How do you fit in the "extras"?

[craft_media_hero]

So, originally I planned to have this great arts and science based program going for dd, with lots of biography studies and hands-on learning . . .

Fast forward about a year, and here we are!

We do math, reading, and writing activities every day (well not every day for writing), and maybe either one science or social studies session per week. We do about 5-20 mins for both foreign languages together daily (probably 3-4x/wk). I tried doing one longer session for each language a week, and there was no retention--we might as well have not done either session. So I feel like we have to keep the short daily exposure on the FLAs.

For a while we were doing daily music and poetry, and somehow that has gone by the wayside.

I wanted to do Composer Study and Picture Study ala Charlotte Mason, but honestly, I just don't know how to fit yet another piece into our homeschool puzzle.

Any suggestions on how to work in the Social Studies, Science, and Arts? I feel like I'm robbing my girl by not touching on this stuff, but where is the time?

She will not tolerate more than 1-2hrs of "school" no matter how active or "cool" it may be. She is 6.5yo, gifted in some areas (math, verbal, comprehension) and on level in others (messy writing/spelling and waiting for her to bust into independent reading).

Should I keep our math and FLAs daily and go to two week blocks for everything else ala Waldorf? But I do feel like we need a little reading exposure every day, and then poof! Our daily hs window has passed.

Give me some inspiration/advice here, mamas!

TIA!

[moominmamma]

Hmm, my approach has been kind of the polar opposite of yours. I figure math and language learning are fairly developmentally dependent, so I've just kind of left them to look after themselves in good time and focused on the "extras." We spent the pre-K/K/1/2 levels outdoors, growing gardens, taking hikes, building stuff, indoors cooking and crafting, out in the community doing music and soccer and swimming, singing in a children's choir, doing aikido, volunteering around the community, running errands, buzzing around the house playing with sciencey stuff, reading tons of historical fiction, watching cool documentaries about science, nature, history and social issues.

After 2nd/3rd grade level we gradually looked towards filling any basic literacy and math gaps. There were precious few. Handwriting tended to lag, and a couple of the kids needed a bit of work on multiplication facts. Punctuation work was necessary for a couple. Not much else left to mop up. The rest had looked after itself.

I see the early years as a time to explore, discover and create, so that's what we concentrated on. I figured studying "basics" could come later, as much as it was necessary. I don't suppose this approach is what you're looking for, but maybe it's some food for thought anyway.

Miranda

[PGTlatte]

Our DS1 is at the grade 1 level and a struggling reader due to vision issues. Most of our school time is spent on vision therapy and working on reading and writing. The only way I fit in social studies is to read out loud to him books that I can consider counting as social studies. I use a lot of the leveled readers, like "ready to read" and "all aboard reading", because they are easy listening for him and after I have read them once, he will spend some time with the books by himself. Whenever a country is mentioned, I get out the globe. I have also begun reading him sections from the Complete Book of World History.

I also use the leveled readers for science. This has not been emphasized as much because he takes a weekly class that includes nature and science topics. After the class is done, I will use the block of time each week that was occupied by the class to cover topics from Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding.

For arts, he takes a weekly violin lesson and I help him practice 15 minutes a day (he is a beginner and his fingers hurt when he plays longer than that).

[Callimom]

My philosophy is that I guide skill development and my kids direct what the content component of their learning will be with me doing a health dose of facilitating and exposure through community opportunities etc.

So we work on reading, language and math skills every day (4-5 days a week - about 30 minutes or so per kid), and content is more driven by hands on learning opportunities we encounter. We use somewhat non-academic resources for some things - podcasts or book tapes, dvds, games, bedtime stories on a topic, family art time, etc - all "count". It's quite amazing to me how much my kids are exposed to and retain over the course of a year, and how many natural unit studies evolve without my planning any of it in advance. Like Miranda my goal is exposure and to help them find connections in the things they are learning, rather than trying to "fit it all in".


hth
Karen

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by moominmamma

I figure math and language learning are fairly developmentally dependent, so I've just kind of left them to look after themselves in good time and focused on the "extras."

I see the early years as a time to explore, discover and create, so that's what we concentrated on. I figured studying "basics" could come later, as much as it was necessary. I don't suppose this approach is what you're looking for, but maybe it's some food for thought anyway.

Miranda

Thanks for this perspective! I feel like maybe I am making too much of an emphasis on the 3Rs so that we've become stuck on just the basic academic stuff and are missing out on other experiences.

Originally Posted by Karenwith4

My philosophy is that I guide skill development and my kids direct what the content component of their learning will be with me doing a health dose of facilitating and exposure through community opportunities etc.

So we work on reading, language and math skills every day (4-5 days a week - about 30 minutes or so per kid), and content is more driven by hands on learning opportunities we encounter. We use somewhat non-academic resources for some things - podcasts or book tapes, dvds, games, bedtime stories on a topic, family art time, etc - all "count". It's quite amazing to me how much my kids are exposed to and retain over the course of a year, and how many natural unit studies evolve without my planning any of it in advance. Like Miranda my goal is exposure and to help them find connections in the things they are learning, rather than trying to "fit it all in".


hth
Karen

This is very helpful. Making use of ALL the resources available to us and more life/community experience---I definitely need to keep this in mind.

In many ways, I feel like we are doing great, but at the same time I want to re-evaluate everything. She's on top of her grade level expectation and I'm thinking maybe *we are both* bored with the routine we have developed? She definitely does better with routine, but maybe I need to switch gears for a while. There's a feeling of "done-ness" with where we're at.

Like I said ^ originally I wanted art and music and all the "other" subjects to have just as much weight as the literacy and math. I would like to get back to that, but I think I'm having a hard time trusting that we won't "get behind" if we don't make a point to hit these certain subjects every day.

[LuxPerpetua]

My dd is only 4 but I thought I'd offer some advice from my past. A good children's choir is great for an intro to foreign language. I think that unless one parent speaks another language fluently, it's usually best to wait until middle school or later for formal instruction, so the early years are more about training the ear to pick-up nuances of phonemes and such. I joined a great children's chorus at age 10, and now I can speak and recognize many words in French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and German . . . and that's with never having any formal training other than in Latin. I sing to dd in foreign lanuages now just to expose her but I don't expect her to pick up on it at all. Just a thought . . .

My mother also decided to get an art degree when I was younger and so I spent much of my childhood watching her develop her own photographs, paint, draw, etc. She would buy me real art supplies and canvases and we'd try out different media together. I still have a love of art (if no natural talent at it). Perhaps you could have a family art night where you create together? I don't really see much point in studying biographies of artists at this age or even doing a picture study kind of thing. I would just buy a nice coffee table art appreciation book and leave it handy for dd to peruse at leisure. It's less stressed that way and allows them to enjoy art rather than feel it's being forced, which is far more important than learning about Impressionism or something.

Best wishes!

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

In many ways, I feel like we are doing great, but at the same time I want to re-evaluate everything. She's on top of her grade level expectation and I'm thinking maybe *we are both* bored with the routine we have developed? She definitely does better with routine, but maybe I need to switch gears for a while. There's a feeling of "done-ness" with where we're at.

Like I said ^ originally I wanted art and music and all the "other" subjects to have just as much weight as the literacy and math. I would like to get back to that, but I think I'm having a hard time trusting that we won't "get behind" if we don't make a point to hit these certain subjects every day.

What has worked well for us is to combine art, music and literature in our other "core" subjects. History is especially easy because we can listen to period music, read historical fiction & poetry and re-create works of art. I've had to chuck the idea of moving through things at the pace a lot of curriculum indicates because we tend to wallow in the richness of it; Less overall detail is covered, but we go much deeper . I found that if we separated out the extras, they didn't get covered or we felt rushed to include them and our regular curriculum was boring. DS also likes routine, but it's more about setting aside a time block, not necessarily the order of studying certain subjects. I've actually found that taking long breaks away from "core" materials is a good thing. DS comes back renewed and the learning hasn't stopped just because he hasn't looked at the material -- the opposite usually happens.

We spend a lot of time at the library just looking at different books, gathering ideas, and the same goes with museum visits.

[Momma Aimee]

we are only doing pre-k 4/5 (though really we are doing a pk4/5 + kindy) thing from now till end of 2011 school year .... it is an odd mix complete with "holding momma back" to let him be a little boy

One thing i have done, and am really thinking is how i want to appraoch the next couple of years .. kindy and 1st offically ....untill he is more ready for seat work and task oreinted work ...

I choose out read-a-louds with an eye towards classic literate (albeit easy) like Stuart Little or Thomas The Train or Eight Cousions or Phoo or Ragey Ann and so on ... thus out "lit"

I look for the best picture books i can find.... poetry / rhyme and an exposer to better art ... and we talk about how this book look differnt (pen and ink vs water color) ..... still he doesn't get it as "school" we are just reading, like we always do -- but i, for my part, am looking for better things to share (the story of ping, how to make an apple pie and see the world, and so on)

We listen to classical music (or jazz or blues) in the van as a family as that is what DH really likes and he talks about it jsut a little "this is jazz, this is a blus singer i love ..." .......music!!

I have a lot i want to do whent eh boys are older. for exampler i want to read biographys of composers populer in diffnert historical times as we cover that age in histroy -- and of famous scienctest too ........but that will have to wait.

soon I hope to read them a children's biography of Dr Seuss ... again it will be just read-a-loud time for them, but it is expanding what we read and also giving depth to the fun reading of Aeuss we do all the time.

so I guess my idea is to use the 'extras" as jsut life -- what we read, what we listen to .....

*shrug* just my thoughts

[craft_media_hero]

It's really interesting reading everyone's different approaches here.

I think I need to quit trying so hard and take it easy. I think Spring is calling! Maybe we need a de-schooling break. I would take it now except that we're expecting a baby in July, and I know we will not be "schooling" for a couple months around that time.

But from what I'm hearing here, I'm getting the feeling that I'm over-doing it on the academics.

The problem is (and maybe I should put this on the Parenting forum) that dd does not do well without structured time. She spins her wheels (literally in circles) and kind of acts out when left undirected. If I do not "assign" her an activity, then she is literally standing six inches away from my face and doing anything to try and get my attention. Then when I direct her off the cuff, she is "oppositional" and resents me telling her what to do. I need to help her learn to pursue her own activities, I guess.

So we really do need a routine, practically written down by the minute, and my default is to fill it with academic stuff. Maybe I need ideas on how to institute a household routine that is NOT based around academics.

Sorry if this is getting OT. Thanks for everybody's input so far.

[Momma Aimee]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

It's really interesting reading everyone's different approaches here.

I think I need to quit trying so hard and take it easy. I think Spring is calling! Maybe we need a de-schooling break. I would take it now except that we're expecting a baby in July, and I know we will not be "schooling" for a couple months around that time.

But from what I'm hearing here, I'm getting the feeling that I'm over-doing it on the academics.

The problem is (and maybe I should put this on the Parenting forum) that dd does not do well without structured time. She spins her wheels (literally in circles) and kind of acts out when left undirected. If I do not "assign" her an activity, then she is literally standing six inches away from my face and doing anything to try and get my attention. Then when I direct her off the cuff, she is "oppositional" and resents me telling her what to do. I need to help her learn to pursue her own activities, I guess.

So we really do need a routine, practically written down by the minute, and my default is to fill it with academic stuff. Maybe I need ideas on how to institute a household routine that is NOT based around academics.

Sorry if this is getting OT. Thanks for everybody's input so far.

how about a daily "routine chart" with "schudled" activites (not so much by time, but by order) ...they don't have to be 'academic" ...playdough time, craft time, read a loud time, dramitic play (house, dolls), self reading time -- sit with books while mom reads -- and so on .......you could do drawing while lisetening to classical musci (draw what the music say to you), whatever ...

it can be just as structrued with out being book work.

but, imo, if DD excells with seat work or driected school work for 2 horus ... great, do the two hours.

have you tied 3 45 minutes blocks or something instead of all one time?

[elizawill]

hi,

we focus on the 3 r's daily, but honestly, it doesn't take us that long. with my daughter (8 1/2), we only spend about an hour (maybe a little more?) on the 3 r's, and we have the rest of the day to explore everything and anything else. with my ds (6), it takes even less time, ykwim? how long are you spending on the 3r's that you feel there is no extra time for other things? what does your day look like?

[Lillian J]

Originally Posted by moominmamma

Hmm, my approach has been kind of the polar opposite of yours. I figure math and language learning are fairly developmentally dependent, so I've just kind of left them to look after themselves in good time and focused on the "extras."

I agree with this perspective - the so-called "extras" are the juicy parts of life that give the other things a purpose. Lillian

[Marimami]

We're definitely more on the side of doing all the extras first. We also don't do anything according to a set schedule. I ask DD if she wants to work on reading/spelling. If she says yes, we do it. Otherwise not. She's 5.5.

We do loads of science/nature and arts/crafts. She's not the type to sit down and study history either. She's also very sensitive so learning about wars and death just isn't for us. So, SOTW is completely not even on our interest list. Instead, we read about things as she expresses interest, more social studies in nature.

I do have a great suggestion for a music/history learning, though.

DD loves this audio book--Story of Classical Music. You'll get a wonderful mix of history and music. It's really wonderful. There are two additional ones called Famous Composers and More Famous Composers that we love too.

Holli

[meetoo]

I have had the same thoughts myself. Honestly, for me I think it is the first year homeschooling thing. I'm afraid we are going to get "behind" so I'm trying to cram all the stuff in..... I am really trying to relax. We still do the three R's everyday, but it does not need to take all our school time and all day. Reading, writing and even some math can also be a part of our unit studies.
On the same note, not everything a child is interested in needs to become a "unit study". My DD loves catching critters in our back yard and local parks. Everything from bugs, to amphibians, to ducks!! We are learning about the things she catches (just like we always have) but not in schoolish way. We just read a little from our Field Guide or look things up online. She asked tons of questions and observes them on her own. That is what homeschooling is about. Helping kids find the love of learning and initiate it on their own.
Our children are similar ages, I need some structure to our day too. We have a loose routine I like to follow. What about if you made one day a week field trip day? I've seen some fun looking blogs where they do tea and poetry readings once a week. Get out the good cups and some homemade cookies, and read some poetry! A list of "boredom busters" your DD can refer to? I don't think it is bad for kids to be bored sometimes. Maybe she just needs to learn how to entertain herself?

[One_Girl]

Do you take a break in the middle of learning time? That can really help with focus and willingness to work. I call it recess and let my dd play for half an hour after we finish one major subject and one minor one. Lately she has been doing reading first and then history before having a break and coming back for math and writing. Art in our house isn't a subject, there are always supplies available and she uses them to develop as an artist at her own pace. We have piano lessons from a piano teacher and she does more active lessons (dance, yoga, and swimming) for her PE from other teachers. Getting the lessons from other people seems to really helps her view it as fun rather than actual school work. It helps me stay sane. Science is something that is harder to fit in. We usually read books instead of hands on science, though we have done roly poly bug observations and she did a four day engineering camp during spring break that also counts as science. I keep meaning to get better at hands on science, but the library books really don't cover science in a very meaningful way (I think the good ones are checked out).

[MrsJewelsRae]

We have trouble fitting everything in too. One way to make sure we get at those "extras" is we do at least one full day a week on them. So instead of doing a little bit of science every day, and a little bit of history each day, we'll spend a whole day on science related stuff- planting seeds, labeling body parts, studying the planets and cutting out and arranging their pictures on a board. Or do a week long unit study of jungle cats. A whole day dedicated to exciting history stories and geography with pictures and maps and activities. So most days we do the basics of math and language arts and we take break days from the regular routine and do fun hands on stuff regularly each week, no set day just when we feel the need.

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by Lillian J

I agree with this perspective - the so-called "extras" are the juicy parts of life that give the other things a purpose. Lillian

ITA, as well, which is why I feel like I've been getting away from what I originally intended. I gotta get back to the roots!

Originally Posted by meetoo

I have had the same thoughts myself. Honestly, for me I think it is the first year homeschooling thing. I'm afraid we are going to get "behind" so I'm trying to cram all the stuff in..... I am really trying to relax.

Maybe she just needs to learn how to entertain herself?

It's good to know that other "first year" mamas have this same dilemma!

She definitely needs to learn to entertain herself. Maybe it is an only child thing or a temperament thing, but she has only a few activities that she will get into independently.

Originally Posted by elizawill

hi,

we focus on the 3 r's daily, but honestly, it doesn't take us that long. with my daughter (8 1/2), we only spend about an hour (maybe a little more?)

what does your day look like?

We spend about an hour, too, but it is broken up by lots of life stuff (mostly meals and chores and the like), and by the time we hit the 3rs and chores, Dad's home and hs time is pretty much over.

Our day in short: wake up 9ish, start hot cereal and slowly get dressed, eat and do dishes. We usually start "school" rarely earlier than 10, sometimes even 11 do one school activity (usually math or reading) takes up a half hour or so even tho somehow we only spend abt 15 min. "working"?

DD has difficulty with transitions--even transitioning from breakfast to math and then back out then she wants a break, more housework, make beds, get dressed.

By then it's before lunch-ish and we both want to get outside, so we go outside for about a half hour then come back in and make lunch. She's a slow eater, too. Part of why I took her out of public school--she needs gentle transitions and lots of time for meals

So by then it's about 1:30 or later somehow and we try and fit in a little reading practice--she reads me Frog and Toad or Little Bear til she tires of it or we do Montessori-style digraph book activities, about a half hour
then break, snack, play, pick up

Foreign Language--spending time w/ bilingual children's books, magnet letters, audio cds, very gentle. Sometimes she wants to trace words or letters. Even if we spend only 15 min on languages, with transitions and settling in, every activity takes about 30 min. for us

Somewhere in the day we try and do copywork unless she's doing a little writing in another activity (like the FLAs or w/ reading work)
Dad gets home at 3ish and then it's cuddles and excitement and "let's watch Avatar!" or we leave the house as a family and go for a walk or hike or smth similar

She's doing fine, but I guess like metoo was saying, I have this first-year hs-er anxiety that if we don't do this every day that we will "get behind". Also, I know I shouldn't compare because all kids/families are in different places, but I have some IRL hs friends and I see them doing these great in-depth Science and Social Studies units and their kids are reading "Leaves of Grass" and doing Spelling---1st Grade, like us, and I'm like wow, what am I doing wrong here?

I think in a lot of ways dd was not ready for K last year (public), which caused her a lot of stress and regressed, so this year I had to re-present all the K stuff (she couldn't even write her UC alphabet after a year of them stressing her over writing!) but she's enrolled in first so I have this pressure that we need to be ready for the 2nd G material next year---which seems kind of heavy to me!

If we were totally child-led, she would spend the whole day playing Littlest Pets and fairies and dress up and drawing, which are all great! But she is legally enrolled in 1st grade through a public school charter. I don't think she would choose much in the way of academics, especially reading and writing. She does wake up and do math on her own coz she's pretty passionate abt it.

Just maturity-wise, I don't think that she is really in the place to do much more than what we do. I think she's one of those kids that would've been totally fine just beginning formal academics at 7yo.

So I've got a lot to think about. When she tests, she's always comes out as "ready" for the next level on paper, but that doesn't show where she's at internally. My point is that we can't hold her back from 2nd grade when she's at or above 1st G expectations, even tho maturity-wise she's still in kindy mode, and I don't think ready for the 2nd G stuff.

Thanks so much for all the responses. I am thinking especially about the one suggesting a wall chart just showing "activity times" instead of academic or going by the minute activities. Lots to think about here!

*EEK! sorry that got so long!*

[PJsmomma]

We are a Charlotte Mason/Ambleside HS family. The extras get lost sometimes I'll admit!

I do write them on the schedule to remember them. My biggest problem is just remembering to do them.

I'd like to encourage you though Art and Composer don't require much time.

You can pick a composer and just put on the CD while you're working on other things. If your child is pretty young, I wouldn't even read about the composer. Just listen to several works by one composer over several weeks while you're going about your day. Then choose a different one.

For art, I print out 4x6 photos of the prints that Ambleside chooses for each term. I do this so I don't have to decide which artist to use--the work is done for me
Once a week (or less!) my son picks a new print.
He looks at it and we try to stump each other with questions about things or colors we see. Then we hang it on the fridge until we pick the next print.


Please don't feel like you have to spend tons of time to add these things to your studies. Quick and easy is a-ok too.

[meetoo]

For transitions, one thing that helps us is, the timer! Really the timer is your friend. We work until it beeps then we take a break. No arguing with a timer.