Hit me with your best shot: tips for multiple cores

[DiannaKennedy]

OT: I repent for titling this thread "Hit me with your best shot." tanya was right: Pat Benatar has been following me like the furies for over two years now. I cannot see this title without the accompanying soundtrack invading my mind.

Would anyone with Forum super-powers want to rename this simply Tips for Multiple Cores? ?

Negative, Ghost Rider.

Why in the world would you want to deprive an entirely new generation from learning about Pat Benatar? ? That would be ..... heartbreaking. ?

[Beorn]

Ah...so it must remain a private punishment. Ha!

No. Others share in your plight.

[pickandgrin]

Ah...so it must remain a private punishment. Ha!

[tanya]

I actually like it. I would change it if I knew how, but I think it would lose it's oomph factor.

[pickandgrin]

OT: I repent for titling this thread "Hit me with your best shot." tanya was right: Pat Benatar has been following me like the furies for over two years now. I cannot see this title without the accompanying soundtrack invading my mind.

Would anyone with Forum super-powers want to rename this simply Tips for Multiple Cores? ?

[KF2000]

Mamasita ,

One more thing to keep in mind is the adage, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” As in, while you strive to have him grow in his ability to complete the guides well, you also don’t have to hold up a standard of perfection to be reached before moving on either. That can cause unnecessary delays.

For example, let’s say you have as a goal for him to be able to write more than a single sentence to answer his questions. As the upper school books move along, it becomes less and less likely that a question can actually be answered in a single sentence. It can he tough to explain the need to “say more” without giving some kids a specific target, so giving them a goal of “write more than one sentence per question” is something that can actually help them rise to a new expectation, and can be a realistic target for either a semester or even an entire year, depending on the particular child. If this is the stage where your child is, than the best way to help him get good at it is to give him a lot of practice, in a relatively short amount of time. Thus, you might condense some aspect of the lit study overall in order to be able to focus on this goal. If you spend so much time discussing that he only gets to write one or two sections of the guide per week, then it is going to take him a really long time to make significant progress in this area. Conversely, if you keep the discussion part to just was is necessary and try to help him have time for writing more sentences per week, then he will make greater progress in that particular area in a shorter amount of time.

When push comes to shove, I always want more writing, as early as possible. Because the sooner they can complete the written portion of the guide independently, the more time we will have available for discussion. There’s just not time to do it all, all at once.

AMDG,
Sarah

[Mamasita]

The lit reading and lit guide times were divided because they like to read a lot, and don’t mind having things they have to read for school scheduled outside of “school hours.” So it made it easier to fit the work portion in by keeping the reading portion second.

If your son needs the help, he needs the help. There is not a lot that you can do to eliminate that if it is the stage at which he is. Spending the time with him, to help him practice the skills he needs to get better at whatever skills are slowing him down is really, truly, the only thing that will help him move on to a stage of greater independence. Wish as you might, he won’t magically get there. It is going to require the time and the effort on your part to get him there.

I would try to live in the moment with this. An hour is not really “worry level” of time spent on literature. If that is a hard thing to give from your time per day, than make it a MWF thing. Slow down the pace of the lesson plans. Realize you most likely will not get all the lit guides from the Core done this year. What is more valuable is helping him do them well. The biggest questions to keep in mind are: what does your son need for this current level of skill, and how can you encourage him to grow toward the next level of skill?

The jumps in learning surprise us. Just when we think we cannot hold up another flash card without our head exploding, they start to wow us with an uptick of speed or an ability to control the fidgits. The same sort of thing can happen here.

sometimes we think these older kids should be self-sufficient simply because they are older. But every minute we spend talking with them is so good for them, even if we are counting every single one until we can get on with the rest of the day!

AMDG,
Sarah

Thanks! This matches my thoughts on this. We just take our time to get where we need to be.

[KF2000]

The lit reading and lit guide times were divided because they like to read a lot, and don’t mind having things they have to read for school scheduled outside of “school hours.” So it made it easier to fit the work portion in by keeping the reading portion second.

If your son needs the help, he needs the help. There is not a lot that you can do to eliminate that if it is the stage at which he is. Spending the time with him, to help him practice the skills he needs to get better at whatever skills are slowing him down is really, truly, the only thing that will help him move on to a stage of greater independence. Wish as you might, he won’t magically get there. It is going to require the time and the effort on your part to get him there.

I would try to live in the moment with this. An hour is not really “worry level” of time spent on literature. If that is a hard thing to give from your time per day, than make it a MWF thing. Slow down the pace of the lesson plans. Realize you most likely will not get all the lit guides from the Core done this year. What is more valuable is helping him do them well. The biggest questions to keep in mind are: what does your son need for this current level of skill, and how can you encourage him to grow toward the next level of skill?

The jumps in learning surprise us. Just when we think we cannot hold up another flash card without our head exploding, they start to wow us with an uptick of speed or an ability to control the fidgits. The same sort of thing can happen here.

sometimes we think these older kids should be self-sufficient simply because they are older. But every minute we spend talking with them is so good for them, even if we are counting every single one until we can get on with the rest of the day!

AMDG,
Sarah

[Mamasita]

ecarpenter

Looks like that upload only captured the K'er schedule. Here are the 5th, 7th, and Mom schedules too:

[ATTACH]n123930[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]n123931[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]n123932[/ATTACH]

The uploader would not let me upload an Excel workbook, which is why I had to save them as PDF's. It messed up the grid a bit by not fitting on one page, but you should still get the idea.

AMDG,
Sarah

Is the lit guide time and the literature reading two separate subjects or is she reading for the following day? My ds13 is spending a lot of time on his lit guides now that they are getting harder and I am trying to figure out how to help him without spending more than an hour going over his guide with him. Thanks!

[KF2000]

ecarpenter ,

Yes, I love getting to do what I do. I love being a small part of what MP is trying to do. And I love getting to do it at home with my kids while we too are schooling. It is truly a blessing to me and I am so glad that it is a blessing to others. I hope you have a great start to your year!

AMDG,
Sarah

[ecarpenter]

KF2000 Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and attach the sample schedules. These are gold! I totally get the comment about the schedule and the routine, I can see that it will apply to us 100% as well. But the schedule is the necessary starting point, as you mentioned.

Seeing all that you do with more than twice the amount of children is inspiring and encouraging to me.

It’s a wonderful ministry to have - To help and encourage other moms in this worthy journey.

Blessings!
Ellie

[KF2000]

ecarpenter

Looks like that upload only captured the K'er schedule. Here are the 5th, 7th, and Mom schedules too:

Master 2019-2020 - 5th grader.pdf
Master 2019-2020 - 7th grader.pdf
Master 2019-2020 - Mom.pdf

The uploader would not let me upload an Excel workbook, which is why I had to save them as PDF's. It messed up the grid a bit by not fitting on one page, but you should still get the idea.

AMDG,
Sarah

[KF2000]

ecarpenter

You are so welcome! I am glad it was helpful. I (hopefully) have attached a sample from last year for you. I did have a 7th grader, a 5th grader, and a K'er last year, so hopefully it will be helpful. But I also had an 11th grader, a 9th grader, and a 2nd grader...so there are those kids on the "Mom" schedule, too.

Normally, my schedule workbook will have a sheet for me, and then a sheet for each child. I kept the sheets that pertained to your situation...which is hopefully enough to give anyone a sense of how someone like me juggles things. And the caveat that I want you to keep in mind is that at least for me, making this schedule is the important part. It helps me have a sense of confidence that "Yes, this IS possible." It gives me something to help me get started, but that does not have to be the way things actually go in real life. And it helps my kids have a sense of what they should do and when...that they also can tweak as they get used to the school year. We all seem to WANT the schedule in the beginning; but then we always fall back into "routine" rather than "schedule." But the routine flows out of the schedule, if that makes sense. And yes, we do make one every year because every year there are new things to consider.

HTH's!
AMDG,
Sarah

Master 2019-2020 - Sample.pdf

[ecarpenter]

If I simply attached my schedules (as I have done in the past) y'all might freak out because all you will see is the end result, not the steps that it took to get there. That is what I want to share below.

Sarah, this was such a wonderful post! I know this is an old thread but just read it and it was super helpful as I was trying to get ready for the coming year. Would you mind sharing one of your master schedules that includes a 7th grader? I’m curious to see how long to schedule for each subject for my 5th, 7th and Kindergartener.

We did university model schooling for 6 years and this will be my first time doing it all myself for my three oldest as I also care for my little toddler. I’m so impressed by moms like you and many others in this forum on how you do so much with so much dedication.. Lovely examples to follow!

I’m very excited to enlist in the journey... but hyperventilating a bit

Blessings!
Ellie

[pickandgrin]

Here you go! https://www.memoriapress.com/videos/

I usually have to search Soldalitas in the search bar to find it.

These are a gold mine!