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Post by submisive2him on Jan 2, 2008 23:48:56 GMT -5
I could use some idea's on homeschooling my 7 year old that is in level 2 and my preschooler/kindergartner I can not seem to get organized to school them both at the same time.
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 3, 2008 11:31:27 GMT -5
Hi submissive2him,
We have been in your situation. We currently home school grades 12, grade 3 and K. (Of course our 12th grader is almost completely independent with regards to his school work).
There are many things one can try when homeschooling younger children together. What seems to be working well for us this year is a combination of independent studies and unit studies.
A typical day goes like this:
1. Pledges and Bible devotional together. 2. Review math assignment(s) with 3rd grader. 3. While 3rd does math assignment(s), work on math skills (patterns, sorting, counting by 5's, 2's & 10's, writing numbers, intro. to addition/subtraction etc.) with kindergartner. 4. Review reading & English with 3rd. 5. While 3rd does reading & English assignments, work on phonics/reading with kinder. 6. Break for lunch. 7. 3rd & kinder do penmanship assignments at same time. 8. History, geography, science, art and music appreciation are combined into *unit studies that both children do together. 9. 3rd does spelling assignment(s). Kinder has free play time. 10. Children have play time while mom checks 3rd's daily assignments. (*I use Saturday evenings to organize weekly unit studies.)
Hopefully some others will also reply and giving you several ideas to try on for size. Hang in there, it takes time to learn which specifics work for your family and which ones don't.
tb
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Post by submisive2him on Jan 3, 2008 12:58:17 GMT -5
Thank you for the ideas I am not the most organized person so my husband and I are trying very hard to get things organized. This is including the house.
I think what I need to do is set myself a schedule for the assignments .
My 2nd grader is not one to focus very well he drops his pencil 20 times in 5 min and he looks around staring off. It sometimes takes him 1 hr to do 1 math page. Do yo have any ideas on this situation???
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 3, 2008 13:30:32 GMT -5
I too have been there ... When my 3rd grader was in 1st grade this didn't bother me too much, however, when she continued to do this in 2nd grade it frustrated me a great deal. Since the dynamics of all families are different, especially in the home school arena, I can only tell you what has worked for us. I hope it will spark some ideas that will help in your specific situation.
One day my husband suggested that I implement a reward/punishment system for her. I took his suggestion and set a timer for 30 minutes. For each assignment she completed within the 30 minute time frames, she was rewarded with 5 minutes of computer time. However, if she "goofed" around and failed to complete her assignments within the 30 minute time frame, she would loose 5 minutes of computer time. (she would earn or loose 5 minutes for math, reading, English, spelling for a total of 20 minutes per day). It only took a couple weeks for her to learn how to stay focused.
Please note that our "school" day hours are: morning 9:00-11:30; lunch 11:30-12:30; afternoon 12:30-2:30.
tb
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Post by submisive2him on Jan 3, 2008 18:36:10 GMT -5
That might be another one of the problems because I try to get it all done in the morning before lunch.
maybe I should split it up some how and maybe he would enjoy it a little better. It seems to me that he does not enjoy school like I would like him to.
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 3, 2008 18:51:26 GMT -5
When we first began home schooling I too tried to finish it all in the morning, but it was just too much for my daughter. Splitting it up a little before lunch and a little after has brought much peace to our school time ... tb
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Post by mountaingirl on Jan 3, 2008 23:57:27 GMT -5
This is my first year of home schooling and I have a 9 year old (4th grade), 4 1/2 year old, and a 2 1/2 year old.
My 9 year old sometimes develops the attitude that since she is at home and not in the classroom that she doesn't have to complete the work in a timely manner. I really like the sound of the reward system that tbhas6 is using. I think I will try that.
I have also discovered that she is completely spent by 4:00 p.m. so no matter what errands, or what popped up earlier that day I have to stop her school work at 4:00 p.m. She can do her silent reading after dinner and before she goes to bed, but as far as math, writing, or studying spelling words forget it.
I am also trying a system of having my 4 1/2 year old work with my 2 1/2 year old when I have to give 10-15 minutes of full attention to my 9 year old on a lesson. This morning they worked on a very easy opposites puzzle while I helped my daughter with her bible reading. Then when she was done we all joined in on the puzzle for about 10 minutes. This kept the fights from breaking out. After we put the puzzle away I was able to give my 4 1/2 year old a penmanship worksheet, the 2 1/2 year old a coloring sheet, and start a lesson of fractions with my 9 year old.
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Post by donna31 on Jan 15, 2008 23:12:43 GMT -5
Your school day sounds like mine!!
I too have trouble getting my 7-year old to focus. I was really frustrated with him yesterday because it too him about 2 hours to do one page of math! So this morning we got up extra early - before my daughter was up - and I sat right next to him to watch him do his math - do you know that it still took over an hour for him to finish what I did not think was too many problems - about 20. They are double diget subtraction with carrying - I thought maybe he didnt understand - but his problem is he is just slowwwwww. Everything has to be written just right. - oh well
You already know my problem when it comes to getting up early - but I will have to say that when we do our school goes soooo much better. This is our "perfect" schedule. start school about 6:45 go until 9:45 (That is about when daddy gets up and then his focus is totally shot!) After dad leaves at 2:00 - we do chores and then we go for a walk or play and get started back about 3:30 and go to 5:00 or 5:30. Some days school is longer - some is shorter but I will agree with Mountain Girl I forget doing math or grammer in the afternoons. I try to save the afternoon time for the "easier" subjects that do not require so very much mental concentration.
By the way do you have the book "Managers of their Homes" by Steve and Teri Maxwell. It is a really great scheduling book. My sister has 5 kids and she said that it really helped her with her school schedule. This is one of those books that I need to go back and impliment!
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Post by submisive2him on Jan 16, 2008 22:39:19 GMT -5
Well we have started a whole new schedule and it seems to be going well so far. I took Tb's advice and I started rewarding him if he gets done within 30 min he gets an extra 5 min on the computer and it has been working great. We have a set time of 1 hr a week on the computer and so he loves the extra time being awarded to him. ( I think that daddy is enjoying it too he now has a partner to play with longer ) We also set different times for school. After talking to a good friend of mine she seem to think I might be burning him out by making him sit and do his homework all in one sitting. So now we do school from 9:00 - 10:30 break for lunch and clean up and then start back up from 1:00 - 2:30 and little sister joins in because I leave the easier stuff for my oldest in the afternoom so he can be more indepemdent. In the moring my next to the oldest she is 4 helps take care of the little ones while mommy is helping her brother. I would like to thank you for all of the advice keep sending them my way because I can always use more. Submisive
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 16, 2008 22:52:26 GMT -5
Praise the Lord! I am so glad to hear that your new schedule is working out. Sometimes it just takes a little trial and error to get everything running smoothly .. tb
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Sister Michelle
Administrator
I must keep my eyes on Jesus my Saviour
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Post by Sister Michelle on Jan 17, 2008 8:52:53 GMT -5
Scheduling is so hard to do. It is a trial and error. We are also in a new schedule phase. I always do a new schedule in pencil and write down what works and what doesn't. I made a homekeeping journal. That is awesome for us. I also have been revamping the older childrens schedule and will be getting them their own book. They will then follow the schedule that papa and I agree on. For keeping them on task for school. A reward is really what works for us. We have kept a box of treats. Soda, microwave popcorn, fruity snack thingys. Cheap stuff you can pick up at Aldi's (miss mine so much) or Save A Lot. Then if they get done at a certain time, ours is by 2. They get to pick a treat out of the box. Works well. We have also done the computer time thing. I let each of the children make a person at millsberry. They think it is so neat. They play games to earn money. Has been good for them as they are learning about money without the hurt of handeling the real thing. David spends all of his right away and then does not understand why Levi has cooler items in his house. He is leaning about money without it costing us.
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Post by submisive2him on Jan 17, 2008 9:33:59 GMT -5
Michelle
It seems that you are not getting my e-mails or private messages I don't know if there are trouble's or what. Can you send me a e-mail or message I just sent you one today.
Jamie ( Sorry ladies to post this here but I can not seem to contact her )
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tbhas6
Senior Member
Posts: 1,146
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Post by tbhas6 on Jan 17, 2008 10:38:52 GMT -5
Sister Michelle,
Thumbs up on making new schedules in pencil. Whenever it is time for us to come up with a new "master schedule", I alway procrastinate because I usually have to re-do it several times to get it flowing smoothly. Using a pencil is such a simple idea and SO VERY practical - making changes would be quick and easy, not to mention conserving paper. Thank you for the tip! tb
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Post by donna31 on Jan 17, 2008 19:14:06 GMT -5
You know - one thing that I have noticed with scheduling, or keeping a "lesson plan" book and other areas as well that it does not always have to be done the "proper way." Its just the best way that works for you.
For example, I use to keep our financial books on a Quicken program on the computer. It is a really neat program and probably the most efficient - just not for me. I would get behind on entering things and would put off doing my banking because I didnt have time to put it on the computer and then get even further behind -- then it would take me hours to catch up and it was usually after I had made a bad error at the bank. One day I decided - this is not working. I started keeping just a simple paper register again and using a regular notebook to make notes on important purchases and things. - much better!!!
I did the same thing with my school scheduling and grades - I dont make lesson plans. (Most of my subjects are set up into weekly lessons anyway.) I write down what we did at the end of the day so that I can make sure we are getting the things done that need to be done. I also keep all of the work in one place and record my grades at the end of the semester rather than each week. Things like this have just worked better for me and I can stay better organized.
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