Need input on our routine.

[kiloyd]

We're doing Bigger with my 8 yr old 3rd grade son. It's going well but I need input in our routine. On a typical day we get up around 7 or 7:30, they watch TV, I check email then about 8:30 the TV and computer go off and we get breakfast. Start school about 9am.
Our order is:
history
poetry
bible
cursive
dictation
math
storytime
english
science
vocab/geo/art
On a good day we go straight through to math, then math takes him awhile. He does not like math or English, because he has to think and take more time. Sometimes I'll do just half of math and come back to it later. We lose our momentum once we get to math and end up taking a lunch and play break for an hour or two. Lunch is about 11:30. In an ideal world I'd like to do school from 9-11 and then 12:30-1:30 and be finished but it never works that way. With spring approaching I would love to be done so we can go play outside when it gets warmer.

I might have him re-do the schedule and see if that helps, he chose this order. I also do a little school with my 5 yr old preschooler but mostly I send her and my 2 yr old upstairs to play while I do school with Michael.

Do you spend , or at least feel like you do, your whole day on school? I feel like we school from 9-4, but we often have 2-3hours around lunchtime where they go play and I talk on the phone. I know our mornings go better now that I turn off the computer too along with not talking on the phone.

[funkmomma71]

HI,
It seems as if you have a piece of the puzzle, turn off the computer and TV! I deliberately turn my computer off at night and unplug the modem so that the temptation is not there in the morning to "check my e-mail". There's never anything earth shattering in my in-box, so why bother. So now that the computer and TV is turned off you can start school 1 -1 1/2 hours earlier than you have been, and you may even be done by lunchtime. If you are done by lunchtime then you won't have to deal with the issue of getting off track and you'll have your day back. In our household, TV and computer time are privileges that come after school is done, not before. HTH!!

[MomtoJGJE]

What if you got his hard stuff out of the way first thing? Maybe let him do his math while you do LHTH with the girls? It might make things go a lot smoother for the rest of the day if the stuff he doesnt' like is out of the way.

[kiloyd]

I think so too, if I could get him to do math and English first our day would go better. He does very well at both , just hates them. We used to have math at the end and it would take him forever, so we put it in the middle. He is doing much better with English now, i.e. writing his sentences with little balking.

I would think we could do most of school from 9-11:30 too. If I continue to stay off the phone and computer. I'm allowing myself the time on here in the morning and they get a little TV. I think I might start laying his cursive out and he can do that when he first wakes up and that's one thing done.

Of course the time change is next weekend and that almost always messes us up for a month!

Katherine
ds 8 Bigger
dd young 5 LHTH
dd2

[kiloyd]

Our morning went well today. yay! We had TV and computer time and turned them both off at 8:15. After breakfast I stayed focused on them and we only have our science reading left and that's fun , it's Pioneers!

So I need to tweak our order a bit and *I* need to stay focused and that will help ds stay focused

[my3sons]

Well, you already did such a good job of thinking through this, that I see you've already been proactive and accomplished a good portion of what you wanted to already. Way to go! I know everyone has different goals, but some of mine are to get going by 8:15 AM, stick to only homeschooling, and finish by lunch. This is because I am a morning person, and I like to work hard and then have the rest of the day for all of the rest of life's demands and enjoyments. I like to spread out the things that are more a struggle for my dc. When they're young, it's usually helpful to spread out the writing for them, for example. So, for your ds, I think you could start with his cursive (since that's independent and would give you a moment to get things together). But then, you could do math with him. If it's a real struggle, you may want to just set the timer for 30 minutes and stop wherever you are when the timer rings, picking up there the next day.

Then after that, there is a lot of flexibility. Personally, I enjoy doing the left history side of the plans then. I'm not sure about your ds, but my ds enjoys a little break after the history side then, and it's well worth it as then he comes back refreshed and ready to work. Your ds could do something he loves to do independently for about 30 minutes then (i.e. computer game, play with toys, etc.) while you teach LHTH to your little ones. Your little ones will probably be wanting their mommy time about then anyway. It works well for me to set the timer for 30 minutes so I finish by then and so my other ds doing the independent fun thing knows when it rings, it's back to school for him. After the break, your oldest could do his English, knowing you let him have the break so he'd come back happy to do English. Then, you could end with whatever right side things you have left. You could definitely finish by lunch this way. Those are just thoughts, but you'll know what will be most helpful for your day to day. Congrats on a good day already!

In Christ,
Julie

[jenntracy]

This post got me thinking.
i would check email and let kids watch tv and then make breakfast. we usually would start by 9am for school, but something was not done, like mom actually gettting dressed.
just this past week i have not allowed the kids to watch any tv til around lunch (while i am fixing it).
It has worked out so much better.
i would end up getting distracted and would have to keep saying,"turn off the tv" so we could get started.
i also did not get on the computer for email until most of school was done. Like someone said , what is so earth-shattering about an email in your inbox. it can usually wait
Wow! a little bit of time can make huge difference.
We ate lunch at 11:30a.m. and were able to paint with the 2yr-old included, after we ate

Just a big thanks for reminding to re-think my priorities.

Jenn D.

[annaz]

We do the math first, then bible and continue to go back and forth between seatwork/heavy thinking vs art, history, or science. It breaks it up. It looks like, according to your schedule that the heavy thinking is in the afternoon where kids are more or less tired of school. I'd change them to am.

My dd is also is not allowed to watch tv on school days before or during school. That proved to be a huge change in her thinking. But we do too, still feel like we do school all day. Some of the breaks take longer than they should . If it was up to me, I'd school longer and take 3 breaks.... a few 15 minute breaks and one one-hour break instead of one long one. After doing nothing for 2-3 hours I certainly wouldn't want to have to do the heavy load afterwards.

[Carrie]

This is a great thread and one that is so timely this time of year! I, too, have to continually remind myself to stick to only school in the morning and am always amazed at how much more quickly we finish when I do this. Even doing multiple programs, we are typically finished by 1:15 or shortly after lunch if I give my kiddos my focused attention.

However, if I start answering the phone, doing the laundry, answering emails, or getting on the board before we're done with school for the day, our school can quickly derail into taking much longer than it should. I continually remind myself to give my full attention to my kiddos during school-time. So, you're not alone!

Blessings,
Carrie

[kiloyd]

The past 3 days I have stayed focused on my kids and school and we've been done by about 1 each day! I've discovered that even though I was staying off the phone, the computer was sucking my time. Like I'm doing today, we're a bit off today, we made pancakes and eggs and that took longer then I got on the computer. I'll get off here in a minute and get school started.

yes, I do think I need to change up our schedule a bit. I've been trying to do math and English earlier so the more fun stuff is later.

The problem with giving him a break is reeling him back in. But setting the timer might help us. And he would probably come back more willingly if math and English were already done.

Homeschooling is so selfless! Teaches me a good lesson in priorities.

Katherine
ds 8 Bigger
dd 5 LHTH and some workbooks
dd 2

[Carrie]

Thanks so much for updating us! It does my heart good to know you've found some helpful tips in this thread. The ladies have wonderful "in-the-trenches" advice!

Blessings,
Carrie