Thanks so much to my dear friends who sent kind words and prayers after reading of our rocky start to the homeschooling year. I’m sure you do not know just how much you encouraged me. My sweet mother even offered to pay for us to hire a “Mother’s Helper” to come by for a few hours a week. I don’t think that we’ll need to do that, but I feel so very blessed just knowing that you care.
To recap: I do this panic-thing at the beginning of every single school year, and things always become better as the year starts rolling. I explained my firm belief that God would show me how to do these things that I am incapable of doing on my own.
I believe that prayer has already been answered. Two days of testing out a new schedule are showing it to be a workable solution. I would like to share it here, in case anyone else is homeschooling a houseful with little ones afoot, and needs some ideas on budgeting those precious hours.
At first glance, the schedule really doesn’t seem much different from our schedules of previous years. This year’s difficulty was squeezing in “Mom School” with five kids, only three of whom can help much in occupying their little siblings – who include a busy, curious baby and typical three-year-old boy. The scheduling difference lies in including Happy as a babysitter. He is really not mature enough to do very much in this regard; however, I realized that there was a particular time slot that he ought to do very well, for two reasons:
- Sonshine begins his morning nap during this time, and Strawberry is working with me. That leaves only Conductor for Happy to occupy.
- This time slot immediately follows “Little Kid Time,” so I’ve just finished spending an hour of quality time with all the little ones. This means that Conductor’s heart is happy from from lot’s of Mommy-attention, and he’s more likely to behave well for Happy.
Side note: I do not use the term “Babysitting” in the traditional sense. I am typically within eye and earshot of both the babysitter and the babysittee/s. The babysitter’s role is to play with the little kid/s and help them to be “happy, good, and safe.” For more on what this looks like and the benefits to all, read this post.
That said, here are the details of our imperfect, but very helpful, schedule.
By 9:00, all children are supposed to have completed their morning habits, chores, breakfast eaten, music practiced, and Bible read.
9:00 Little Kids Time (geared to the age six-and-under crowd; more details here)
Big kids are welcome, or they may:
- finish any unfinished items from the morning, i.e. Bible, music, chores, etc.
- get a head start on their independent or computer school
- take a break
9:55 Sonshine’s Nap
10:00 Strawberry’s Mom School
- Alpha-Phonics
- Handwriting
Writer: Computer School
Gameboy: Independent Work
Cowgirl: Independent Work
Happy: Babysit
Conductor: w/Happy
Sonshine: Sleeping
10:30 Happy’s Mom School
- Reading
- Review Copywork and Math
- Pianimals Lesson
Writer: Independent Work
Gameboy: Babysit
Cowgirl: Computer School
Strawberry: w/Cowgirl
Conductor: w/Cowgirl
Sonshine: Sleeping
10:55 Sonshine up from Nap
11:00 Cowgirl’s Mom School
- Review Lang Arts
- Spelling
- Math
Writer: Babysit
Gameboy: Computer School
Happy: Independent Work
Strawberry: Table Time (color, puzzles, paper dolls, etc.)
Conductor: w/Writer
Sonshine: w/Writer
11:30 Gameboy’s Mom School
- Review Lang Arts
- Review Math
- Spelling
- Review Book of John (Bible Quizzing)
Writer: Independent Work
Cowgirl: Babysit
Happy: Downstairs
Strawberry: Downstairs
Conductor: w/Cowgirl
Sonshine: w/Cowgirl
11:45 Writer Time
- Review Lang Arts
- Review Math
- Spelling
Gameboy: Independent Work
Cowgirl: Babysit
Happy: Downstairs
Strawberry: Downstairs
Conductor: w/Gameboy
Sonshine: w/Gameboy
12:00-ish (Morning school usually goes a little bit longer than scheduled, thus the “-ish.”)
- Break for lunch
- Meal cleanup
- Chore check (If they weren’t completed, they are done now.)
- Quick Tidy (usually less than 5 minutes)
- Recess
1:25 Conductor and Sonshine Nap
1:30 Family School (usually 2-3 hours. Happy and Strawberry participate as appropriate, and play quietly nearby when the material is too complex)
- Bible, History, Science, Art, etc.
- Readalouds
3:30/4:00
- Conductor and Sonshine wake up
- Kids finish up any remaining independent work
And there you have it. It’s not perfect, but nothing ever is, nor should we expect it to be. There are interruptions, there are delays, there are mis-behaviors, there are school struggles that require more than the alotted time frames, etc. The key, which I often need to be reminded of, is that a schedule is a tool, not a master. A schedule provides needed structure and routines, and without one, I can not imagine how I’d ever be able to accomplish the many details that need attending. The very process of designing one has been invaluable in helping me to think things through and order my days. But that little piece of paper is designed to help me, not to rule me. When things don’t go as planned, some improvisation is needed to prioritize and pick up at an appropriate place.
I’d love your comments. Please fire away any questions or suggestions that you may have!
Looks great, except mom when do you get your quiet time. I need a little quiet time everyday just to re-group. I wish I could get through the day without having to lay down, even if only for a half an hour.
Hi Susan, Since you are expecting, it’s no wonder that you need that time daily! When I was pregnant, I could never get through our afternoon readings without dozing off. Our curriculum is wonderful in that Fridays are very light, so I would use that day to catch up on anything that we didn’t finish earlier in the week due to my low energy level.
My hope is that as we get into the swing of our school routine, things will go a bit faster. They usually do. This will hopefully allow me to have a little rest in the afternoon. Otherwise, I’ll either have to do without, or rely on those light Fridays if I can’t make it through the full day. :-)