JellyMan's Daily Schedule for 9th Grade

I haven't quite finished the list of books JellyMan will use for his first year of high school, but I've been able to work out a basic schedule.  I would like to share it with you because I've had a lovely sort of EUREKA! moment - I realized that school schedules look more friendly when you combine subjects.  For example, which of the following do you prefer?

Option #1:

• History


• Geography


• Literature


• Religion


• Philosophy


• Government

Option #2:

• Great Books

I don't know about you, but option #1 makes my eyes bleed.  So I went with #2.  I also decided to chuck this:

• Latin


• Greek


• Hebrew

in favor of this:

• Classical Languages

Wow, I feel so much better!  Here's the finished schedule:

Monday

Math (1.5 hrs)
Classical Languages (2 hrs.)
Logic/Rhetoric (1 hr.)
Great Books (2 hrs.)
Piano (1 hr.)

Tuesday

Math (1.5 hrs.)
Classical Languages (2 hrs.)
English (.5 hr.)
Science (1.5 - 2 hrs.)
Piano (1. hr.)

Wednesday

Math
Classical Languages
Logic/Rhetoric
Great Books
Piano

Thursday

Math
Classical Languages
English
Science
Piano

Friday

Math
Classical Languages
Logic/Rhetoric
Great Books
Piano

Saturday

Math (1.5 hrs.)
Art History (1 hr.)
Music Theory (.5 hr.)

Beautiful, isn't it?  He will study logic during the first semester, and rhetoric during the second, and logic/rhetoric will alternate weekdays with English, so that one week he will have three days of logic/rhetoric and two days of English, and the next week he will have three days of English and two days of logic/rhetoric.  (By "English" I mean grammar and the like.  The bulk of his English credits will be earned during his study of Great Books and rhetoric.)  He'll also have things like drama and physical education and dance and such, but I won't know the particulars until after we get to Hawaii. 

We're going to Hawaii!  In a matter of days!  I'm so excited - I'm going to the beach!  I can't wait to eat good sushi!  And Chinese food!  And, oh!  I'm going to get a SUNBURN!  OOH!  And maybe my freckles will all run together and make it look like I have a TAN!

Ahem.

I still have NO IDEA how I will put any of this onto a transcript, but I'm working on it.  So much depends on what sort of college he'd like to attend (if he ends up wanting to go at all), and I'm thinking that I might create two transcripts as I go - one that says what we're actually doing, and one that tries to shove what we're doing into all the traditional little boxes. 

Ugh.  JellyMan might be ready for high school, but I'm not.

The Abbreviated Homeschool

We're spending our last month in the continental U.S. at the farm, which means we don't have a lot of time for school - we have things to do and people to see, you know.  So I cut the academics back to the essentials, and I thought everyone might like to see what my essentials are.  (Oh, come on.  You know you're interested.)

• Math (one lesson)


• Latin/Greek (one lesson)


• Writing (one page)


• Reading (one hour)

Unfortunately, my abbreviated homeschool is not as efficient as I had hoped.  It seems the less work I give The Goobs, the longer they take to do it!  I suspect feeding the cows in sub zero weather is making Saxon look good.

Tentative Schedule for 5th Grade (Anemone)

Daily

Math (7:00)
Latin (8:00)
French (9:30)
English (10:00)
Piano (late afternoon/evening)
Bible (evening read-aloud)

Monday

Literature (1:00 - 2:00)

Tuesday

History (1:00 - 2:00)

Wednesday

Christian Studies (1:00 - 2:00)

Thursday

Science  (1:00 - 2:00)

Friday

Art History (evening)

Saturday

Catch Up Day

Math is Anemone's best subject, so she will whip through a Saxon lesson in an hour or less, especially in the first half of the book.  Latin is another story; she'll spend upwards of an hour just drawing pictures on her flashcards.  French is new; language isn't typically her strong suit, but she very much wants to learn it, so I'll give it a half hour time slot for now.  English lessons vary; some days she'll spend fifteen minutes on a Rod & Staff lesson and some days she'll take an hour.  It just depends on how she feels that day.

She'll be able to finish her reading list in the time available, with plenty of time left over to read her own books. 

Like JellyMan, she is required to put in 30 minutes of correct piano practice daily; she also spends another half hour or more playing around on her own time.

She'll spend at least eight hours a week at her dance studio.  I'm not particularly keen on this, but it's what she loves so I'm not going to make waves over it.

And that's about it!  I am so glad to get that off my chest.

Tentative Schedule for 8th Grade (JellyMan)

Daily

Math (7:00)
Latin (9:00)
Greek (10:00)
Composition (10:30)
Logic (11:30)

LUNCH!

Piano (late afternoon/evening)
Bible (evening read-aloud)

Monday

Literature (1:00 - 2:00)

Tuesday

History (1:00 - 2:00)

Wednesday

Christian Studies (1:00 - 2:00)

Thursday

Science (1:00 - 2:30)

Friday

Art History (evening)

Saturday

Catch Up Day

Math is JellyMan's worst subject.  I plan for him to do a half a lesson every day (Saturdays included) and yes, he'll "need" those two hours - not because he can't do the work, but because he wastes so much time focusing on how miserable he is.  Now, if it were me, I'd work as fast as I could so I could be done with it, but it's a personal choice and if he wants to sit there mostly staring at the wall for two hours it's fine with me.

Latin probably won't take a full hour, and on most days composition won't, either.  I just like to give myself some padding.

He'll definitely be able to read everything on his reading list using the above schedule, and he'll also read anything he hasn't read on Anemone's list.  He'll keep up with his personal reading as well; he usually spends an hour a day of his free time with his nose in a book.

I require 30 minutes of piano practice daily.  During that time, he is to practice correctly.  He generally spends another 30 minutes or so throughout the day just messing around.

He'll spend many evenings at the community theatre.  When he's rehearsing for a play, we'll probably end up dropping art history and logic and moving the readings for Christian Studies and science to Saturdays.  There isn't enough material for art history and logic to last a full year anyway.

I think I've covered everything, and now I don't have to think about it for a while!  Huzzah!

Our Basic Schedule

I've received several emails asking about our daily homeschool schedule, so here it is:

1. Wake up.
2. Eat breakfast and get dressed.
3. Do chores.
4. Do math. 
5. Do grammar.
6. Do everything else.

I find it better not to schedule a wake up time, because sometimes we sleep late and that throws everything off and makes me feel like a loser.   So we just do the same things in the same order whenever we happen to roll out of bed, and that way I feel productive even when we sleep till noon.  The first five items on the list happen five or six days per week.  "Everything else" consists of history, science, foreign language, spelling, logic, reading, writing, art, music, outside lessons and field trips.  Between The Man's work schedule, the kids' activities and my flights of fancy, it's really impossible to schedule any of these things with any consistency, so we get to 'em when we get to 'em.  We try to work in formal history and science sessions twice a week.  Reading and some form of writing are done every single day, but that is a habit for everyone so I don't have to schedule it.  It can happen in the morning or in the evening or anytime in between.  We touch on foreign language every day, but it rarely rates more than 10 minutes of our time.  Field trips happen several times a month.  Formal art and music sessions happen once a week or so, but my kids like art and music so they also do a lot of things on their own.  Spelling happens when we get to it.  Logic is "supposed" to happen twice a week, but we've only done one lesson in the last two months so I might as well scrap it until after Christmas.  Actually, I might just leave it until the summer.

And now, here is a drawing for all my homeschooling readers:

Leave a comment on this post with a link to your basic homeschool schedule and I will enter your name into a drawing for a free copy of The Unschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith.  (We are not unschoolers, but we do have some decidedly unschoolish tendencies and I enjoyed this book.)  Links must be posted and working by 9:00 P.M. eastern time on Thursday, November 15th.  I will announce the winner on Friday, November 16th.  I look forward to seeing your schedules! 

A Typical Homeschool Day

For better or for worse, this is a normal schooling day at our house.

6:00 A.M. The Man tries to wake me up (I asked him to last night) but I fight him.  He gives up and kisses me goodbye.  I love him, though I can’t ever bring myself to admit it so early in morning.

7:00 A.M.  I get up, shower and dress.  I run through my morning routine.  After I’m through, I sit down at the computer with a Diet Pepsi and check my email and hit all my usual places online.  Then I read for a bit.  I’d like to be able to say that I read my Bible every single morning without fail, but  I don’t.  Today my hand touches it, then moves a few books down to Getting Stoned With Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost.  That Maarten is a funny guy.

8:00 A.M.  I wake the kids and they come to breakfast.  This morning our breakfast consists of coffee cake and milk, plus all the fruit you can eat.  Woo-hoo!  Sugar high!  After breakfast, I do the few dishes while they get dressed and start on their chores.  Anemone shows up in high heels and her recital costume, and JellyMan is wearing an alien mask.  Whatever.  Just as long as the floor gets swept!

8: 25 A.M.  The kids are sweeping the patio, and trying to hit each other with leaves and dead bugs.  I get back on the computer and email The Man.  I miss him this morning.

8:45 A.M.  The kids begin their Saxon math lessons.  JellyMan is happy because he has a test today.  Saxon Lite!  I begin my weekly chores.  I will do everything on my list except for the dusting.  I don’t really need to dust today, and I’m grumpy.  Dusting certainly won’t help that. 

9:00 A.M.  Anemone is nowhere to be seen.  I find her on the patio watering herself along with the plants.  She is sure to disappear at least twice more before her lesson is finished, but I don’t want to think about that right now.  I send her back to the table and finish watering the plants now that I’m out there.

9:10 A.M.  JellyMan scores a 95% on his test (yay!) and moves on to his Rod & Staff grammar lesson.  Anemone is nowhere to be seen.  I find her in the bathroom, scrubbing the mirror with her stuffed dog.  I send her back to the table and finish scrubbing the mirror now that I’m in there.

9:30 A.M.  Anemone is where she is supposed to be, but JellyMan is gone. (His grammar is finished, though.)  I find him outside checking on Clarence.  Clarence is the same.  I send him back to the table to start on his Latin assignment,and decide that I may as well do some studying as well, so I pull out my Saxon Algebra 2 book and start reading. 

9:37 A.M.  Just as I pick up my pencil to work the first problem, Anemone has a question.  She can’t remember how to simplify fractions, and reading the lesson hasn’t helped her.  So I walk her through it on the white board, and set her down with five more problems to work.  She gets them all right, and moves on with her lesson. 

9:50 A.M.  JellyMan is through with his Latin and begins his spelling.  I am beginning my third math problem when my mother calls.  I have to pick up because, you know, she’s my mom.  The kids start to bicker, so I tell them to take a break.  They jump up and run to do whatever it is they like to do while I chat with my mom.

10:15 A.M.  I call the kids back to the table, only to be informed that they need and deserve snacks.  I sit them down to finish working while I cut up a bell pepper.

10:20 A.M. Anemone is finished with her math lesson.  Yes!  She starts reading her Rod & Staff grammar lesson while munching on her pepper slices.  JellyMan has finished his spelling, so he moves on to his history assignment.  He is to read four pages in the Kingfisher Encyclopedia of History, outline two of them, and enter all dates on his timeline.  I work several math problems.

10:30 A.M.  Anemone is through reading her grammar lesson, and we go through several of the exercises orally.  After we’re done with that, I give her an oral spelling quiz and send her off to her room to read for a while.  I sit down with my math.  After a few minutes, the kids start getting restless.  I throw chocolate chips at them to keep them quiet.

11:10 A.M.  JellyMan is finished with history, so I send him to his room to read until lunch.  I really need to finish this math lesson.

11:30 A.M.  I’m done!  I call Anemone out to the table and start her on her history.  She is to read one section of The Story of the World and answer the questions I have written out for her.  I start lunch

12:00 P.M.  Lunch is served!  We’re having leftover spaghetti and garlic bread.  I’m still grumpy, so I take my plate and eat in front of the computer.  Gross and sad, I know, but there it is.  I need a break.  I can hear the kids playing “the game,” which is a make-believe story that they’ve been spinning out for years.  I can’t keep track of the characters anymore.  I think I will let them play for a while before I make Anemone finish her history.  That will give me a chance to play around with the computer for a while.

1:30 P.M.  I clean up the lunch mess.  Anemone finishes up her history while JellyMan reads his Bible.

1:50 P.M.  Anemone is finished.  School is officially over.  The kids run outside to play at the park and I sit down and knit while listening to my MP3 player. 

2:15 P.M.  The kids are back because “So-And-So is being a jerk.”  They have a popsicle and go back outside to jump on the trampoline.  Soon the neighbor kids, including So-And-So, show up and want to play.  Soon there’s a party going on.  I consider making refreshments, but we have to leave soon so I don’t bother.

3:00 P.M.  The kids say goodbye to their friends and come in to wash up - we have a field trip with the homeschool group today.  We’re going to take a walk with a naturalist to see what we can see.

5:10 P.M.  The field trip was very fun and very messy, but we didn’t learn anything new.  The kids wash up and do their afternoon chores, while I start dinner.  A friend calls, and we chat while chopping all that dinner stuff.  The kids start playing a boardgame (Shrek something-or-other.)

6:00 P.M.  Dinner.  We’re having chicken in a buttermilk gravy, mashed potatoes, and a side salad. 

6:40 P.M.  I’m doing the dinner dishes, and the kids are playing video games with The Man, who came home early from work today.  Yay!

7:00 P.M.  Time for board games.  Tonight we’ll play Boggle, Harry Potter Scene It, Cranium and Jenga.  Lots and lots of Jenga.  And Anemone will probably want to play Sorry as well.

9:00 P.M.  We go back to the video games.  We all play Mario Kart, and then Gauntlet.

10:10 P.M. How did it get so late??  We do our bedtime routines and the kids head to bed.  I know JellyMan will stay up late reading, but we don’t have anything major happening tomorrow so I don’t mind.  The Man and I pop some popcorn and watch a movie.

12:30 A.M.  Bedtime for grownups.  We should have gone to bed an hour ago, but we do like our movies.  Tonight we watched Immortal Beloved.