Scheduling suduko

[Faithr]

At least it feels like a suduko! I can't seem to fit everything in for next year. Whenever I think I have it right, I realize that I left out a bit and need to redo the whole thing!

I have 5 kids. For the two teens the only certain thing I know is that on Wednesday mornings (has to be morning cuz my dh is teaching before he goes to work) we are having a little class for teens on Economics, American history and Lit. Dh is doing Econ, I'm teaching the rest. But also needing to be fitted in somewhere for my teens is 1x weekly scripture study as well as 1x weekly Teach Co lectures on Natural Law. Also my 11th grader will probably be taking a Latin class on Tuesday mornings along with the 8th grader. My 12 grader may very well be taking classes at the community college but I have no idea when or exactly what she wants to do.

My 8th grader will be doing Algebra and some fairly heavy duty science as well as Classical Writing, a lit program and history (as well as the aforementioned Latin). All this will be time consuming.

Then on Friday a.m. we are in our ASL and Nature study co-op. On Friday afternoons in the fall and spring we take homeschool tennis lessons together.

Two Thursday mid-afternoons a month we are involved in some Catholic kids' clubs (Little Flowers and Blue Knights).

So I'll only have two uninterrupted mornings a week! Of course on the other mornings, lovely learning will be going on, but not for every child. So how do I work this? I feel like I'm going to have to really load up a couple of days a week and then fit the other stuff in between the cracks in the other days.

And I haven't really talked about my 4th and 2nd graders!

Does anyone else have a system where every day has a different agenda, pretty much?

:willy_nilly: This is what I feel like!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ok, clarify this for me. The classes you are talking about for the teens. Are the classes in your house? Do you or your dh directly teach the classes? The reason I'm asking is because now that my ds10 is 5th grade, he's doing most of his schoolwork independently (or 90% independently). I will sit down with him and teach a new concept or will go over something to clarify things for him. I will read things he writes and will write/or tell him comments for how to improve what he wrote. But for the most part, he has his clipboard with his schedule and assignments on it. He is responsible for doing the work and also scheduling those things that need my input. I'm aware of what he is doing throughout his school day, but I don't have the time to teach him the same way I teach my dd6. Now of course, this kind of approach may not fit your teaching philosophy or curriculum but it is my 2 cents!

[Faithr]

I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The whole post is rather stream of consciousness, isn't it? The class is one that we are planning to give to not just our own teens but others. We are doing the same thing this year and it's been great. We watch dvds together and read books and discuss them. It's socializing at the same time and it keeps us on track. I actually like teaching at the high school level. My teens are very independent otherwise. But we are by nature debaters and discussers. We don't seem to learn subjects well just by going off in semi-isolation and doing assignments. Learning is no fun that way, at least for us. So we are pretty actively engaged in our learning, especially things like religion, philosophy, history, literature. The teens take a science class together and are very independent about that. My dd takes Spanish at a community class and is completely independent about that. It just depends on the subject.

It's really my 8th grader I most worry about. But I'm thinking of doing things in blocks for him. Not sure how. Anyway, I think I've just sort of painted myself into a corner and can't figure out how to get out! But I'm working on it! Just wondering if anyone else out there is as crazy as I am . . . . .