I've hit one of those times where there is a lot happening but by the time you sit down to write/type about it, it just seems either too trivial or too cumbersome to write about! We've gotten so off course with our lessons that we're doing something drastic, we're attempting to follow a rigid schedule. With dh's mom health issues and the latest travelling, I need to regain some momentum. I've decided to stop moaning about it and actually do something about it! I hesitate to write about it but I am determined.
Here's the new regime, I did post it below in Teaching My Children French post but it's what I want to talk about for this post.
5:30 am I wake up and do whatever I want for 1 hour, child free. Whether it be study French, read my Bible, walk the dogs, drink a whole pot of coffee- I can do it child-free! I also have to take my shower during this time because...
- 6:30 am Wake-up call for the kids. Camille is to get dressed, make her bed and comb her hair. I'm helping Danny.
- 7:00 am Breakfast. We eat together, clean the kitchen and brush our teeth.
- 7:30 am Bible and Memory Work. Do our Bible lesson, review our scripture memory work, poetry and history.
- 8:00 am Math.
- 8:30 am Grammar and Handwriting. We do our Grammar lesson together and then I spend time with Danny while Camille does her Handwriting, we're using a digital timer.
- 9:00 am History or Science. Danny gets outside time now or play time in his room.
- 10:00 am Read-Aloud.
- 10:30 am Independent Reading
- 11:00 am French
- 12:00 Lunch
There is room to move stuff around if we get off "schedule", the read-aloud can be moved to night time, the independent reading can be moved to the afternoon, I don't think French will take an hour but today it did (trying to find everything, the kids wanted to play a game that I hadn't planned for.)
Let's see where we are in our lessons:
Bible 22 out of 30 lessons done = 8 weeks
Math 127 out of 160 = 6 weeks
History 28 out of 40 = 12 weeks
Grammar 52 out of 100. = 8 weeks
Science 30 out of 40. = 10 weeks
Spelling & Art are done for the year, Cursive Handwriting was started early so it doesn't count.
Weeks left that I allotted for 1st grade: 9 weeks although I wanted to be done at the end of May, not June. Let's see how it would work out with 4 more weeks...
To end 1st grade by Friday June 1 we'd have to:
Bible: Double up, one lesson in morning and one at night.Of course the other solution is just tack onto 2nd grade which we start July 16th or July 23rd. I'm still thinking about when to start 2nd grade, especially if we run over with our 1st grade studies. It'll be decided once we're on our month break I guess.
Math: 2 lessons a day
History: 2-3 chapters in a week
Grammar: 2 lessons a day or find places to skip.
Science: read and abandon projects/experiments or replace with nature videos.
To end 1st grade by June 29th:
Bible: keep lessons how they areIf we ended June 29th, I'd want a month off so we wouldn't start 2nd grade until August 6th. Hmm. I want to look at that more closely...If we start 2nd grade on August 6th with 40 weeks of lessons the end date would be May 26, 2008. My goal is to have the month of June completely off.
Math: keep lesson how they are
History: do a few 2 chapter weeks but that's it
Grammar: keep lessons how they are
Science: keep lessons how they are.
1 week for ThanksgivingSee, although working until June 29th looks good above as far as lessons go, it doesn't help with the long-term. So we'll be doubling up and seeing where there is unneeded repetition in our lessons so we can end on June 1. We'd then start 2nd grade July 16th or 23rd.
2 weeks for Christmas
1 unexpected week off
1 need the week off
=5 weeks
Okay. Is that clear as mud? Lol.
Posts
2 comments:
I love reading your blog and realizing that so many of us start figuring all this out toward the end and seeing how much we have left, and as you, I also have subjects we're done with, subjects we're almost done with.. and then some I'm trying to double up on. We're about to finish Jade's 2nd grade year and one thing I learned from all of this last year, was that during the summer.. there are always times when she has asked for some sort of down time that looks very familiar to school. :) Last year she had about 3 lessons left of math.. and throughout the summer, she completed all of them during her own quiet time/down time. Maybe with all you are going through right now.. you can concentrate on the harder subjects and allow her to have a few math lessons or bible lessons through the summer. I don't know if all kids love school like my daughter, but it's just a suggestion. Good luck, I think all your plans sound doable! God bless!
I completely understand wanting to end everything at the same time. It's a dream of mine, too! LOL But, it's only ever happened once. Now, we're all over the place. Our Math and Latin will be completed at the end of our school year, July 31st. Everything else will stretch out sometime after that until Christmas. I actually like it this way. First off, I don't have to buy all my curriculum at the same time which is easier on the wallet. Most importantly, it relieves stress. In my mind, we will switch grades no matter where we are in our curriculum. We school year round, so on August 1, my two school age kids will be in 6th grade. Sure, they might have some "5th grade" work left, but it's really not a big deal. Learning is learning. I think your plan of doubling up is very doable, but if a couple subjects still aren't done, take your break and don't worry another thing about it. It will all even out next year.
Amy
http://mamabear3.wordpress.com
Post a Comment