I have found it useful to read how other homeschool families schedule their time, so I thought I would post our schedule. Now, this is all good and dandy in theory, so I'll have to post later to see if it all works out according to plan. We were supposed to start school this week, but after a visit from some family friends, an unexpected trip to Indianapolis, and an exhausted pregnant mom who just couldn't get the energy to start mid-week, we are now a week behind schedule. We did do the whole week of science today, and the kids had a blast. We also finished a long picture book on Leif Ericson in preparation for our Viking week of history. So, I'm hoping to move along quickly next week, as the kids are so excited they would probably do school 24/7 right now!
I took my scheduling inspiration from Managers of their Homes (MOTH). I definitely believe that my children can do anything for 30 min, but after that it's touch and go whether or not they will get bored, be bickering or get into mischief. So, I've tried to plan my day accordingly. I would love to fit in each child playing with another sibling one-on-one, but I just don't have enough hours in the day. And, I think that everything "school" related, all my kids will want to participate in. So, trying to do something separate with each child doesn't work as well around here. Many of our subjects will actually only take 15 of the 30 min scheduled, so the kids will have much more playtime than it looks here. But, with a new baby coming soon and nursing and multiple diapers changes coming, I have to leave some wiggle room. Thus, here is my daily schedule:
7-8am Klan plays in rooms quiety if awake and are sure to tidy before coming downstairs at 8, Mommy showers and gets breakfast ready
8-8:30 Breakfast, bible story read from preschoolers bible, children clean table when finished
8:30-9 Klan brushes their teeth and get dressed and we go over house rules and the calendar, Mommy feeds Boo Boo breakfast when he wakes
9-9:30 Mommy has preschool with Angelica Pickles and Sid the Science Kid and Princess Pea do their Helping Habits (vacuum under Boo Boo's high chair, feed the cat, wipe down the table, empty dishwasher) and then have play time together
9:30-10 Bible and Character Training for everyone - a program I created
10-11 Outside play time if it's nice and a Nature walk on Fridays followed by writing in our nature journals, Nap time for Boo Boo
11-11:30 My Father's World/Sonlight science (I have intertwined them together) for everyone and some different activities if Angelica Pickles doesn't want to be involved
11:30-12 Mommy makes lunch while the kids tidy toys and do their Helping Habits (fill water cups for lunch, wipe down table, get silverware and napkins for lunch)
12-12:30 Lunch while Mommy does a read aloud or plays patriotic music we are learning
12:30-1 Klan cleans up after lunch and does more Helping Habits (vacuum, wipe table, clean baby's tray) and than has some free play time
1-1:30 Finish notebook activities or independant work (copywork, Junior Bible Quiz, piano, etc) for Sid the Science Kid, Mommy does Horizon's math K and Bob books with Princess Pea and Angelica Pickles does an Activity bag or watches a Leap Frog video to learn her phonics
1:30 Nap time for Angelica Pickles, My Father's World history with Sid and Princess Pea
2-2:30 All About Spelling with Sid and Princess Pea and Jump Start Spanish if we have extra time
2:30 Nap for Princess Pea and Boo Boo, Grammer (First Language Lessons) and Horizon's math 2 for Sid
3-4 Independant work for Sid and reading assignments, Mommy's downtime for sewing, reading, planning or cleaning
4-5 Outside play time if it's nice
5-5:30 Dinner prep, Helping Habits, tidy toys
5:30-6 Dinner, Devotion with Daddy
6-6:30 Clean up dinner, Helping Habits, play time
6:30-7:30 Outside play time
7:30 Bedtime for girls
8pm Bedtime for Sid
8:30 Bedtime for Boo Boo
So, I think it will work well. It seems like we are doing school all day, but again, most lessons are around 15 minutes. Today I got all of science done for the whole week in less than 1 hour! I am just hoping to set a routine where the kids know what is coming next so I'm not constantly repeating our schedule to them. I might make a little chart with pictures that would help, but I have a feeling they will ask anyway.
I am definitly interested to hear about other homeschool schedules, so if you pass by here please post a link to your schedule so I can see it.
Showing posts with label Charlotte Mason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlotte Mason. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
What I'm Learning from Macaulay's book For the Children's Sake
I have had this book for a year or two. My mother-in-law raved about it, along with many other Charlotte Mason homeschool moms, but I've never made it past the intro. I guess I am not really interested in Charlotte Mason as a person, but I love her thoughts on education and parenting. Once I got to the meat of it, it has been wonderful and enlightening. I'll just share a few thoughts as I work through this book.
I love the idea of having my children be outside for hours each day. It sounds lovely and dandy, but it's unfortunately not realistic. If they are outside, I am outside. If they spend all day outside, I get nothing done inside. If I lived back in the day when you could just send your kids out to play alone, it would all work out. But, I don't. And I don't have an 8 foot lockable privacy fence either. My goal is to get them outside at least once a day, if not more. I have three outings scheduled into our "summer" homeschool schedule and a nature study for every Friday. So, I'm hoping to give them more time outside. I saw how valuable this was when we were on vacation. They spent HOURS together without arguing, unlike when they are cooped up inside. Usually 30-40 minutes together straight is their max and then someone gets upset, hurt or angry. And, even when they faught, they worked it out amongst themselves most of the time since we weren't right there to "offer" our help. So, I agree the outdoors do wonders for children's imaginations and growth, I just hope I can offer something of good value in this altered form.
Narration is talked about a lot with Charlotte Mason. A child telling you their version of a story or what they understood of something you read about. My children do this without hesitation. My girls "read" the stories over and over again at nap and bedtime and can retell the stories almost perfectly to someone else. I've even seen my 3-year-old "reading" a story to my 1-year-old after only hearing the story once! They act out stories amongst themselves and my son even makes books and draws pictures about what he's read, all unprompted.
Love, love, love this quote!
"The Bible teaches that we are like parts of a body. In other words, we are different from each other, we all have different gifts. How immoral to apply an arbitrary yardstick to the little child and expect him to progress at some "normal" speed! We take from him the joy of accomplishing new skills which should be a part of growing up."
She talks then about how we cheer on a 3-year-old who learns to ride a tricycle because it is a personal accomplishment. But, how is a child who recieves a D in a subject at school going to notice his accomplishments that he's made in the year with a negative symbol attached to him that tells him he didn't live up to someone's standard? He can't even have joy in the accomplishments he did have! Oh, how I hate the school system. It's such a broken system. And I'm an educator! A friend of mine is worried when our two girls, who are both 4-years-old, get together this weekend that her daughter might feel inferior to my daughter because Princess Pea has learned to read since the last time they saw each other. So, how do we accomplish this mind-set in real life? How do we avoid the little girl feeling inferior when her friend is praised for an accomplishment? I told my friend to tell her daughter that we all learn to read in our own time, that she is moving very quickly toward reading on her own and that everyone should be happy for others when they learn something new. We'll see how it works out.... But, I agree it's a different mind-set than what the world has.
Charlotte Mason says, "To secure the habit of obedience, the mother must exercise great self-restraint; she must never give a command which she does not intent to see carried out to the full. And she must not lay upon her children burdens, grievous to be borne, of command heaped upon command." She says children must not learn to obey out of fear, intimidation or because it makes his/her parents happy. He/She must learn to do things because they are the right thing to do. Character is not formed in fear or flattery. And mothers should be careful as they discipline and set expectations for their children.
Oh, I could write so much more. I'm only half-way through the book, too. If you are intrigued by the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling, you need to get this book! Even if you just have little ones right now. Charlotte Mason has a lot to say about raising young children and training children before they are school age.
I love the idea of having my children be outside for hours each day. It sounds lovely and dandy, but it's unfortunately not realistic. If they are outside, I am outside. If they spend all day outside, I get nothing done inside. If I lived back in the day when you could just send your kids out to play alone, it would all work out. But, I don't. And I don't have an 8 foot lockable privacy fence either. My goal is to get them outside at least once a day, if not more. I have three outings scheduled into our "summer" homeschool schedule and a nature study for every Friday. So, I'm hoping to give them more time outside. I saw how valuable this was when we were on vacation. They spent HOURS together without arguing, unlike when they are cooped up inside. Usually 30-40 minutes together straight is their max and then someone gets upset, hurt or angry. And, even when they faught, they worked it out amongst themselves most of the time since we weren't right there to "offer" our help. So, I agree the outdoors do wonders for children's imaginations and growth, I just hope I can offer something of good value in this altered form.
Narration is talked about a lot with Charlotte Mason. A child telling you their version of a story or what they understood of something you read about. My children do this without hesitation. My girls "read" the stories over and over again at nap and bedtime and can retell the stories almost perfectly to someone else. I've even seen my 3-year-old "reading" a story to my 1-year-old after only hearing the story once! They act out stories amongst themselves and my son even makes books and draws pictures about what he's read, all unprompted.
Love, love, love this quote!
"The Bible teaches that we are like parts of a body. In other words, we are different from each other, we all have different gifts. How immoral to apply an arbitrary yardstick to the little child and expect him to progress at some "normal" speed! We take from him the joy of accomplishing new skills which should be a part of growing up."
She talks then about how we cheer on a 3-year-old who learns to ride a tricycle because it is a personal accomplishment. But, how is a child who recieves a D in a subject at school going to notice his accomplishments that he's made in the year with a negative symbol attached to him that tells him he didn't live up to someone's standard? He can't even have joy in the accomplishments he did have! Oh, how I hate the school system. It's such a broken system. And I'm an educator! A friend of mine is worried when our two girls, who are both 4-years-old, get together this weekend that her daughter might feel inferior to my daughter because Princess Pea has learned to read since the last time they saw each other. So, how do we accomplish this mind-set in real life? How do we avoid the little girl feeling inferior when her friend is praised for an accomplishment? I told my friend to tell her daughter that we all learn to read in our own time, that she is moving very quickly toward reading on her own and that everyone should be happy for others when they learn something new. We'll see how it works out.... But, I agree it's a different mind-set than what the world has.
Charlotte Mason says, "To secure the habit of obedience, the mother must exercise great self-restraint; she must never give a command which she does not intent to see carried out to the full. And she must not lay upon her children burdens, grievous to be borne, of command heaped upon command." She says children must not learn to obey out of fear, intimidation or because it makes his/her parents happy. He/She must learn to do things because they are the right thing to do. Character is not formed in fear or flattery. And mothers should be careful as they discipline and set expectations for their children.
Oh, I could write so much more. I'm only half-way through the book, too. If you are intrigued by the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling, you need to get this book! Even if you just have little ones right now. Charlotte Mason has a lot to say about raising young children and training children before they are school age.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Charlotte Mason Derived Quote
"Virtues, like flowers, grow in the sunshine. You can cultivate them or draw them out with love and reason, but you can neither force nor whip them into existence. Try to do so and the virtue you want will come forth in the guise of its corresponding vice."
-Karen Andreola, Charlotte Mason Method of Homeschooling
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