When you Fall Behind Schedule

This is where new posts begin. All questions or discussions about any of Heart of Dakota's curriculums start here. If you wish to share a one-time post about your family's experience with our curriculum, you may post under the specific curriculum title (found beneath this "Main Board" heading).
Post Reply
mrsrandolph
Posts: 717
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:21 pm
Location: Cartersville, GA

When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by mrsrandolph » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:31 pm

I will try not to drag this out, but need to give you some background.

I have 4 kids. My 10 and 11 year olds (boy and girl) are doing Preparing together. I do add All About Spelling, but that is my only supplement, and we only use it in minimal form...hitting the high points until they "get it". They have separate math, dictation, and spelling. Everything else is done together with me.

I have a (just turned) 8 year old in LHFHG. She uses All About Reading for phonics, and it is not time consuming at all.

I also have a 5 year old who is in LHTH, and we add All About Reading for him. He also does HWOT PreSchool Level. We do cutting exercises and some preschool math. Academically, he is ready for more challenging work, but the maturity is not there, I am wondering if Charlotte, herself, would tell me to work on focused attention with him and "get him there" (attention wise...maturity wise).

So, I broke down and left my "fly by the seat of your pants" schooling type to for the "scheduled type". Every subject and slot is filled with one child or another doing lessons with me until 3:30. No breaks for Mom.

I work on Tuesdays all day at a Homeschool Co-Op that pays well. So, we don't have a buffer day. Also, there is piano lesson day that eat 2 hours from our school day.

So, on days when I miss the mark with the schedule and something gets missed...whether it be spelling, math, or dictation...what do I do?

I thought of having Saturday mornings to catch up on that, but hate to. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
Shannon Randolph LOVING HOD & Running 4 Guides & DITHOR
Mommy to 4 Precious Blessings
Cassie (15- World Geography),
Will (14- Rev2Rev,
Ellie (12- Res2Ref), and
Jack (10- CTC)

MomtoJGJE
Posts: 1534
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Gastonia, NC

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by MomtoJGJE » Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:24 am

What time do you start? That will make a big difference with my answer....

If you are starting sometime before lunchtime, then I want to see your schedule.

If I were in your situation, with your guides, I'd have the Preparing kids start their independent work whenever you start your school day. So say 9am... Here is what my "schedule" would be

8:30 - breakfast/chores
9 - Preparing, go over English, math, and anything else that's an S box, send them off to do that work - teach LHTH child fully
9:30 - Preparing kids check in to have you correct any work they did, then go off to fix the answers and do I box work... if they finish this they start reading history or DITHOR book - teach LHFHG all the way
10:30 - (because that's how long it takes me for LHFHG, adjust as necessary) Finish up work with Preparing children.
12:00 - done and lunch/chores

ETA: with CTC it'll be easier... there's a lot more ind work for the olders while you actually are schooling the youngers. I had more work for ME last year with Preparing, Beyond, LHFHG, and LHTH than this year with CTC, Bigger, Beyond, and LHTH

mom23
Posts: 532
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 10:10 am

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by mom23 » Wed Aug 28, 2013 6:12 am

Lora Beth, could I see your rough outline of a schedule for this year with CTC, Bigger, etc? My days extended by over 2 hours with CTC/Bigger/LHFHG vs. last year with Preparing/Beyond/LHFHG (half speed). I didn't think it was supposed to be like this! Thanks :)

MrsRandolph, hang in there! You're not alone-the addition of schedule to our home has also been challenging. I think you're on the right track with trying to keep the kids moving on schedule, and not let one thing drag out and throw everything else off after that. I've been trying to save our subjects that get started, but not done, until the end of school, and the kids are to go back during their free time and finish up. Hard, because my dd's day has already been a lot longer, and then sometimes it adds over another hour for her, and somehow I feel like for me, even though I'm not sitting there with her! :cry: I don't have a lot of practical advice for you since we're struggling so much along these same lines, but I do feel like it's okay of something doesn't get done to just push it till tomorrow. I used to do that with Preparing (we did have that 5th buffer day, which helped...) but we would just first finish up any boxes from yesterday that weren't done and then go on with what should have been done for today. Eventually, it seemed there were enough of those boxes to finish up it was about half, so we'd go half speed for a couple of days and get caught up so we were starting fresh with our whole days' work on one page. One thing I have done in the past is set a timer for each subject, so your kiddos can see (and you!) which specific subjects are dragging out too much, and work to not dawdle on those, not adding too much extra discussion, but just doing the box and moving on.

The other thing I might suggest-if you work your schedule with Lora Beth somewhat, see if you can work a small break in there for you. With our schedule this year, I was able to schedule a block (about an hour into our school day) where my oldest is doing independent work and I can go outside or somewhere alone and have my Quiet Time with the Lord. That has been my sanity saver every single day so far! It's been tempting to work through it when we're already running behind only one hour into school, but I've been working to guard that time and it's been wonderful! Make sure you're not hovering too much on your childrens' "I" boxes-just let them do them and check in with them on it later.
Becky, married to my preacher-man and raising:
DD 12-7th grade public school
DS 10-Preparing
DS 8-Beyond
DS 3-Just doin' his thing

TrueGRIT
Posts: 355
Joined: Thu May 03, 2012 10:14 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by TrueGRIT » Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:02 am

I certainly feel for you since I've been there.

What I finally had to do was hard - I had to take a day to get caught up, before resuming my regular schedule. Once I did it was always restful for awhile, and a little easier to stay that way for a bit.

Also try to have a break sometime in there for you. I tried my schedule without for a few weeks, then quickly discovered that my children were more likely to get behind if I didn't take a breather for myself. Now we take a 10-15 minute snack break around 10 am, and I go do a mindless chore while they eat. That gives me a break from them and school, and allows me to feel that I accomplished something (the small chore).

I realize it will take more creative thinking on your part since you are out of the house all day on Tuesdays, but I am confident with time you will figure out what's best.
Part of the 'problem' may be they aren't totally adjusted to a schedule; given time they will be.
Mikki
Ds 12- tutoring
Ds 9- Preparing
Dd 7 - Beyond and ER's
Ds 2- LHTH (sort of)

MomtoJGJE
Posts: 1534
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Gastonia, NC

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by MomtoJGJE » Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:09 am

The other thing to remember is that it's OK to not get everything done in a day.

I do not school more than 3 hours per day unless my oldest is dawdling... if she's playing and not working I'll make her finish her day no matter how long it takes. But if she's working hard and it's just taking longer, then we stop and start there the next day. OF course if she's not dawdling, most of the time she can get finished in that three hours. We don't do DITHOR with the rest of the guide, so that time doesn't count in our time.

I'll pm you with my "schedule" so as to not derail this thread.... it's more routine than schedule.

laurapella
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by laurapella » Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:54 pm

Lora Beth,

I would love to see your schedule (routine) too! We are starting CTC, Bigger, and LHFHG on Tuesday. My rough schedule has me teaching from 8:30 until 2:00 (with an hour for lunch.) How do you finish by noon??!! I would love to be able to do that!!

Thanks,
Laura
Laura - Loving HOD!!
DS11 (5th) - CTC + DITHOR, Math Mammoth
DS8 (3rd) - Bigger (4 days/week), Math Mammoth
DD6 (1st) - LHFHG (1st grade options & ER - 4 days/wk), Math Mammoth
DD5 (almost K) - LHFHG (K options & TRL - 4 days/wk)

MelInKansas
Posts: 1700
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:32 pm

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by MelInKansas » Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:01 pm

I see a big difference here is that your kids are doing Preparing, two of them. While you can do read-alouds, English lesson, math activity (does Preparing have these too?) together, and hopefully they can do the I boxes pretty well without guidance from you (do each of them have a guide, or do they have to share it?), Preparing is an intensive guide. If I had two of my kids having to do the work in Bigger I know that would make my day a lot longer.

One thing I used to do, and have seen Carrie suggest, was have my oldest start her day with a few semi-independent things. It kick-started the day and really helped her get on track. Also since the littles were in the kitchen eating breakfast, or not even up yet, it was pretty quiet and peaceful.

Ultimately it seems like you need a little more wiggle room or need to make your schedule more efficient. Make sure you are maximizing YOUR time, since you are the one that does need to spend time with everyone making sure they get their work done. I was thinking about what someone else said on here - that if it came up to be time for someone to work with Mom but they were in the middle of something, they need to stop what they are doing and work with Mom, and then go back to whatever they were doing. Seems obvious, but then I don't want to interrupt my DD, but sometimes I do sit around and wait for her. And that makes it go on even longer.....

My questions would be: when did you start the guides? If it was the last 2 weeks or so then I would give it time and you will be able to get it done more quickly. Second, are your 10 and 11 year olds doing the independent and semi-independent work as written? Or are you still having to help and guide them and are you still teaching them how to do it independently? Again, you will reap the reward once you are able to get them truly doing the work on their own and doing it well. We will be starting Preparing in November, and I know it will be a learning curve and difficult for both of us at first, but I have seen her grow so much in Bigger and I am excited for her to begin doing independent work. And the discussions we have the things we are both learning... wow.
Melissa
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end"

DD12 - Rev to Rev + DITHOR 6/7/8
DD10 - CTC + DITHOR 2/3
DD7 - Bigger + ERs
DS5 - LHFHG
DD2 - ABC123
2 babies in heaven

mrsrandolph
Posts: 717
Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:21 pm
Location: Cartersville, GA

Re: When you Fall Behind Schedule

Post by mrsrandolph » Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:20 pm

I am still having to (or choosing to in one case) help with the independent work.
Shannon Randolph LOVING HOD & Running 4 Guides & DITHOR
Mommy to 4 Precious Blessings
Cassie (15- World Geography),
Will (14- Rev2Rev,
Ellie (12- Res2Ref), and
Jack (10- CTC)

Post Reply