Our Schedule

Last weekend for my birthday my girls surprised me by taking me to a Maxwell Energize Seminar. 

After the Conference the girls took me to the Melting Pot for Dessert! 

 I first read Teri Maxwell’s “Manager’s of Their Homes” back in 2001.  It was a life saver to me as a young homeschool Mom.  In fact, if I was only able to to recommend one resource for the homeschool mom -  that would be the book!    The other book by Teri entitled:  “Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit” would come in close second!   I try to read through this particular book  every August before the new school year starts just to refresh my mind on the attitudes of the heart that I need to address in my own life.  It is an EXCELLENT book!    I think you would find these resources invaluable if you homeschool; but I think the tips you would find would be beneficial even if you do not homeschool your children.  Well, when I heard that they were going to be in North Carolina doing their homeschool  workshops I mentioned off hand, that I would love to see them again.  The girls jumped on it and planned a weekend out just for me.  It was wonderful.

With the workshops fresh in my mind, I thought I would do a post on our homeschool schedule this year.  We have had it in place for a over a month and it has gone very smooth.  In fact, this year seems to be the smoothest start to a homeschool year that we have ever had!  Now, before I post our schedule - I have to admit here that there is something wrong with me.  I have known it for years; and my older kids inform me that it is totally obvious to them.  I LOVE organization.   I LOVE schedules.  I have been deemed a control freak (and that was not even by a family member).  I am the one who makes grocery lists by the aisle that I will find the items in the store.  I have "To Do"  lists that have -'make tomorrow's To Do List'- on the list of things to do. I have successfully had my spices in alphabetical order in my cabinets - before the kids became teenagers and started cooking.  All that mentioned to say this, if you are a normal person - this post will not interest you at all!  Feel free to skip it and wait for another one.  I do not know how things are in your world; but in mine it is messed up - but alphabetized and categorized.  :)    I also am simply putting out our schedule  to help some who might be looking for ideas on things that others have done that  worked for them.   Feel free to get ideas from me; but I must assure you that this is NOT a post to tell you how to live your life, plan your day or how to homeschool!  I am not trying to mommy -shame you, or to make you have a guilt trip if you do not live by a schedule.  Life is too short for that!  

So, enjoy - if you like schedule/ organization or if you need to find inspiration.  To all the rest, I hope we can still be friends when you find out just how deep my organization sickness goes.  LOL 
 

Our Schedule:  2014-2015 – ( Our Family and Grades:   Rachel, Graduated and not doing homeschool work.    (I did not include her schedule in here because she is an adult and her hour by hour choices are no longer my concern. :)  Abbey - 12th grade, James -  10th grade, Zak (2cd / 3rd grade, has autism and thrives with a schedule!)  Anna:  1st Grade) Me - Mom and Rob - Dad.) 

5:30 – Mom: Up, Dressed / Dad:  Up, take James to the Farm for chores

6:00 – Mom: Coffee / Quiet Time / James & Abbey:  Up – Morning Routine / Littles:  Stay in Bed / Dad:  Exercise

6:45 – Mom: Breakfast / Dad:  Shower

7:00 – Start Laundry / James & Abbey:  Start School  / Littles:  Up – Sunshine Chores / Breakfast (supervised by Dad)

7:15 – Mom:  Housework – get school folders ready / Littles:  Morning Chores / Dad:  Devotions

7:40 – Mom:  Keep Cleaning :)  / Littles:  Quiet Time (Zak does Patch Club Book Devotions ; Anna listens to the Bible on CD)

8:00 – Start School with Zak / Anna: plays quietly in the front room / James & Abbey  leave for work with Dad *

9:00 – Mom: School with Anna / Zak does Seat work

10:00 – Mom: School with Zak / Anna does Seat work

11:00 – Mom: School with Anna / Zak does Seat work

12:00- LUNCH

1:00- Mom:  Science or History with the Littles

1:30- Mom: Exercise / Littles:  Quiet play in their room

2:00 – Mom:Shower  / Littles:  Keep playing  (FYI: they almost always find they NEED something from me while I am in the shower - so if you drive by and hear a lot of hollering going on - I am just answering their question through a closed and locked bathroom door - with soap in my hair and the shower water running at full speed)

2:15 – Mom: Writing Time or Sewing or Baking  / Littles:  Play outside

3:40- Anna: Piano Practice Time (I supervise this since she is just getting started) Zak: Play Time

4:00 – Zak: Piano Practice / Anna Violin Lessons with Rachel / James & Abbey:  School

4:30 – Mom: Dinner Prep / Anna: Set Table / Zak: Play (usually he is talking to Dad about his day )

5:15 - Family Dinner Time / Family Devotions/ Cleanup

6:30 – Littles: Showers - I supervise this - and run interference.  That means I call Zak back to the bathroom and make him pick up after his shower is done; and wonder how he can get that much water on the floor.  It also means I wipe soap out of Anna's eyes during her shower,  and try to talk to her while she is screaming about the soap in her eyes / James & Abbey:  School (FYI :  They do video school with headphones on - so all the yelling from Anna's eye /soap episodes does not disturb them too much!)

7:00 Littles:  Free - Quiet Play / Mom:  Read or Write or Free / Dad:  College Masters Classes / James & Abbey:  Continue doing School

8:00 – Mom:  Read to the Littles ( We are working through "Chronicles of Narnia" by CS Lewis)   

8:30 – Littles:  Bed Time – Dad tucks them in and prays with them / James & Abbey:  Continue School / Homework (We have a rule that ALL technology must be turned off by 8:30 - and checked in at the charging station.) 

9:30 – Dad and Mom and the older kids:  Reading time 

10:00- Lights Out

That is how our day is supposed to go on a normal day.

 
*The older kids do not work everyday with their Dad; but go in three to four times a week.   When they are home they continue on with their school while the Littles do school and then exercise and have free time until dinner.  The evenings are devoted to homework and quiet play (as much as is possible).

The Littles have chores in the morning.  Here is a list of their chores:

Sunshine Chores:

Make Bed

Get Dressed
Put PJ’s Away

Comb Hair

Morning Chores for Zak:

MWF – Empty Trashes in each room take them to the dump (across the street)  OR

T/ TH – Sweep Porches / Straighten Porches

Feed and Water Chickens

Brush Teeth

Go to Devotions (In his bedroom with strict orders that he is NOT to bother his brother doing school!)  :)

Morning Chores for Anna:

Give Thor Food and Water for the day

Put Clean Washcloths in the Bathroom

Brush Teeth

Go to Devotions (On the couch in the front room)

The Older Kids have their Morning Routine:

Get Up

Get Dressed

Bed Made (unless they can pay a younger sibling to do it for them)

Breakfast

Room of the Day (more on this in another post)

(James also uses his morning routine to go to a nearby farm and do chores there – feeding chickens)

We devote Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to this schedule.  On Thursday we do the same schedule until we start school; however, we only do the papers that need to be done for seat work that day.  We forgo actual teaching and flashcards and one on one teaching in each subject.  Instead, we spend use this day to go to the library and run any errands we need to in town.  We spend time in the afternoon for concentrated time on Science and History.  The Littles have their piano lessons on Thursdays; and we spend time cooking together and doing occupational type classes that day on life skills that they need to master. (If I notice that they are not doing their jobs correctly during the week I would spend time on Thursday to teach and train them on what they need to do better on their jobs).  It’s a more laid back day; but we get a lot done.   I enjoy Thursdays very very much!

One of the reasons I think that this year has gone by so smoothly I because we have an outside activity in the older kids getting to work that cannot change.  So many times as I have homeschooled through the years, I have found  it is easy to push things aside and try to work them in somewhere else if we get up later in the morning.  The older kids going to work during the day on some days requires them to have at least one class done and finished before they head out the door to work (because there is not enough hours in the evening to get them all done and be in bed at a decent hour.)  This has driven the schedule forward and been most beneficial! 

I would have never dreamed that the older kid would work so hard at getting their school work done (even at 7 in the morning!); but Dad sat down with them and said that the job would be the first thing to go if they did not keep their grades up and school work completed.  They love having the extra money a job give them – and they have done better than ever keeping school work done and grades where they need to be!  It has been a great motivation for them!  I love that they are able to spend the day working with their Dad; and he is being afforded the time to pour into their lives as they work together and in the car as they drive to and from work (an hour each day).

So that is our school year schedule for this school year.   I plan on doing a few more posts on things we are doing in our days to keep thing running smoothly.  (Laundry schedules, breakfast schedule, etc).  I trust your school year is going smoothly – whether you are homeschooling, or send your children to school every morning.  I am a firm believer that children and families thrive on a routine and scheduling.  

Thanks for stopping by; I am so glad you did!

~Martie