – 11:00 Piano
11:00 – 11:30 Reading
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Art - extra long class for project
Wednesday
7:15 – 7:30 Voice/Yoga
7:30 – 8:00 Bf/Music
8:00 – 8:30 Math
8:30 – 9:00 Piano
9:00 – 9:30 Japanese
9:45 – ? Park
10:00 - 11:30 Shakespeare Class
Thursday
7:15 – 7:30 Voice/Yoga
7:30 – 8:00 Bf/Music
8:00 – 8:30 Math
8:30 – 9:30 Language Arts games and activities
9:30 – 10:00 Science
10:00 – 10:30 Social Studies
11:00 - 12:00 Gymnastics class
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 Piano
1:30 – 2:00 Reading
2:00 – 2:30 Japanese class
Friday
7:15 – 7:30 Voice/Yoga
7:30 – 8:00 Bf/Music
8:00 – 9:00 Math games and activities
9:00 – 9:30 Japanese
9:30 – 10:00 Piano
10:00 – 12:00 Play date?
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 Science
1:30 – 2:00 Reading
2:00 – 3:00 History project
note: Not all classes will take exactly half an hour, some will take less and those will be a buffer for those that take more.
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3 comments:
Isn't it the cry of mothers everywhere, "will my child look back on her childhood and be disappointed?" I guess its even harder for those of us who homeschool because we are assuming so MUCH of the responsibility for our child's happiness and well-being. Most people give that responsibility to the child's teachers, peers and school admin.
I am amazed you start school at such an early hour. Do YOU ever get any time for you? We don't start school here until 10am, so that I have 3/4 hour in the morning to work/play on the computer before getting started on schooling. I need to easy gently into the day! And if I get all my stuff over with, I can focus entirely on my girl.
Although we start at 10am, we are finished by 2 at the latest, and that includes an hour lunchbreak. Possibly what allows us such a short school time is that we only do things like maths and spelling for 10-15 minutes each. This follows the CM method. It is probable Rose is learning them at a much slower rate than other children, but since she is so far ahead that is maybe a good thing.
Are there lessons you do on a regular basis which could be shortened? Are there lessons you could do in the car? We do a lot of maths, spelling, memorisation, narration and nature study while travelling.
Also I see you are doing a lot of subjects. Are there any you could alternate year by year perhaps? Maybe you could prioritise which ones you really want her to learn at this time, and which ones aren't actually necessary or can wait for a couple of years.
What is most important for you at this time of her life? Some academic subjects you can learn any year of your life. Sitting cuddling with Mama is a time-limited activity! As is running around playing in the muddy garden. All too soon she will outgrow these things.
I guess its about having an educational philosophy. Your schedule looks pretty schooly. I'm not knocking that - mine looks pretty schooly too. Well, for two days of the week, anyway! ;-) What does your heart tell you is important; what is the right way for your family? Flexibility as a homeschooler is very important, but I do believe there are times when you have to set your foundation in concrete and make a formal declaration that you are going with that, and everything else is just going to have to fit in as it can. Otherwise it is just too easy to let the important things (whatever you choose those to be) to slide.
Sarah
Thank you so much for writing to me. I always value your input.
I wanted to answer your questions specifically -
I am amazed you start school at such an early hour. Do YOU ever get any time for you?
Pere gets up at 6:30 for work and I rarely wake up later than that. I usually get up then and sit for awhile with the cat.
Pere also gets home at 4:30 and Z starts getting ready for bed at 7:30 p.s. and Pere and I are on our own from about 8:30 till 11:00 when we go to sleep.
I also don't hover over her when she is working on certain things. I am usually on my laptop when she is doing certain things on her own.
Possibly what allows us such a short school time is that we only do things like maths and spelling for 10-15 minutes each. This follows the CM method.
I have tried that before but it didn't work too well for us. One Z is big on contemplating and talking about what she is doing. So we need that extra time to get things done.
Are there lessons you do on a regular basis which could be shortened?
Thatr schedule is the shortend list! *heh* she was spending an hour on math.
Are there lessons you could do in the car?
We do sometimes. Right now we are listening to the Harry Potter books in the car. We do a lot of books on tape and listening to muscials. We also play games.
Also I see you are doing a lot of subjects. Are there any you could alternate year by year perhaps?
Based on looked at my schedule could you give me some examples?
What is most important for you at this time of her life? Some academic subjects you can learn any year of your life. Sitting cuddling with Mama is a time-limited activity! As is running around playing in the muddy garden. All too soon she will outgrow these things.
I agree! But she does spend at least four hours a week playing in the dirt. And that is just at our homeschooling group. Often before dinner we hang out outside or go to the local park.
And she doesn't really like to sit on my lap for too long unless I am reading to her and we do that during reading time and often during history or science.
I guess its about having an educational philosophy. Your schedule looks pretty schooly.
I am going to write a follow up post about this. See more soon.
It looks rigorous to me but you only do school 4 days and you have auditions to work in too so I imagine it all evens out. I think you have to do what feels right for both of you. Also, I think your state has stricter requirements than ours so that has to be considered.
When we were doing it I was maybe the other extreme. We started at 10 like Sarah. Ami practiced the piano and that is the activity she spent the most time with: composing and then playing her pieces (ear and note reading). She took a break for 15 to 20 minutes and then we would play a math game and do some critical thinking. We ate lunch at noon. At 1:00 she read for a half hour a book of her choosing of which 15 minutes was outloud with informal discusion of vocabulary and ideas and the remainder 15 minutes was silent. Next I read to her for approximately 15 minutes some science or a history topic that she had chosen. We did this 4 days a week. Two afternoons she went to a math tutor Tuesday & Thursday which started in February. She did yoga Tuesdays. Friday she only had Spanish & Piano class. Wednesday she had therapy.
At night we did her OT and she wrote in her diary. Anytime of day, after her formal lessons she could write a poem or tell me one to write down or do e-mail or art or listen to music. Before bed, she would read a little and then we would read to her whatever chapter book she had chosen.
It took approximately 2 and half hours if you include the piano practice.
My expectations were not as high as her school based on some of the assignments she has completed. So if I start homeschooling again I would set the standard a little higher, add grammar and probably do 3 hours now including piano because she is now school age in our state.
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