Carol,CarolG wrote:We are halfway through the second week of Explorers to 1850, and this week, and a couple days last week, it literally took us from 8 or 9 in the morning until 4:30 pm to get almost everything done. Granted I am dealing with preschooling (less than an hour) a four year old, and a vocal 21 month old, but this is really wearing me out! Please tell me that after the first couple of weeks the workload lessens a bit and the school days will be shorter! I'm not even doing the music appreciation!
Carol
I would NOT school until 4:30! None of the public or private schools do that. When school time is over (2:30 at our house this year), then it's over. Things must be put off sometimes...
There are a few posts from experienced folks around the boards. Here's one that looks potentially helpful:
http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?t=4747
Some thoughts from my experience last year:
* Are you doing too much writing? Remember that since we know our students better than a public school teacher, we don't need all that written work to evaluate. A lot of PLL/ILL can be done orally. The Singapore textbook is to be done with your child. Not sure if you've started HWT yet, but that can be spread out a lot.
* Skip all the extras at first. Agreeing with Crystal that the music can wait. Art & foreign language, too.
* There are a lot of history summaries this year. Tailor them to your child's age. Look at the notebooking pages & notice how little space is actually provided for writing. Just a few thoughts at an elementary level are needed.
* The manual will tell you things are optional sometimes (projects, for instance), or things don't have to be done in their entirety (Bldg. a City on a Hill, for instance). Those notes result from the experiences of all the pilot families and what is doable in some family situations such as yours.
* Some things will be done over a long period of time, such as the hymns which last 2 weeks. Spend more time when you have it & less when you don't.
And YES, EVERY year gets into a rhythm and runs itself after a few weeks. But keep posting or calling until then!
Julie