Well,I reckon everyone has been schoolin' for
at least a week or more by now, right?
How's it going?
Are you feeling that your routine is set yet?
For us,
even though we started early in August,
we didn't get near as much done as I
had hoped in order to compensate for our time off
while we are in China.
So....my students will be doing some
work while we are gone.
Much to their chagrin.
And just as I feel like our routine is getting,
well, routine....it's all about to change
with our newest child joining our family.
So...our subject for this post is,
What is your routine?
I'd love to hear what time you start
each day,
and what time you finish.
Also....
if anyone has any great advice for me
as we are welcoming our 13 year old into
our happy(ish) homeschool,
I'd love to hear it.
She is 13 and VERY SMART,
so I'm told.
Any advice on curriculum or
what the first few weeks and months
should look like (school-wise) with a newly adopted child,
that would be great!
10 comments:
Yes, the picture that you posted of your schoolroom - it is actually my real school room. How did you get a photo of my house? Ha! Doesn't the picture "smell good"? When I have an "older" that needs a little more help in a particular area, I have them "teach" the subject to a younger. That way, they don't realize that they are studying it, too. Even though your sweetie is smart, it might take her awhile to be fluent in English. If you can have her read to Miss Lucy at Lucy's level, it won't feel like she (ShuLi) is being babied and asked to read material that is too childish for her. A good way to learn some of those English idiosynchrosies.
Cooking might be another way to ease the transition to English - you get math and reading there. Plus it is something fun to do with you or the older boys! Chore charts would be another way to cement some English without her realising it. Memorizing scripture verses written on 3x5's - some Charlotte Mason techniques? I am SO excited to see her with you!!!!!
Sonlight is awesome with read alouds and readers. GREAT books, but real learning also. She could teach Lucy the preschool level! MY schoolroom too Mrs McNew, is VERY similar. lolol I may have to post pics of our actual school area sometime.
ahhh, anyway our routine is currently 10am-2pm. At bedtime we read aloud. So far that routine is pretty workable.
Our routine seems to change quite often! Ah the beauty of homeschooling! This year we are trying to get in shape for the Great Wall, so we have been getting up at 6 to go to the Y. Then trying to get school started by 8. Depends on how motivated they are as to how late we finish. On Tuesday we have co-op and try to do a few field trips so the schedule is out the window those days!
There is a yahoo group I recently joined for homeschooling adopted children. You might find some good info there.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adopt_and_Homeschool/
Susan,
Thanks so much for the yahoo group info!! I will definitely check that out. PLEASE remind me after I am back home...I don't want to forget!
Lori
Ah! I good routine. When my older children where young and in school, we had such a routine, it was sick.. It wasn't so structured that it was confining, but they were so self disciplined , it was wonderful. Morning chores, showers & breakfast were done before 8, and school started at 8:30.
Then I had Samuel. lol. Who is a delightful, active, smart, creative and busy boy. And I love it. If we start school by 9:30 now we are on a good schedule!! I have to say, we hardly EVER start at 9:30.
We are going to China in November to adopt our 2 1/2 year old daughter.
Life looks like it will be even more interesting.
Life is good.
OH MY--Susan just made me realize I have to get in shape for the great wall! 3rd time to China, and I may finally get to see it (son is in Beijing).
We were on a great routine until we adopted the 1st time. Then, with a baby in the house, after a 10 year gap, things got crazy. The kids worked on independant stuff in the mornings, and I worked with them at naptime. We also swapped to year-round schooling to relive some of the pressure. Now the big kids are independant, and graduating in Dec.
I'm starting pre-K/K with the littles. We work M_W_F mornings about 9-12. T we have speech therapy and errands, Th we have community Bible study. There dad also goes to the school room and works with them every few days. Hoping to be thru with speech therapy in another year, then add that day to do schoolwork too.
We normally start between 10 and 11! (Because Mommy is a night owl and NOT a morning person) and we do our chores and stuff in the morning before school. So, we break for lunch in the middle, and end up finishing around 2:30 or 3:00, or sometimes a bit later. Of course the kids aren't doing school straight through that whole time. I try to work with them separately because it just works the best that way. I am trying to wean them off of constant Mom attention whenever I can, though. I do have them help Ben when they can and read to Ben. I don't have any experience with teenagers or new adoptees, though. That will be new to me, too!
Routine...I'd love to say I have one, but it's pretty loose. We start as early as we can after breakfast and getting dressed/brushing teeth. Since my girls typically sleep until 8:30, this usually isn't before 9:15. I do tend to do subjects in about the same order every day, although I will adjust that based on the day. Bible is first, then math--my oldest (8) doesn't struggle with the math itself, but sometimes with her focus, so I like to get her when she's the freshest. I get her going, and then start lessons with my younger daughter (5) while the older one's working. In the meantime, I'm trying to make sure little brother (2) isn't destroying something somewhere! How soon we finish depends on how well they work. Yesterday, we were out at Grandma's while the car was with the mechanic--we started at 9:15 and were completely done at 12:25. That's my kind of day! Other days my oldest drags things out (2 1/2-3 hours on math) and then she's not done until 4:30 or 5.
We're also learning about being flexible, though, since we travel with my husband here and there--in our first four weeks we've done school in the car, 2 different hotels, the food court at the mall twice, and the park.
No experience here with teenagers or adoptees, either, but yes, I've heard that having older ones teach younger can be a big help to both.
No routine here, and we are on week 7!! I started early with the thought that they would not be doing school while I was in China picking up our baby girl in October. So we try to start at 9:00, although I am thinking about pushing that to 9:30 (I am not a morning person and my 8th grader sleeps in until about 9:00). So, yes, I would LOVE a routine because I am a very organized person. I just can't seem to get 4 other children to cooperate..and soon there will be 5!! And my classroom is the kitchen table!
just found your blog and love it! i have 4 kids: kara age 11, anna age 10, nathan age 6 and caleb age 4 whom we just adopted from china in june. i love homeschooling. and love adoption even more.
anyway...routine? when my girls were just starting school we did school after lunch b/c i'm not a morning person and it just made more sense to do school during my son's nap. i did give them a daily list of "morning work" that they needed to get done while i was in the shower and getting ready for the day (cleaning up breakfast, getting some dinner prep done, etc). i basically made a list of everything that i could think of that they could do on their own (independent reading, spelling page, flashmaster, bible reading, etc). it was one of the best things i put into their routine b/c from a very young age they got used to working independently and i got a a lot done all before about 10am. we would run errands, make dr appts, go to library, etc in the morning (usually between 10-12am) and always kept the afternoon free for nap/school time.
now that the 3 of them are of school age (1st, 5th, 6th grade) our routine is pretty much the same. they all have "morninng work" that they do while i take a shower, clean up from breakfast, etc. my girls are basically independent learners and do all of their subjects on their own and only need me to grade their work and/or answer questions they have. my son needs more direct teaching and i do that after lunch when my youngest takes a nap.
monday grocery shopping is really the only thing i make a major priority during the week. if i can have a weeks worth of meals planned and all the ingredients in my refrigerator by monday morning then i feel like i have accomplished a great task and get my week started off feeling good.
surface/"guests are coming over"-type cleaning usually happens on friday afternoons. deep cleaning of the house rarely happens b/c life is just too short to get it all done and this is one thing i'm willing to sacrifice right now in my life. i do make my kids do a lot of the cleaning each week but their level of expertise isn't that high so my house is really never truly clean.
i used to fret that i just could not get everything done that i wanted to get done during the week. then i realized that i needed to focus on a few things that i wanted to get done and do them well as opposed to trying to do it all and never feeling done. my non-negotiable/important things ended up being school work, homemade dinners, a decently clean home, and a lot of time to enjoy each other during the day.
i love the freedom that homeschool brings our family. so many people think that i have the hardest job and can't imagine doing it. i think i have the best job ever and have tried to make it as peaceful as possible for me and my family. for me, part of this peace comes from having a flexible routine as opposed to a strict schedule...quite possibly one of the greatest benefits of homeschooling, don't you think?!
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