My 7th Grader's Day
Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2007 10:56 pm
I thought I'd put together what my 7th grader generally does on an average day. (I'll do my 3rd grader another time.)
9:00 thump down the stairs complaining of being too tired
9:10 manage to pour himself a bowl of cereal or toast a couple waffles, usually with excessive "tiredness" (he wouldn't want me to forget he's VERY tired still )
9:30 the computer is on and he's sitting at it doing algebra (www.Time4Learning.com)
9:45 still doing algebra but now chattering away either to his sister (who's not listening) or his bird (who is as much a jabberbox as he is)
10:15 still doing algebra and still talking away (if he's really working on something his mouth just goes. We've all learned to tune him and his bird out or we'd be crazy. I can see that this would not be a good learning style for a class of 20+ kids, but it's amazing how well he works through problems when seemingly babbling about nothing)
10:30 or 11:00 finished with algebra and beginning grammar (was Analytical Grammar, but he hated that and is now www.EnglishGrammar101.com which he likes...or at least doesn't hate so far)
11:15 playing with the puppy and trying to avoid looking like he's not doing anything productive
11:30 Rosetta Stone Spanish II (he speaks, reads and understands Spanish but can't write it to save his life which makes him very unhappy to do this program because it requires writing to pass a lesson. I probably need to find a new program for him, one that is your basic Spanish "grammar" and not "learn Spanish" program. Any suggestions?)
12:00 bother his little sister or playing with the puppy and wondering if it's lunch time yet (which immediately grabs his up to then productive sister's attention )
12:10 Typing lessons (Type To Learn 3)...a necessary evil
12:30 Reading Detective B1 (he actually enjoys doing this...Yea!)
1:00 (Lunch) we all three (and sometimes 4 if his older brother is around) watch a Discovery, Learning or History channel program we've TiVo'd. This is a great, stress free, fun, munchy time for all.
2:00 Writing (IEW's Student Writing Intensive-B) A great program and one that has turned him from a VERY reluctant writer to a rather motivated one. He works very hard at this now and WITHOUT discussion (arguement.)
3:00 drum practice
3:30 ALL DONE!
He used to get up at 7 or 7:30 and begin working, but he's begun doing his history/science reading at night and often stays up till 11:00 or even past 12:00. I have gotten him quite a few "Horrible History" books and he is totally enjoying them. He insists these aren't "history" because history is BORING. I've read most of these myself (accidentally, I just happen to pick one up and the next thing I know... ) Anyway, I would recommend these books for reluctant history readers (the science ones are fun too!) He's also been reading other history books like: "Al Capone Does My Shirts" (fiction) and "Children Who Survived WWII" (non-fiction) so he's getting a lot of variety.
9:00 thump down the stairs complaining of being too tired
9:10 manage to pour himself a bowl of cereal or toast a couple waffles, usually with excessive "tiredness" (he wouldn't want me to forget he's VERY tired still )
9:30 the computer is on and he's sitting at it doing algebra (www.Time4Learning.com)
9:45 still doing algebra but now chattering away either to his sister (who's not listening) or his bird (who is as much a jabberbox as he is)
10:15 still doing algebra and still talking away (if he's really working on something his mouth just goes. We've all learned to tune him and his bird out or we'd be crazy. I can see that this would not be a good learning style for a class of 20+ kids, but it's amazing how well he works through problems when seemingly babbling about nothing)
10:30 or 11:00 finished with algebra and beginning grammar (was Analytical Grammar, but he hated that and is now www.EnglishGrammar101.com which he likes...or at least doesn't hate so far)
11:15 playing with the puppy and trying to avoid looking like he's not doing anything productive
11:30 Rosetta Stone Spanish II (he speaks, reads and understands Spanish but can't write it to save his life which makes him very unhappy to do this program because it requires writing to pass a lesson. I probably need to find a new program for him, one that is your basic Spanish "grammar" and not "learn Spanish" program. Any suggestions?)
12:00 bother his little sister or playing with the puppy and wondering if it's lunch time yet (which immediately grabs his up to then productive sister's attention )
12:10 Typing lessons (Type To Learn 3)...a necessary evil
12:30 Reading Detective B1 (he actually enjoys doing this...Yea!)
1:00 (Lunch) we all three (and sometimes 4 if his older brother is around) watch a Discovery, Learning or History channel program we've TiVo'd. This is a great, stress free, fun, munchy time for all.
2:00 Writing (IEW's Student Writing Intensive-B) A great program and one that has turned him from a VERY reluctant writer to a rather motivated one. He works very hard at this now and WITHOUT discussion (arguement.)
3:00 drum practice
3:30 ALL DONE!
He used to get up at 7 or 7:30 and begin working, but he's begun doing his history/science reading at night and often stays up till 11:00 or even past 12:00. I have gotten him quite a few "Horrible History" books and he is totally enjoying them. He insists these aren't "history" because history is BORING. I've read most of these myself (accidentally, I just happen to pick one up and the next thing I know... ) Anyway, I would recommend these books for reluctant history readers (the science ones are fun too!) He's also been reading other history books like: "Al Capone Does My Shirts" (fiction) and "Children Who Survived WWII" (non-fiction) so he's getting a lot of variety.