Over (Home) Work

Miss 10 has been working very hard at school lately. She's anxious to "catch up" with the other kids in the subjects that she struggles in. I mentioned not too long ago that we had reviewed her IEP and changed it to focus more on Math. She is doing better already, not well, but better. We have made modifications for her in spelling and math, the rest of the subjects are just like everyone else.

In the last few weeks, little things keep getting added to our homework schedules. This is for the whole class, not just Miss 10. I'm not opposed to homework, I don't mind helping out when needed, and Miss 10 and I do extra things just to get her on par with everyone else. What I do mind is the level to which the extras are starting to interfere with life outside of school.

Band started last week: Great, I love band (I was a band nerd, what can I say?) So Miss 10 has started and is enjoying playing the tenor saxophone, although it is nearly the size that she is! This requires practice of course: 100 minutes per week. That's fine, we decided on 20 minutes a night/5 nights a week. It works better to have free nights to be able to switch as we need.

Reading: One of the ongoing reading assignments at school is to read 15 minutes a night, I'm all for that as well. We get a calendar every month and record our minutes on that.

Typing: Don't get me started. This is something that was just added to our schedule. They are to practice AT HOME 15 minutes a night every night of the week.

Did you keep track of that? So far, without any homework from the school day included, that equals 50 minutes of homework! Essentially before homework even starts, we have worked almost an hour at other homework. Now, typically Miss 10 also has to study 20 spelling words every night, we pre-read all the reading book stories a week before the class covers them, I pre-teach the math lesson each night, we do flashcards of multiplication every night (Miss 10 can't memorize, can.not...we have to teach her to figure them out by adding) usually there is a minimum of one other assignment a night, sometimes 2. That's just school work. Miss 10 also has to eat supper as a family with the rest of us, (Oh the horror!) she must shower every night and she needs to have her bags and anything else she will need ready for the morning the night before. Do you see any problems with this schedule?

Where does the time to play or be involved in any outside activities take place?

When do you find time to spend together as a family?