Feeling guilty about school ending late afternoon

[wendi.t.momof4]

Hi everyone!
Since I posted my "dream day" and a more realistic day, I've made some changes and I'm fightin feeling guilty because we don't get done until 3:00 or so in the afternoon. But, I'm not stressing as much either. I decided by trial-and-error that it was better to take a good lunch break and take my time one-on-one with each of my 4 kids as they need it; two of my kids are attention deficit, too.
ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE HAVE TO ADJUST THEIR 'IDEAL' SCHEDULE? Let me know about your experiences. God bless!

[MNKristy]

Yes, I'm struggling with adjusting our schedule also and letting go of the guilt. I made a daily schedule with the time range for each subject. It went well for the first few weeks when there was a lot of review and the material wasn't as in depth. But now I am finding that some subjects, math in particular, can go much longer...as much as twice as long as scheduled. I was starting to stress out and feeling like we were "falling behind" and taking too much time because we were going until later in the afternoon. I finally realized that I needed to change. I needed to be flexible. The schedule is just a guideline. I brought my son home this year so I could adjust to his timeframe. He is also ADD and needs extra time to accomplish things. I am tempted to just remove the times that I wrote on our schedule and follow a general plan of order for the day. We will finish when we finish. We will take as long as we need. It's hard for me, but I need to be more flexible and patient and follow my son's timeframe.

[Ramona]

I really struggled with what schedule to have for my first couple of years, but the one that has worked the best for us for a long, long time is really similar to what you say you're doing: getting done around 3 pm, taking a good lunch break, taking time each child needs, and as Kristy says letting each lesson be as long or as short as it is.

I really try to go by what feels right at any given time. If math is taking a long time because DC is rebellious and dawdling, then I'm willing to still be working on it after supper. OTOH, if it's taking a long time because it's a hard lesson and DC has worked diligently and is exhausted, then I'm willing to just close the book till...maybe next week sometime.

If DD says she loves history today and wants the next 4 lessons, that's what we do. If she says she hates it and whines, we do one.

Ramona

[wendi.t.momof4]

As usual Ramona, your advice is so helpful! Thanks again!

[Aspie]

:D Hi everyone!
Since I posted my "dream day" and a more realistic day, I've made some changes and I'm fightin feeling guilty because we don't get done until 3:00 or so in the afternoon. But, I'm not stressing as much either. I decided by trial-and-error that it was better to take a good lunch break and take my time one-on-one with each of my 4 kids as they need it; two of my kids are attention deficit, too.
ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE HAVE TO ADJUST THEIR 'IDEAL' SCHEDULE? Let me know about your experiences. God bless!

So?

You're still doing better than a lot of schools.

One, I know, claims to finish at 15:30 but that's only the 'Go-home-kids-we-can't-be-bothered-putting-up-with-you-any-longer'

In actual fact, with all the work that they can't be bothered to do, it usually ends properly about 23:04.

[momo3boys]

You might get a laugh out of this, my ideal schedule was to be done by lunch, the other day, it took 2 1/2 hours to do spelling! We were battling, I won, but we were done with school for the day! We always have to change our schedules, that's the beauty of homeschooling, FLEXIBILITY!

[Mark]

So?

You're still doing better than a lot of schools.

One, I know, claims to finish at 15:30 but that's only the 'Go-home-kids-we-can't-be-bothered-putting-up-with-you-any-longer'

In actual fact, with all the work that they can't be bothered to do, it usually ends properly about 23:04.

I hear ya there mate...

[wendi.t.momof4]

I was getting stressed out so decided just to do phonics today. My kids actually asked to do more work so I told them they didn't have to but could if they wanted to! Wow! Is this what some call "unschooling"? Anyway, thanks for your input-nice to know I'm definitely not alone.

[Randigale]

Hey. I don't homeschool yet, but I laid out my schedule. I need schedules. LOL. Anyway, mine will last until about 3:00. At first I felt bad about that but I found a way to make it alright...

Basically, I put all the subjects that will be fun for them and interactive (I'm using Robinson, so I am to stay out of the way for the most part) at the end of the day. That way the last hour or so and 30 minutes in the middle are more fun than school. Hopefully, they will like the rest of school but I don't need to feel bad about it not ending at 1:30 and that is important to me also.

[schoolymum]

I try to make sure getting up time and bed time is scheduled,meals scheduled,then each day,fit around that what I can,I follow what the boys are interested in.
we usually manage to work with eachother,so everyone is doing what they need to do at a tuime they need to do it.
at firsat i felt weary,only natural,we do something new,it can throw us a little off balance for sure.but now I have a much more relaxed attitude about it.
the tiredness can be hard,but since I got the basics scheduled,life is getting easier...hooray!!!

[charlesandginny]

I have three boys, only one i homeschool. My idea was to start around 9am and end around 1ish. But that went out the window very quickly lol. We start normally around 10:30am and have an lunch break around noon and we finish up around twoish for him to have a break, but the ending part changes daily cause it depends on him. He is adhd and has speech delays and behavior issues. So sometime we finish on time and others we don't. Then when his oldest brother gets home he has some homework( its just reading the bible and writing what he read) but its so he is at the table with his brother bonding and feeling included. We use lifepacs but i use the internet alot and what is around us too. Some days we are right out of the book, other days we take a break and do something he wants to learn about. And wed and fridays are art and music days.

[Mark]

sounds like a good plan to follow..

[Momma24]

One of the really wonderful things about homeschooling is FLEXIBILITY!! Not only in the TIMES of schooling, but also in the MODES of schooling! We are trying block studies this year! Each day we do grab a subject and run with it! (Except math...that is an every day job!) : ) We are able to completely absorb oursleves in one subject each day! After this year, I'll see if this is our preferred mode, or if we need to adjust again!

Homeschooling is always an adventure! : ) Tomorrow...astronomy!

[Theodore]

Interesting approach. Personally, I don't know if I'd be able to take doing nothing but one subject per day at the elementary school level (unless of course it was a subject I liked), but limiting things to a reasonable number, like say two or three, makes more sense than trying to do everything every day. You can only multitask so much before you start losing efficiency.

At the high school and college level it's a bit different - the material becomes much more complex and students are older and probably able to concentrate on one subject for a much longer period of time. Then it becomes a question of how long you can go between sessions without starting to forget material. Some subjects, like for instance foreign languages, really need to be drilled every day.

[jillj511]

Hi all, I'm a student at Purdue Calumet University and am currently researching the topic of home schooling vs. public schooling. I am in favor of home schooling, I feel as though there are many benefits. However, throughout the research that I have done, I have found that it is absolutely necessary that children have a break throughout the day so that they can improve their quality of their readiness to learn. After reading some of the posts on this forum, I have got a basic idea of how long a typical school day is. I am curious to know whether or not some of you that home school your children agree with me or not? Do you think that children need a "recess" during the day? Feel free to take a look at my podcast to hear some of my ideas, provided below is a link. Thank you!

https://sites.google.com/site/jilljones ... me/podcast