Trying a Schedule, Part 2

We are in week 12 of our school year and we were all growing weary of 7-hour learning days. If school work takes until 4:00 in the afternoon then J and I are wasted, B is bored (because his work doesn't take as long) and S turns into a pest because he needs some attention.

I could resort to empty threats ("If you don't finish by such-and-such a time, then we can't go to Tae Kwon Do/swimming/insert other calender event here today.") But I'm not going to ever follow through with them because the calendar events are part of their education too.

So, I tried to lighten the load.

Two weeks ago, because of other forseen interruptions to our schedule (see this post), I took out two subjects. Bye-bye spelling and Topic #2. We don't have time for you right now.

That should do it.

Nope. School was STILL taking until 4:00. Part of it was my fault...I was distracted by my own stuff and tended to give them longer breaks, which means we went longer in the afternoon. Not good. They, in turn, were wiggly and disrespectful... yadda, yadda. I needed to help prod J along because he was dragging miserably. Both boys were goofing off, blaming S for distracting them, stopping their thought process when I left the room to answer the phone and so on and so on.

Then I remembered: A few weeks ago, we had an afternoon field trip planned so I tried a time schedule so we could get there on time and still finish some work at home. It worked really well and I rewarded them accordingly.

Today I tried the time schedule again (see previous post). It worked but J really felt pushed. I don't mind pushing him a little bit. I haven't asked him to do anything that's too difficult for him. If he maintains focus he can get through everything and I built in time at the end so he could finish up what was left undone.

B was done right on schedule (2nd grade is such a piece of cake).
J was encouraged to keep to the schedule and I made note of what he couldn't finish in time so he could wrap it up at the end. We made some negotiations when we did two days of work in one subject. As long as he was focused and moving forward I made concessions and let him succeed. In the end he was only 9 minutes over time. So, I asked him to spend 9 minutes on cleaning his room and we would be square.

B likes the time schedule. I think it keeps me accountable. S liked knowing when his brothers would get a break. J saw that it really IS possible to do everything that's expected of him before 3:00 and we are now headed out to Tae Kwon Do... on time.

Trying a Schedule

We're trying a time schedule today.
9:00 Read Aloud
9:40 Science
10:15 Independent studies
10:40 Math
11:00 Break
11:30 Colorado History
B is done
11:50 J's reading questions
12:30 Lunch
1:30 J's Cause and Effect Article
Then finish what you didn't get done
3:00 Done

We're done with break. I need to go stick to the schedule. I'll be back to give you my thoughts at the end of the day.

Parent Teacher Conferences

You can buy a t-shirt at homeschool conferences that says, "If you see me talking to myself I'm having a Parent Teacher Conference." It cracks me up because it dually draws attention to our moments of insanity and reminds us that we have less things to attend while we tend to our kids.

While I'm not concerned about them missing Prom, freshman hazing, Sweetest Day flower sales, or Pep Rallies, the one thing that I am...was... curious about was Parent Teacher Conferences. I wanted to have that opportunity to hear insights about my kids from someone else. Comparing notes has the potential to really help steer them in a direction that's right for them.

Their Friday Class program had Conferences yesterday. I stayed to talk to all (but one) of their teachers and this is what I heard:

Regarding J:
"He's one of my best students. This comes easy to him." -- Pre-Algebra Teacher
"He zooms through projects and is easily frustrated." -- Art Teacher
"He's got great energy and he's so animated." -- Theater Teacher
"He participates a lot and he has missing assignments." -- Journalism Teacher

Regarding B:
"He's one of the most mature kids in the class. He's a leader." -- Science/Karate Teacher
"He genuinely seems to enjoy the class and he's very respectful." -- Computer Teacher
"He pushes through the hard stuff and he appears excited when he 'gets' things." -- Language Arts Teacher
"He seems to enjoy the process of creating." -- Art Teacher

Funny thing is. I KNOW all these things about my kids. It's just affirming to hear it from someone else.

(Yes, we'll get the missing assignments caught up (on OUR timetable). And we'll make sure he knows it's okay to not like the process of making art, but you still have to be respectful.)

Flexibility and Balance

There are families who can drop everything in order to do something completely different for a day. We are typically not one of those families. But, sometimes, God gives me a schedule that lets me at least appear flexible. It's pretty cool when that happens.

Last week I took two subjects out of our school days because I knew that we had dentist appointments and company on the calendar. In addition to that we had a major snowstorm, an impromptu babysitting opportunity, and a playdate that we've been needing to do.

We've had a fabulous week and I don't think they missed spelling at all.

A Snow Day Book

From the kitchen: Mulled apple cider and peanut butter paisley brownies.

From the learning time: Our Read Aloud, Math, Colorado History, Poetry, Reading.

From the children: "Can we go out again?"

From the calendar: We had to put the axe to Tae Kwon Do, Swimming, Tae Bo and Chess.

From the bookshelf: Finn by John Clinch, Cowboy Small by Lois Lenski, and Star Wars graphic novels.

From the weatherman: 12 inches currently with more to come.