MATH
An ability-appropriate level math textbook for each child. 4 days per week. — I am completely against math texts for young children, instead I would recommend a workbook, or series of worksheets.
Drill work on math facts, 3-10 min/day, 5 days per week (while learning math facts). — Starting as simple as rout counting.
Math reading: Each Friday or 2nd Friday of the month, as needed.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Phonics: (for beginning readers), daily.
Handwriting: (while learning penmanship), 2 days per week, Tuesday & Thursday.
Spelling: Monday, Wednesday & Friday. —To begin only AFTER ‘cvc‘ words have begun to be mastered.
Grammar: 2 days per week, Tuesday & Thursday.
Reading Practice and Literature: (read-alouds, personal reading, fluency reading, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, american and world literature) daily, integrated into other subjects.
Composition: 2 – 3 days per week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Use compositions to reinforce grammar instruction as well as for additional handwriting practice while your child is learning penmanship. —-NOT until fluency in reading is established.
Vocabulary: daily integrated into reading/literature, as well as other subject areas as needed.
HISTORY/CITIZENSHIP
Use a grade-level history (textbook daily or) complete 3 to 6 history history units per year. If doing units, spend 1-1/2 to 2 hours per day, 2 days per week (Tuesday and Thursday) for 36 weeks, incorporating reading, hands-on activities, art, music, and composition, as appropriate.
Integrate citizenship into history curriculum or complete one or two special classes per year.
Geography and Mapping Skills: Mondays
Current Events: daily
SCIENCE
Use a grade-level science (textbook daily or) complete 3 to 6 science science units per year. If doing units, spend 1-1/2 to 2 hours per day, 2 days per week (Monday and Wednesday) for 36 weeks, incorporating reading, hands-on activities, lab work, art, music and composition, as appropriate.
ART
Each Wednesday, as needed.
MUSIC
Each Monday, as needed.
COMPUTER SKILLS
Each Saturday and/or integrate into other subjects, as needed.
Keyboarding: daily (after child has learned to write in cursive and until he can type a minimum of 40 wpm with only 1-2 errors).
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Keep track of 75 minutes of physical activity per week.
Attend one or two special classes on Tuesdays, as needed.
HEALTH/SAFETY
Integrate into science curriculum.
ELECTIVES:
Bible: daily
Foreign Language: briefly integrate into lessons daily, as needed.
Field trips: Fridays or occasionally substitute for Monday – Thursday school day, as needed.
Social Activities: daily play time with friends after school, during field trips, Fridays, special classes, or weekends
Showing posts with label Scheduling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scheduling. Show all posts
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Scheduling for Homeschooling
A traditional school year is five to six hours a day, 5 days a week for 36 weeks or 180 days.
As a home-schooling family, we could have chosen to follow the same schedule of the local school, but we chose to customize a schedule to suit our family’s needs.
According to the state of Connecticut, we do not have to do every subject every day of the school year.
I have been struggling with the amount of activities in which to enroll my children and just beginning to face the realities that I do not have to enroll my children in every class or outside activity that their/my friends do.
I have decided to enroll each child in in only one pay activity per week. Of course I will schedule play dates and the like, and invite other children to sit in some of our activities and lessons, but I do not want these things to interfere with the educational purpose of home schooling.
Our Fridays will continue to be left for field trip days whereas, Monday through Thursday will hold the highest concentration of academic study. I do however, plan on teaching some things on Fridays and Saturdays.
I am such a planner that I cannot help myself about planning out everything. Of course, I do not anticipate a play-by-play daily run-down, but I will specify subject area topics for each day.
The amount of time spent on each subject depends upon the age, small motor skills, learning style, and abilities of each child (ranges as follows: 3-5 minutes for preschoolers, 10-20 minutes for 1st -3rd graders, 20-45 minutes for 4th – 6th graders, 45 minutes or more for 8th – 12th graders). Although Jonathan is at a preschool age, his attention-span, learning style and abilities enable lessons to run approximately 10-15 minutes.
The total number of hours spent each day in one-on-one instruction ranges as follows: thirty minutes in Kindergarten (broken up into several five-minute sessions), one to two hours in grades 1 – 6, two hours or more in grades 7 – 12. Again, more can be accomplished orally than handwritten for children with handwriting difficulties. In our planning, our TOTAL home-schooling daily agenda is two hours — which conveniently is the amount of nap-time for the baby.
The remainder of our school day is spent in independent book exploration, free play activities with his siblings and friends, complete own “chores”, exploring an instrument, create an art projects, and/or participate in any other activity that can be done independently. The television and computers are not available during the school day, and are limited to ninety minutes weekly, other than for educational purposes.
Some states require an excess of four to five hours of home schooling daily, thankfully Connecticut is not one of them. However there is a difference between “actual teaching time” and “school attendance” time.
As a home-schooling family, we could have chosen to follow the same schedule of the local school, but we chose to customize a schedule to suit our family’s needs.
According to the state of Connecticut, we do not have to do every subject every day of the school year.
I have been struggling with the amount of activities in which to enroll my children and just beginning to face the realities that I do not have to enroll my children in every class or outside activity that their/my friends do.
I have decided to enroll each child in in only one pay activity per week. Of course I will schedule play dates and the like, and invite other children to sit in some of our activities and lessons, but I do not want these things to interfere with the educational purpose of home schooling.
Our Fridays will continue to be left for field trip days whereas, Monday through Thursday will hold the highest concentration of academic study. I do however, plan on teaching some things on Fridays and Saturdays.
I am such a planner that I cannot help myself about planning out everything. Of course, I do not anticipate a play-by-play daily run-down, but I will specify subject area topics for each day.
The amount of time spent on each subject depends upon the age, small motor skills, learning style, and abilities of each child (ranges as follows: 3-5 minutes for preschoolers, 10-20 minutes for 1st -3rd graders, 20-45 minutes for 4th – 6th graders, 45 minutes or more for 8th – 12th graders). Although Jonathan is at a preschool age, his attention-span, learning style and abilities enable lessons to run approximately 10-15 minutes.
The total number of hours spent each day in one-on-one instruction ranges as follows: thirty minutes in Kindergarten (broken up into several five-minute sessions), one to two hours in grades 1 – 6, two hours or more in grades 7 – 12. Again, more can be accomplished orally than handwritten for children with handwriting difficulties. In our planning, our TOTAL home-schooling daily agenda is two hours — which conveniently is the amount of nap-time for the baby.
The remainder of our school day is spent in independent book exploration, free play activities with his siblings and friends, complete own “chores”, exploring an instrument, create an art projects, and/or participate in any other activity that can be done independently. The television and computers are not available during the school day, and are limited to ninety minutes weekly, other than for educational purposes.
Some states require an excess of four to five hours of home schooling daily, thankfully Connecticut is not one of them. However there is a difference between “actual teaching time” and “school attendance” time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)