As a mom your kids rely on you for everything. As a homeschool mom there is even more on top of your "Mom pile" of work. Not only do you get them fed and ready for the day, but you also school them, you are the major source of their moral upbringing, and your attitude directly influences them for the bulk of their days.
Beginning homeschooling with little ones, we manage everything. The clothes they wear, the books they read, the food they eat, their sleep patterns (if they sleep), and what they learn. As they get older and start to flex their wings, we have to step back. If they don't learn to stand on their own they will never walk, right? Fast forward a few more years and you are still a mom that schedules their lessons and activities, reminds them about due dates for co-op, and other outside obligations. When do you stop doing all of that for them? How do you stop yourself from coming in and saving the day?
My son is now in 7th grade and we are moving toward independence. I know it will be a long road, but I am hopeful that by the end of 7th grade, he will be scheduling completely independent of me. Home subjects and co-op classes may still require that he meet with me for lectures or clarification, but I won't be hand holding him through things.
The first step on this road is scheduling. I have always organized all of our work into days and told the kids their assignments as we go. I have tried to post this on the board and let them pick through the day. I have created Evernote notes with their assignments in checklist form. I have written out all of their assignments in a planner for them. The point is, previously, I have done all of the scheduling.
Last week I wrote out all of my son's assignments in a planner. I organized the lessons by day and he highlighted them as he finished.
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| Last week. |
I did this for this week also. Yesterday, was not a very successful day for him. He decided to sleep in and then take a huge "break" between lessons. He didn't finish his work until 7:45 pm. His dad did not let him go to scouts because he wasn't finished. That was his consequence. Hopefully, he learned from that.
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| This week. |
For next week he is getting a list of all of his assignments with due dates. He has two due dates. The first, is for co-op stuff he has to finish before class. The second, is for regular work I require. I will help him with this if he asks me. I am definitely going to check that all of the co-op work is scheduled before class, but the rest will be up to him.
Due Date:
Tuesday, October 13
Sunday, October 18
I am interested to see if he schedules himself all of the work for individual classes together on one day or spreads each subject out. Who wants to do four math lessons in one day? I don't know, maybe he will. I can pretty much guarantee that will only happen once, if it happens at all.
Week 14
Science
Complete Ch. 6.3 Test
Review all Ch. 6 notes
Write about Gallium's compounds formed
Write about Gallium's fun or interesting facts
Review flashcards
Organize your paragraphs into an outline
Write your rough draft in Writewell. Print to edit.
Math
Lesson 27 (Do: 1,4,5,9,11,13,14,19,27)
History
Write your rough draft in Writewell. Print to edit.
Write your final
Read Ch. 21-28
Pick your topic
Write your topic sentence and questions
Read rest of Colonial Times
Research your questions (use notecards)
Write your outline
Art
Unit 5, Lesson 2
Look at Van Gogh's art (pick a favorite and add it to your Evernote with the title)
Spanish
2 - Practice Duolingo
Review Worksheets
2 - Watch videos 6-9
2 - Estar cards
Classics
Holes to @pg 120
How are you helping your kids to schedule themselves? How is it working?
Happy Homeschooling
-Michele
