This is dd's first week of school...

[OleanderRain]

and she is really fighting me with our homeschool work. I'm keeping her lessons very short so she's not sitting very long at all. Each lesson is about 5-10 minutes and then she gets a break. We're doing 3-4 lessons a day, not including our read-alouds. So seat work is only for 30 minutes. This isn't including her homework, so far her homework only takes her 5-10 minutes. But we do that work as soon as she gets home then I give her about an hour to play before we sit down and do homeschool stuff. I planned on doing about an hours worth of work on Saturday and Sunday. Should we be going right into homeschool when she gets home, should I take a break from homeschooling all together for about week or so? Tell me, what has worked for you?

[fairytalemama]

It might help to ease into it. Why not back off and start with only doing her school homework and then doing one of your planned lessons and see how it goes?

I was trying to do it all (reading, writing, math, read alouds) with my K age daughter and it was just too much. We have hit our stride by right now doing whatever homework she gets from school and then a 10-15 minute reading lesson. She is MUCH more willing to do the reading lesson now than before. We also do read alouds too, but that is more tied into our bedtime routine. My plan is that once we get that going for a month or two to add doing some short math sessions a couple of times a week.

Do you have any time before school? She might be more willing to do it then while she's still fresh.

[HistoryMom]

I find that if I give them much of a break between school and homework/afterschool work, they're less likely to be enthusiastic. We get home from school, they get a snack while I clear a space and get their books together, then we do homework and afterschool work all at once. They get to choose what order things get done in, but they must do it all before they break for playtime. DS likes to do afterschool math before doing his assigned schoolwork, then does his afterschool independent reading. DD likes to do schoolwork first, because it's easy, and then afterschool work. They both seem to really like doing it with me, rather than independently, and it gives us some nice togetherness time.

[Spy Car]

and she is really fighting me with our homeschool work. I'm keeping her lessons very short so she's not sitting very long at all. Each lesson is about 5-10 minutes and then she gets a break. We're doing 3-4 lessons a day, not including our read-alouds. So seat work is only for 30 minutes. This isn't including her homework, so far her homework only takes her 5-10 minutes. But we do that work as soon as she gets home then I give her about an hour to play before we sit down and do homeschool stuff. I planned on doing about an hours worth of work on Saturday and Sunday. Should we be going right into homeschool when she gets home, should I take a break from homeschooling all together for about week or so? Tell me, what has worked for you?

Hey there! I see we like some of the same materials (ETC, MEP, Singapore and Miquon).

I don't know that I have advice exactly, since I'm all over the map. I think young children (mine included) benefit from a certain amount of discipline of expectations as to when and how home-work and after-school work is going to get done.

But, and it is a big but (no pun intended :D) the truth is for us I have to balance a sense of "schedule" with other needs, and mostly I try to stay very "flexible." If opportunities arise that would be fun for him, I might very well let a lesson go. If I can see he's tired, I try not to push it.

And other times when the juices are flowing we will make up for lost time. There are times (especially weekends) when he will happily go for hours. Some nights he begs to do math after story-time (I usually indulge) other-times he's ready to sleep.

So I guess I try to walk the line between making sure he has plenty of time to play, play sports, have down time, and engaging in additional education (and trying to make that time fun). And balancing the need to meet "my goals" with his needs. Not being "indulgent" with not being "inflexible."

The good news is we get a lot done. But I'm trying by best to reconcile two contradictory impulses: sticking to a schedule and being flexible with time. It seems to work out well.

I'm also not biting off quite as much as you seem to be in terms of language arts and science. I'm pretty much prioritized on math and reading. And I'm letting letting another subjects filter in through reading, but I'm not trying to take him through an ancient history cycle now nor have I started with grammar yet.

Not much help, I'm afraid. Other than to let you know you are not the only one :001_smile:

Bill

[Snickerdoodle]

I think if I were in this situation, I would have the afterschooling happen *before* school every morning for about 30 minutes at the breakfast table. That would be our time, and I would make it practically sacred.

Completely hypothetical of course as I've never been in this situation.

[ApronMama]

But, and it is a big but (no pun intended :D) the truth is for us I have to balance a sense of "schedule" with other needs, and mostly I try to stay very "flexible." If opportunities arise that would be fun for him, I might very well let a lesson go. If I can see he's tired, I try not to push it.

And other times when the juices are flowing we will make up for lost time.

So I guess I try to walk the line between making sure he has plenty of time to play, play sports, have down time, and engaging in additional education (and trying to make that time fun). And balancing the need to meet "my goals" with his needs. Not being "indulgent" with not being "inflexible."

Bill
:iagree:

I think routine, starting with the assigned ps work and building on it with the one or two things you think are most important or she likes, will help. We make sure we have at least an hour to play after school and keep schoolwork time to an hour plus readalouds. My ds complains alot more about his ps homework than afterschooling work because what we do is more interesting!

Sometimes I get so caught up in all the great things we could be learning that I forget we need to just take a breather and play together!

[OleanderRain]

It might help to ease into it. Why not back off and start with only doing her school homework and then doing one of your planned lessons and see how it goes?

Do you have any time before school? She might be more willing to do it then while she's still fresh.

I think if I were in this situation, I would have the afterschooling happen *before* school every morning for about 30 minutes at the breakfast table. That would be our time, and I would make it practically sacred.


This is a great idea, I'm going to try this tomorrow. If we woke up 30 minutes earlier we could get a LOT done in that time and it won't cut into her playtime!


I find that if I give them much of a break between school and homework/afterschool work, they're less likely to be enthusiastic.

I think this is the case with her. If waking up early and doing some work is successful I think I may be able to get her to cooperate more in the evening because she'll only have 1-2 lessons to do, which is only an extra 15-20 minutes.

[OleanderRain]

Hey there! I see we like some of the same materials (ETC, MEP, Singapore and Miquon).

I don't know that I have advice exactly, since I'm all over the map. I think young children (mine included) benefit from a certain amount of discipline of expectations as to when and how home-work and after-school work is going to get done.

But, and it is a big but (no pun intended :D) the truth is for us I have to balance a sense of "schedule" with other needs, and mostly I try to stay very "flexible." If opportunities arise that would be fun for him, I might very well let a lesson go. If I can see he's tired, I try not to push it.

And other times when the juices are flowing we will make up for lost time. There are times (especially weekends) when he will happily go for hours. Some nights he begs to do math after story-time (I usually indulge) other-times he's ready to sleep.

So I guess I try to walk the line between making sure he has plenty of time to play, play sports, have down time, and engaging in additional education (and trying to make that time fun). And balancing the need to meet "my goals" with his needs. Not being "indulgent" with not being "inflexible."

The good news is we get a lot done. But I'm trying by best to reconcile two contradictory impulses: sticking to a schedule and being flexible with time. It seems to work out well.

I'm also not biting off quite as much as you seem to be in terms of language arts and science. I'm pretty much prioritized on math and reading. And I'm letting letting another subjects filter in through reading, but I'm not trying to take him through an ancient history cycle now nor have I started with grammar yet.

Not much help, I'm afraid. Other than to let you know you are not the only one :001_smile:

Bill

Hey Bill! Thanks for chiming in here. :001_smile: I think you're absolutely correct, there does need to be a balance. I know that I can't possibly fit in everything that was on our plate before public school so I'm going to have to drop some things. That will make it easier to balance work and play.
Honestly ,I'm not one for sticking to a schedule so it make it more difficult for someone like me. I always have this feeling of not getting enough done, not being productive.

Language Arts and Math are the two subjects most important to me so I need to figure out which will be the best one to do before school and which one to do after school. I think math will be best after school because she does enjoy it even though she would rather be playing. She despises writing. SOTW will be a good one to work into our read-alouds before bedtime because we're not doing many of the activities. She'll think she is getting to stay up a little longer by doing this. :tongue_smilie: Nature study and Latin will wind up being dropped, I think, we haven't had time for those and they are the least important. And I'll try and save science for Sunday mornings, we haven't had time for science lately either but it's something we all love.

"Thinking aloud" here. What if I used a timer, setting it to 20 minutes when we began our afterschool work. Anytime she dawdles, whines, has to go potty, etc. the timer gets set back to 20 minutes. :tongue_smilie: Cruel and unusual punishment, going to make her resent doing any kind of learning or an acceptable way to enforce the rules and will make her more disciplined?

[OleanderRain]

:iagree:

I think routine, starting with the assigned ps work and building on it with the one or two things you think are most important or she likes, will help. We make sure we have at least an hour to play after school and keep schoolwork time to an hour plus readalouds. My ds complains alot more about his ps homework than afterschooling work because what we do is more interesting!

Sometimes I get so caught up in all the great things we could be learning that I forget we need to just take a breather and play together!

I'm the same way, always thinking about how we could be learning about this or that, and feeling like I'm wasting time whenever we're not learning. I think I'm the one that needs to be homeschooled. :lol:

[Concerned Mom]

Hello,

I joined The Well-Trained Mind Forums and I was directed to this board. I have a 3rd grader. I am afterschooling him right now. He was in a private school for two years and I was compelled to switch him to public for 3rd through 5th grade then do private again. I do not like how the public school system operates in Texas. The schools are nothing than testing sites. The teachers teach to the state test when the state standard is below par compared to a national test. The state of Texas is below par like Georgia, Tennesse, and a few other southern states. It is almost scrapping the bottom. Although the local public school is recognized for the number of elementary students scoring proficient in Math and Reading, this does not matter when the standards are so low to begin with. I decided to purchase my own spelling, vocabulary, and grammar textbooks because unfortunately, the local school does not have textbooks for these subjects. I am also aware that there are not enough books in the classroom that the students do have.

It is ashame. I find in the private school when there was a test at least you were provided with a date for the test, a textbook, and study guide. In public school you are not provided with anything. The students are suppose to retain what is taught in the classroom and there is no opportunity for parents to reinforce it at home.

I was shocked when a friend told me she had no clue what her first grader was working on in class because no graded work was coming home and there was so little homework. It has been 9 weeks and she only has 5 sheets of paper of things he worked on. I have never heard of anything like this. I haven't had the opportunity to read all of your comments. I am so glad that there is a group of parents out there who want to make sure their children receive the best education. :001_smile:

[ApronMama]

I think I'm the one that needs to be homeschooled. :lol:

I love that! Totally agree! :thumbup:

[Spy Car]

"Thinking aloud" here. What if I used a timer, setting it to 20 minutes when we began our afterschool work. Anytime she dawdles, whines, has to go potty, etc. the timer gets set back to 20 minutes. :tongue_smilie: Cruel and unusual punishment, going to make her resent doing any kind of learning or an acceptable way to enforce the rules and will make her more disciplined?

I've threatened to set a timer a couple of time (idle threat ;)) I just can't see myself doing that. I can't say it might not be "character building", it just isn't my style.

Six year olds dawdle, whine, need convenient bath-room breaks, drop pencils, get reminded of something they "need to show you" and so on.

With my son I do find he thrives on the time when we do things together and has my full attention. So among the things I try to balance is what we do when. Trying to judge when independent work is going to be fine, and when the stars are not aligned and it is better to move to Plan B.

Better in our home to keep my son's enthusiasm high. We get an an awful lot accomplished, and he enjoys himself (and I do too). But there have been a few patches when I think I just figured we were on a schedule like clock-work and forgot to monitor the situation with full sensitivity for how he was doing and in those times "my goals" to get things done got in the way of actually getting them done. I've tried to learn from that and to really seek the balance.

We are having an amazing year.

Bill

[fairytalemama]

I've used a timer before and it actually worked out pretty good. I just told her "If you can focus, I'll set the timer for 15 minutes. When it dings, we're done. No matter where we're at, we're done." I think she liked knowing that if she plowed through and did it, I would keep my word and we'd be done at the ding.