We started "school" this week since our school system was to start yesterday.  We never really took a break this summer since our vacation was a long field trip and all of the kids participated in the reading program at the library.  We were able to make to a few Metro Park activities and threw in a session of swim lessons so it all rounded out pretty well.

I decided we would revamp our schedule and see if we could do better with school this year.  A big hindrance for us is my parents' many doctor visits, I needed to find a way to get the important stuff done everyday--even the days when we would be gone half of the day.

I'm trying to start with the kids at 8:30 a.m. (prior to that I take care of "my stuff" like walking the dog, taking a shower, that sort of thing).  We start out with reading the Bible.  At 9 a.m. I start Saxon math with Rebekah while Hannah works on her various independent work.  Denny and Grace play during this time or I work with Denny on some things on the side. 

At 10:00 I work on spelling with Rebekah.  Spelling Power was not working for her at all last year.  She kept missing the same words over and over again even when we did the 10 step studying.  She seems to be doing much better with Sequential Spelling.  I like that she makes an attempt at the word and while it is still fresh in her mind, we review the word.  If it is right--great, if it is wrong I tell her the correct spelling and she writes it down.  That provides some extra practice on the word.  I also like that it deals with words that are related in some way.  She had agree yesterday.  She missed it so we worked on the right spelling.  The next word was disagree.  She knows how to spell 'dis' so she was able to use it and agree to get the word spelled right. 

At 10:30 Rebekah works on copy work (we are using Queen Homeschool's copywork for girls).  At this time I work on Hannah's spelling.  Hannah is doing great with Spelling Power so that is what we use for her.  She enjoys competition so I plan to start mixing in words from the National Spelling Bee booklet in case she decides to participate in the Spelling Bee in January.

At 11 a.m. Rebekah works on phonics--Explode the Code is still my all-time favorite.  I was practically given some Abeka Language Arts materials.  Hannah has been using them for the past 2 years but Explode the Code is much better for Rebekah.  At this time I work with Denny on his Saxon Math and Saxon Phonics.

11:30 we put all of the school stuff back and start setting up for lunch. 

1 p.m. We get back to the books or we leave for various appointments we may have.  So far we have gym on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. so I know we will have that on the schedule.  Otherwise if we are home we spend the afternoon covering a few of various subjects such as History, reading a biography, Science, science experiments, English From the Roots Up, flashcards, instrument practice,  or whatever else we need to fit into our schedule.

At least this is the plan so far--it has worked pretty well this week--I certainly have been less stressed by us getting math out of the way first thing in the day.

Hope everyone is having a good start to their year!    

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Posted by eclecticeducation

Sounds like a busy summer! I LOVE the Metro Parks!!! :) I so understand the many doctor appointments. I had to have PC take it with him a lot. It was difficult at first, especially with his ADHD, but he got used to it. Stuff like spelling, math and language arts were usually the most portable and it was a big help getting them out of the way as he was riding in the car and in the waiting rooms. I hope you are able to find a good solution to your situation.

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Posted by Lalaith

Sounds like a good plan to me!

Glad Sequential Spelling is working better for you. :)

MB

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