This moring I sent off a long e-mail to my best friend. I needed to talk through my schedule and since she now lives in North Dakota and we can't have coffee and a chat, I did it virtually. I thought I would share our TENTATIVE schedule here on the blog. We'll take the first week or two and see how things go and adjust as needed. I am guessing on times and really just put them there to see how long our day will play out. Usually we fall into a routine and follow the schedule in order of subject rather than time.
8:00 - Family worship (we sing a hymn or two), read from the Bible - usually the Proverb for the day but some months we work through a book in the New Testament and read 1 chapter a day, then we read a chapter from Wisdom and the Millers but we've finished that book and I've got to order the next book. Actually it isn't the next in order but it is about missionaries and I thought it would be a good go along with our My Father's World Exploring Countires and Cultures study for the year.
8:30 - Handwriting/Copywork: The kids will finish up the alphabet handwriting practice per the teacher manual and then they work on copying the Bible. I've allotted 15 minutes for this but we only write for 5 minutes. We started copying the Bible a year and a half ago. We started with Ephesians 5 since that is what our church was memorizing together at the time. Then they chose different Psalms to copy. They each have a notebook that they use and I set the timer for 5 minutes and they write until the timer goes off and then finish the sentence they were on. I check their work - because this is handwriting/copywork time they are to do their best handwriting. Sometimes they must erase and write a word or two over. It is a very short lesson and Jon and Chris get a few verses copied. Andrew usually takes a bit longer although he is not required to. He chooses to continue working while I do Spelling with Chris.
8:45 - Spelling: with Chris. Christopher does Spelling Power
9:00 - Spelling: with Andrew - I am going to try Spelling Power with Andrew this year. We tried it last year but he had a hard time with it and I instead chose to teach him spelling with the Charlotte Mason style of teaching. It seemed to work better for him because he HATES to get a word wrong and would end up in tears over Spelling power. If you want to know more about how I taught him last year, let me know. I would definitely choose that CM style of teaching for the first 3 grades. Christopher will begin working on his geography packet or take the dogs out for a potty break.
9:15 - Geography: I have allotted 45 minutes for this subject because I cannot remember how long it took when we did ECC before. We'll do our scheduled lessons and the boys will work on their geography packets. If there is extra time then I have found a few fun online games for the first couple of weeks that help them to place the states. If I see that we can finish this up in 30 minutes then i'll adjust our schedule as needed.
Jonathan has his own History curriculum that he is working through independently this year.
10:00 - break/snack:
10:15 - Math: Jonathan is trying Teaching Textbooks this year. I am looking forward to seeing how this works for him. Christopher is still using Math U See and Andrew is doing review. I got an ABeka math book that has colorful worksheets and he'll work on completing as many as he can in during math time. When I am confident he's ready to advance we'll order his next Math U See student text.
10:45 - Reading: Andrew will have reading time with me each day for 15 minutes. I ordered some books about an Amish boy named Benjie from Pathway Publishing. We sit on the couch and he reads aloud to me.
11:00 - Spanish: I opted to try the Pimsleur Spanish program versus Rosetta Stone. We have 1 lesson a week and it is a listening lesson. They teach conversationally and so we listen to the same 30 minute lesson a minimum of 3 times per week but I'm aiming for 4 days a week with Friday's off. Andrew is required to listen but may quietly play or draw.
11:30 - Science: Jonathan is doing Apologia Chemistry, Christopher is doing Physical Science and Andrew is following the science plans in the Teacher Manual - although I MIGHT switch him to Apologia elementary because I LOVE their science so much!
12:00 - English/Literature: Everyone is working from Rod and Staff for grammar- the older boys read the lesson and do the work on their own and I correct it. Jonathan is reading two Shakespeare selections this year and Christopher will be reading one. Andrew and I read his Rod and Staff lesson together and then he does the work while I start lunch.
12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - Book Basket: I tacked book basket on to the end of our day because they can read while I clean up the kitchen and frankly I didn't have any place else to fit it it!
1:15 - Music/Art: I am hoping to do more arts and crafts with Andrew. We really slacked last year in this area and he hated school. He loves to be engaged and busy so I know he will enjoy it. We wont do it everyday but on the days we don't he will then have quiet time in his room for a bit.
Afternoon:
8:00 - Family worship (we sing a hymn or two), read from the Bible - usually the Proverb for the day but some months we work through a book in the New Testament and read 1 chapter a day, then we read a chapter from Wisdom and the Millers but we've finished that book and I've got to order the next book. Actually it isn't the next in order but it is about missionaries and I thought it would be a good go along with our My Father's World Exploring Countires and Cultures study for the year.
8:30 - Handwriting/Copywork: The kids will finish up the alphabet handwriting practice per the teacher manual and then they work on copying the Bible. I've allotted 15 minutes for this but we only write for 5 minutes. We started copying the Bible a year and a half ago. We started with Ephesians 5 since that is what our church was memorizing together at the time. Then they chose different Psalms to copy. They each have a notebook that they use and I set the timer for 5 minutes and they write until the timer goes off and then finish the sentence they were on. I check their work - because this is handwriting/copywork time they are to do their best handwriting. Sometimes they must erase and write a word or two over. It is a very short lesson and Jon and Chris get a few verses copied. Andrew usually takes a bit longer although he is not required to. He chooses to continue working while I do Spelling with Chris.
8:45 - Spelling: with Chris. Christopher does Spelling Power
9:00 - Spelling: with Andrew - I am going to try Spelling Power with Andrew this year. We tried it last year but he had a hard time with it and I instead chose to teach him spelling with the Charlotte Mason style of teaching. It seemed to work better for him because he HATES to get a word wrong and would end up in tears over Spelling power. If you want to know more about how I taught him last year, let me know. I would definitely choose that CM style of teaching for the first 3 grades. Christopher will begin working on his geography packet or take the dogs out for a potty break.
9:15 - Geography: I have allotted 45 minutes for this subject because I cannot remember how long it took when we did ECC before. We'll do our scheduled lessons and the boys will work on their geography packets. If there is extra time then I have found a few fun online games for the first couple of weeks that help them to place the states. If I see that we can finish this up in 30 minutes then i'll adjust our schedule as needed.
Jonathan has his own History curriculum that he is working through independently this year.
10:00 - break/snack:
10:15 - Math: Jonathan is trying Teaching Textbooks this year. I am looking forward to seeing how this works for him. Christopher is still using Math U See and Andrew is doing review. I got an ABeka math book that has colorful worksheets and he'll work on completing as many as he can in during math time. When I am confident he's ready to advance we'll order his next Math U See student text.
10:45 - Reading: Andrew will have reading time with me each day for 15 minutes. I ordered some books about an Amish boy named Benjie from Pathway Publishing. We sit on the couch and he reads aloud to me.
11:00 - Spanish: I opted to try the Pimsleur Spanish program versus Rosetta Stone. We have 1 lesson a week and it is a listening lesson. They teach conversationally and so we listen to the same 30 minute lesson a minimum of 3 times per week but I'm aiming for 4 days a week with Friday's off. Andrew is required to listen but may quietly play or draw.
11:30 - Science: Jonathan is doing Apologia Chemistry, Christopher is doing Physical Science and Andrew is following the science plans in the Teacher Manual - although I MIGHT switch him to Apologia elementary because I LOVE their science so much!
12:00 - English/Literature: Everyone is working from Rod and Staff for grammar- the older boys read the lesson and do the work on their own and I correct it. Jonathan is reading two Shakespeare selections this year and Christopher will be reading one. Andrew and I read his Rod and Staff lesson together and then he does the work while I start lunch.
12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - Book Basket: I tacked book basket on to the end of our day because they can read while I clean up the kitchen and frankly I didn't have any place else to fit it it!
1:15 - Music/Art: I am hoping to do more arts and crafts with Andrew. We really slacked last year in this area and he hated school. He loves to be engaged and busy so I know he will enjoy it. We wont do it everyday but on the days we don't he will then have quiet time in his room for a bit.
Afternoon:
- music- Everyone has piano practice and the older two also have guitar practice. When it isn't their turn for practice on the piano they'll do guitar.
- Reading: Jonathan and Christopher have time set aside each afternoon to read. We just slowly work through books. Some literature ones that I think they should read and be familiar with, others are Christian books such as Corrie Ten Boom, Elena, Tortured for Christ, Created to Work, etc.
- Electives: The afternoon is also the time for them to work on their elective programs. Christopher is working on advancing in Civil Air Patrol and moving up in rank so he always has leadership reading and training to do in his book and online. Jonathan is doing a drafting course and also working on web design.
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