Schedule for GEMS

GEMS Suggested Daily Schedule

Daily Activity   Time per Activity  Activity Explanation
Journal 10 minutes

Students need to practice moving their thoughts from their heads to the paper or screen. They do this through free writing. The students should write for ten minutes every day. This writing should not be read by anyone but the student. Sharing their writings should be the student’s decision alone. They can write about their feelings, their day, their hopes, their disappointments, their hobbies, or whatever is on their mind. They can write the same sentence over and over if they so desire. They should not be concerned with punctuation, spelling, grammar, or  mechanics. The purpose is to practice moving their thoughts from their head onto paper or their computer. This should be done each day the student works this curriculum.

Journal topics are located in the GEMS Supplement.
Editing Exercises 5-7 minutes

This is the place where writing mechanics are taught. The students will learn one to four rules per day, and the students only need to do these twice per week. This should take between five and ten minutes.

  1. They first correct the sentence.
  2. Then, they watch the corresponding video (These will be posted by September 1, 2022.)
  3. Then, the students make corrections to the sentences they learned in the video.
  4. Apply the rules learned to their journal writing for that day.
  5. Write the rules on the blanks provided.

These exercises are in the Editing Exercises book.
Grammar Lessons 20 minutes

Students are to master each objective before moving on to the next lesson. They follow these steps:

  1. Read the lesson. 
  2. Watch the video explaining the lesson.
  3. Work an exercise.
  4. Watch the corresponding video to grade their exercise – (These will be posted by September 1, 2022.)
  5. If they made an 80% or higher, move on. If they made a 79% or lower, keep practicing.
  6. Once the student feels they have mastered the unit, take a quiz. If the student makes an 80% or higher on the quiz, move on. If they made a 79% or lower, keep practicing.

Students begin with GEMS Volume I: Parts of Speech. GEMS Volume II: Parts of a Sentence, GEMS Volume III: The Expository Essay. They matriculate through all three volumes to complete the course.

Note: Because students work at their own pace, an entire family may use the same curriculum. Students should spend no more than 15-20 minutes a day on grammar lessons. They should work through the exercises, videos, and chapters, picking up each day where they left off the previous day.

 

Reading

 20 minutes Students read at least 20 minutes a day from a book of their choosing.  A list of recommended books for each grade level is located in the GEMS Supplement.

Vocabulary 

 10 minutes

Students choose two to three words twice per week from their reading. These should be new or unfamiliar words. See Vocabulary for All Ages.

 

 

Weekly Schedule

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Journal for 10 minutes

Editing exercises

Grammar Lesson

Read book

Journal for 10 minutes

Grammar Lesson

Read book

Vocabulary 2-5 words

Journal for 10 minutes

Editing exercises

Grammar Lesson

Read book

Journal for 10 minutes

Grammar Lesson

Read book

Vocabulary 2-5 words

Students read, write, and study grammar every class day. They alternate the editing exercises and the vocabulary using the GEMS curriculum. Over the course of a year, the students will have learned all of the editing rules and increased their vocabulary through reading. This curriculum will improve your students reading and writing skills.