New to homeschooling and need a little help.?

Question

This is my first year homeschooling. I have 2 boys (pre-k and 1st). My problem is time management. I would like to get on some sort of schedule for them and would like to view some sample schedules from fellow homeschoolers to kind of get an idea. Can anyone help me out?

Answer 1

I think one of the most vital reasons to homeschool is to escape the enforced schedule of a school environment.

We homeschool our 7 kids, and always have - we would never schedule their day like a school does. Instead, we pursue what interests them in a more natural way.

For instance, if I'm settled in with an interesting book about Marie Antoinette, for instance, and my husband were to say, "you've been reading for 45 minutes, time to put that away and do something else - it's time to practice your knitting" I might think he was being a little high-handed and ridiculous. I WANT to read my book right now, thank you very much.

The whole imposed schedule thing is artificial, created by schools, not the natural way a child learns.

Children learn because they are INTERESTED. They won't lose interest as quickly as a school would force them to change subjects.

When I was a kid, the Curies were major heroes of mine. I remember reading about Pierre Curie's brother, who was also a scientist. He was tutored at home - because he could not deal with the changing of topics continually at school, but needed to study just one thing a day.

I wished, as a kid, that I had parents as thoughtful as his. Because I HATED having to learn according the ringing of a bell.

Take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ogCc8Obi...

It's by John Taylor Gatto - he's truly brilliant.

Answer 2

First determine which time your boys wake up. I wouldn't wake them up for an artificial schedule. Good sleep is one of the benefits of homeschool. Also, do they wake up hungry, ready to play or do they need time to wake up slowly? Let's say you are ready for breakfast by 8:30. Have the boys set their places, which is probably just getting out a napkin and a spoon or fork. Afterwards, have them bus their plates and glasses.

By 9 you can do a little reading work with you 1st grader while the younger one colors or does some quiet play.

9:20 1st grader gets a break while you read to little one and/or work with him on his letters.

9:40 Math for first grader. Blocks or counting beads/math toy for preschooler.

10:00 "recess" while you throw in a load of laundry.

10:15 snack time - have them help make peanut butter on crackers or apples or some other easy-to-fix kid snack

10:30 cleanup

10:40 Handwriting for first grader, pre-handwriting for younger

10:55 Readaloud - if your kids are old enough to sit and listen to you read for 20min to 1/2 hour, this is a good time for it

11:15 or 11:30 Freeplay

12:00 have kids pick up toys while you fix lunch, have them "set" the table again. Make sure they bus their places at the end.

Afternoons can be available for playdates, naps, field trips and chores. Keep in mind that chores have to be minimal for this age range - e.g. set the timer and have them straighten an area for 5 minutes or have them dust 3-4 pieces of furniture. Don't expect perfection but praise the things you can ("Wow, you did this table really well!").

Roll with the punches. Hsing and schedules have to be kept to a minimum at these young ages. Good luck!

Answer 3

At that age, it's difficult to get them on a schedule, per se...I tried to put my son on a strict schedule at 6, and I nearly put the kid in therapy, lol.

What I do now (my son's 9) is to have him do his "morning routine" (up, shower, brush teeth/hair, get dressed, eat, clothes and dishes away) and then get started on his independent work (spelling, math, language arts, Greek, geography, reading, AWANA work).  He then gets a 20-30 minute break in which he can do whatever he wants, kind of a recess.  If the weather's nice, he'll go play with the dog, we'll go for a walk, he'll throw a tennis ball against the side of the house to practice catching, or something like that.  If not, I'll let him go on a website like Millsberry or Mighty Giants, or he'll practice cup stacking, or sometimes he'll play a few minutes of PS2.

During this time, I'm taking care of any prep work and house work.  It takes about an hour/hour and a half in all.

After that, we'll get into a lapbooking unit study, which covers practice in a lot of subjects - reading comprehension, research skills, writing and notetaking, math, poetry, science, history, geography, Scripture devotions, etc.  This usually takes about an hour/hour and a half.

Lunch, which we usually make together, walk the dog.

In the afternoon, we'll do about an hour of science (either read aloud from his text, notebooking pages to review, online research, projects, or experiments) and then he gets a quick 10-15 minute "move it" break.  After this, we do about an hour of history (read aloud, research, lapbook, notebook, projects, period cooking, etc.).  He gets another quick break.

By this time, it's about 3/3:30, his friends will be getting home from school soon.  Writing (IEW) is one of his favorite subjects, so putting it at the end of the day gives him one last burst of focus.  I integrate his writing into his other subjects (science, history, culture study, unit study) so it's always about something that he's already studying.  On Monday we'll read through some research, and he'll go through and highlight (on a copy) his bullet points and key words.  Tuesday, he'll write out his outline and prepare a short speech.  Wednesday, he'll dictate his first draft, which I edit.  Thursday, he goes through and dictates his second draft, which I edit.  Friday, he dictates his third/final draft, which we print out and he reads to Dad when home from work.

After this, his friends are home from school and they play for an hour or two.  Dinner, family activities, then about 30 minutes of read aloud, 45 minutes of Bible study, and it's time for bed.

Obviously, his schedule wasn't this full when he was 6; we were usually done by noon (once I exorcised the schedule n**i, lol!) and afternoons were for board games, going to the zoo/nature center/park/museum/aquarium.  We also made sure (and still do) to take part in any age-appropriate activities and field trips with our home school group and other home school families.

I know mine's a bit older than yours - the above schedule is a product of his choosing and my scheduling.  It's one that we've worked into over the last 3-4 years and works really well for us.

And please disregard the first poster...who really doesn't seem to know what they're talking about.

Good luck!

Answer 4

If you don't know what to do, I sincerely advise you to bring them to school. It'll be better for their future.

Answer 5

Most kids study & learn the best after they have had a good breakfast & are fully awake.  Since yours are young, they are likely to awaken early, so I'd suggest breakfast by 8:00 and "study time" from 8:30-10:30.  Most homeschooling can be fully accomplished in two hours per day, with "field trips", etc.  in the afternoon.

Answer 6

My kids are almost 2 and almost 5.  This is our rough schedule for this coming semester.  (My husband teaches college so we tend to live our life in terms of semesters.)

8:00  Wake up with 2-year-old.

9:00  Wake up 5-year-old and get ready for the day.

         -Have Breakfast

         -School Time with 5-year-old: about 30 minutes, split between reading lesson and Singapore Early Bird math or science lesson or educational game

          -Mommy time with 2-year-old

12:00 Lunch time (listen to book on tape while eating)

1:00   Clean up living room

           -Read-a-loud time together on couch

2:45   Snack time

3:00   2-year-old nap/5-year-old television time

5:30   Dinner

6:30   Game time with 5-year-old

8:30   Snack time

9:00   Bedtime

Like I said this is a rough schedule.  Any unaccounted for time is free play time or spontaneous activity time.  The only thing I see changing in the next few years is that the younger child will start having 30 minutes of school time when she hits about four or five (unless she request it earlier), the older child will move to an hour of school work once she can read enough to do some independent work while I work with the younger one, and we will have game time with all three of us after dinner.

I know this doesn't seem like much, but I like to leave plenty of time for play and interest-led learning.  I don't schedule a specific chore time for me or them, but I usually work on chores during unscheduled time and encourage them to help with some.  Nap time/television time is usually time for me to get more involved chores done, make telephone calls, or just read or rest myself.

Answer 7

i did SOS, as my curiclum, it would set up a shecule for u depending on what days u would do school. u can do it either on the computer, online or from txt books I have used it for 6 years

Answer 8

Telling you my schedule might not help, because your situation might be different, but my advice is to get up early and tackle this just like you would tackle a job you get for.  Not that I mean you shouldn't enjoy it more than that, but just that you should keep at it consistently.

The pre-k kid doesn't need that much schooling right now, lots of reading out loud and maybe 30-40 minutes of formal "school work" if that much.  For the first grader put your priorities in Reading, Math, and Writing.  Do the other subjects in fun ways when you have time.

Answer 9

Sample schedule:

I'm up by 6.

Kids are up between 6:30 and 7.

Get ready, get dressed, all that; sometimes do some little school thing before that.

Around 8, get started with work/learning activities. We don't have a set schedule; it's worked out each day what will be done.

Break around 11-11:30. Do a bit of cleaning up before lunch. Lunch. Kids help with clearing the table.

Silent reading.

For the afternoon, it's never the same. We'll have a park day one day usually, go to the library another afternoon, run errands or go on a field trip another afternoon...

Answer 10

hello I also home school it is nothing to be worried about your boys are young so i would say start school at nine i start at eight i do math science language gum vocabulary art music history about an hour for each your kids are younger so not that long on each subject as they get older you had more things and they just grow with your schedule and you don't do every subject every day do art only on Mondays do PE on Fridays do science on Thursday and Tuesdays understandgo to this site they have a message board and stuff for homeschoolers www.kaleidoscapes.com it also has some really neat kid pages  good luck