If you have a 2nd grader, a K'er, & one in pre-school/K - how do you schedule it all?

[Pster]

I really struggle to fit it all in!! I have wonderful plans of what I want to cover with my 2nd soon to be 3rd grader..... have lots of work to cover with my K'er (because she is struggling to read/write) and a pre-school/want to be K'er who REALLY wants to do school. How do you have time to work with all of them? It really seems that if we don't cover stuff in the am we don't get it done.

And...I don't even think we do that much outside of school. They have a Phys Ed hs class on Monday's, an American Girl/ Keepers of the Home club once a month, and occasionally a field trip.

How can I not get our work done???? It frustrates me and I don't know how to "tweak" (<- can't stand that word.....lol) our schedule to make it work for us.

So how do you do it? :confused:

[one l michele]

I have 7.5, 6, and 4 year old boys.

My older two do skill subjects in the morning at their level, then in the afternoon we do content subjects together (after lunch and break time). This year I've just worked with my little guy when the other two are busy and he'll select a few books from his pile for us to read together during read aloud time.

Next year I need a bit more structure with him so I decided to use Horizons Preschool program as a guide so I can see he's progressing and being worked with regularly more formally.

In the morning I work with one, then send him off to practice and call the other child over. While I'm working with a sibling they also have independent work they can do - like my oldest will do typing instructor.

Let me know if you'd like more details, this is a pretty quick response.

[tess in the burbs]

My son was 5.5 this fall but ahead in things, so I filed him as 1st grade and is doing all 1st grade work. My daughter had just turned 4 this fall and is doing K level work.

We do school in the mornings only. Afternoons don't work, so I have to be diligent about doing it first thing after brushing teeth. Once they have gotten dressed, eaten, put up clothes and brushed teeth they both sit in the school room.

I rotate what goes first, but most days math is first. they each have their own workbook so I sit at the head of the table and one is on each side. I can help both alternately as they need it. Then I put one on handwriting and ETC while I do phonics with the other. Then they switch. Then we do science and bible together.

It took all fall to come up with this system and it does work. Once school is done then they can go play.....for the rest of the day. We do quiet time every day(youngest still naps some) and during this time the older one does his independent reading. Usually a chapter a day(or more if he likes the book). I can then get some calls made(or nap) and ask the oldest questions from his book.

Hope this helps you. You find a groove eventually, keep trying!

[Narrow Gate Academy]

We have a 3rd, 1st, and 3yo currently w/ a 4th due in May. Basically I alternate through the kids all morning. While I'm working with one DD, the other is either doing independent work or on break playing with the 3yo. My youngest is satisfied with his 30 minutes of preschool in the morning. If he wanted to do more school, I would find something that he could do with my 3rd grader during there time together.

Here's a link to our current schedule:

Our Schedule (http://narrowgateacademy.blogspot.com/2007/12/revising-our-schedule.html)

HTH

[LindaOz]

Something that has been working well here is to start working with my K'er individually while sending the 2nd grader off to play with ds3 for awhile. Then after awhile, K'er and ds3 sit down to watch pre-school TV while I start with the 2nd grader. (My older three are working mostly independently during this time.) This has worked well because ds3 has someone or something to occupy him during the time I have one-on-one with others. I also have a 'surprise basket' of activities for the 3yo to use later in the morning as well which are only for 'schooltime'.

HTH,
Linda

[midwestbelle]

My preschoolers get up earlier than the 7 year olds do so I go ahead and feed them breakfast and do some stuff with them until the girls have gotten up and eaten breakfast. Then the boys go play while I get the girls started with school. While they are working on their assignments, I can go back and do some work with the boys. My almost 5 yo loves to do workbooks and wants to read, so I'm doing some Rod & Staff ps stuff with him and using Bob books.

HTH
Dawn

[Colleen in SEVA]

Wow, when I read my post over I sound like a real slacker. LOL!! I'm really not -- but you did ask what others with kids those ages are doing, so I'm sharing what we honestly do. I've read MOTH, and as much as I would *love* to be that planned out, it just isn't realistically going to happen in this household.

We DON'T fit it all in, and I have just grown to accept that. I have a top priority in mind, and I make sure at least THAT one thing gets done EVERY DAY... and the rest will get done eventually. When my oldest was in K, my top priority was reading, in 1st grade it was math, and this year it is writing (copywork, sentence mechanics, and fine-tuning handwriting before we start formal writing next year). As long as those get done, and all the boys are learning to be respectful, responsible, and compassionate -- I consider the day a success.

Our schedule varies day to day based on moods, whether hubby is traveling, and activities, but there are a couple of points I keep in mind when planning our day -- Yellow will be climbing all over me UNLESS he gets 10 minutes of my undivided attention here and there, Green needs to be within eyesight at all times, and Blue is VERY EASILY distracted (even when someone is on the computer with headphones in the next room) so for some subjects we need silence.

Here is what we did today as an example:

1. Yellow did 2 pages of Kumon book one-on-one with me while Blue & Green played on the computer and Red played in the toddler-friendly section of our school room. 15 minutes

2. I sent Yellow to play with Red while I went over Blue's language arts work with him and Green finished up on the computer. 10 minutes

3. I put Red down for a nap, let Yellow play on the computer, put Blue at the kitchen table to work on his language arts on his own, and did math with Green. 15 minutes

4. I read a book to Yellow while Blue and Green goofed off in the kitchen (Yellow needs these moments right now -- I try to carve them out where I can). 10 minutes

5. I sent Yellow and Green to the play room (other side of house) so I could do math with Blue. 20 minutes

6. Green helped me fix lunch while Blue read on his own in the front room (has doors that close) and Yellow had all the toys to himself. 20 minutes

7. Lunch was ready and Red woke up, so school was over for the day. We usually do more during Red's afternoon nap, but not on Mondays due to outside activities (which were cancelled today, so MOMMY got computer time!).

That only adds up to 90 minutes, but that took us 3 hours. I have no idea where the other 90 minutes went. I vaguely remember changing a poopy diaper.... refilling sippy cups.... sigh.

Science, history, and US studies are done in the afternoon as we are able. This happens some weeks and not others. This is one area I really had to let go, because it was just stressing me out too much. There will be plenty of time for these subjects!

Read alouds are done while DH is putting Green, Yellow, and Red to bed. I do read picture books to the boys at random times throughout the day, but Blue is really the only one who can sit quietly long enough to listen to chapter books.

Art, music, foreign language are not happening right now. I will probably hire these out down the road anyway. Oh!! I forgot Blue will be taking a recorder class in co-op starting next week. That is music, right? *grin*

PE is covered through outside play time, riding bikes, and various sports teams. I have 4 boys, trust me when I say that physical activity is NOT an issue in this house. LOL!!!

So basically, for us, at this point in our schooling lives -- I have to prioritize, and know that the rest will come easier when the 2 little ones (ok -- really the 3 little ones) are older.