10-minute homeschool

I had an idea I thought I'd try for kicks today, and it turned out to be brilliant.

I devised 10-minute homeschool. Ten minutes per subject, that is. I set the alarm at the beginning of each session, and then they were fascinated to see how much they could get done in 10 minutes. If they were in the middle of something when the beeper went off, it got put away until tomorrow (or, I would have let them pick back up whatever they wanted to at the end of school, but today is a crammed gym-and-swim-then-cooking-then-horseback-riding afternoon and evening). We went from 9:45 to 12:15.

The girls loved it. Loved it, loved it. And they got a lot done, with a lot of cliffhangers that they now want to get done tomorrow. (We're in the middle of the history of ancient Sumer, and I stopped in the middle of a sentence. Whetting the appetite for more tomorrow!) Ella read her book in time to have some time left over at the end of the session. It really focused her -- other days it could take her 15 minutes what it took 8 minutes to do today. And her math, she finished that early, too, and it was PERFECT.

Madison wants to do 15-minute school tomorrow and see how different of an experience that is. Who am I to argue.