Your Home School Schedule – Part 2

In the first part of what is turning out to be a scheduling series we covered how to begin creating your schedule.  Even if you already have a schedule, if it isn’t working as well as you would like, you could take a look at that article to see if the problem starts at the foundation.

I told you in that first article that I would post my schedule to give you some ideas of what you might want to include in your schedule.  Since the schedule is so long, I’ll paste it in segments and talk a little about what you see and then move on to the next segment. 

One thing I want you to see right away is that I have a separate column for each person – this has been a huge key to my schedule success.  In previous attempts to build a schedule, I just had one column for what I had to do and tried to make sure I had all the children covered.  Something always seemed to be missing or forgotten or things just never fit very well together.  Now, everything flows so much better.

(**Side Note:  My hubby stood in the living room this morning and said, “I just love it when you are on schedule!  The kitchen is clean, the house looks nice,” and gave me a hug and kiss!  AMPLE reward for all that hard work!  This compliment came just one day after my kids had some kind of 24-hour bug and I had very little sleep!  It can be done even in trying circumstances!)

Early Morning Segment 

If there is one thing that will throw off my whole day, it is NOT getting up before my children.  I like to greet them as a prepared Mommy who is ready to teach them and love them.  This time helps me to wake up fully, get dressed for the day and do some of the things that are important to me. 

I also think it is very important for the children to get some fresh air each day before they hit the books.  I am fortunate to have a backyard and a home on a cul de sac so there is ample opportunity for them to get the jitters out in just 30 minutes. 

Lastly, my husband works the night shift and we make sure to greet him and spend some time with him before he goes to sleep.

Late Morning Segment  

My oldest son uses the ACE curriculum which is largely self-directed.  He sets his goals for the day and gets into his school work.  He has a timer in his room that he sets for one hour.  When it goes off, he takes a break of up to 15 minutes.  Even during the hour of work time, he has points in the work that he is instructed to get his work checked by his *supervisor*.  So, every few pages, he is tracking me down to get work checked.

For my preschoolers, we use Bright Beginnings, Considering God’s Creation, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and Piano for Preschoolers along with other supplemental worksheets and activities.  After school time, each child goes into one of the bedrooms alone with some favorite toys and closes the door.  This has been a very useful tool for me in many ways.  They get a break from each other and are more ready to play nice and cooperate with each other after they’ve had some time by themselves.  Also, I think kids really benefit from having some unstructured time with a few toys and no interruptions.  I concentrate on my two biggest chores: laundry and dishes.  These two chores are always caught up when I have this time!!  I don’t have to feel guilty that I’m neglecting my children in order to get some housework done.

Church training has also proved to be an invaluable tool in my scheduling tackle box.  When we moved from up north to down south, my 3yr old son was only 18 months (wow does time fly!) and still in the nursery.  He was, and still is, a very active little boy who did not sit still for very long.  I thought he would never learn how to sit for anything.  Since I did not want to put him in a nursery at a church full of what were strangers at the time, I implemented this “church practice” time.  Our pastor has a radio broadcast at 11am every morning – so we would pull out the radio and sit on the couch for about 30 minutes or so and practice how to sit nicely and without being a distraction.  Within about two weeks, my fidgety little boy was sitting nicely in church in a pew very close to the front.  We are now using the same method to get our newest addition used to sitting quietly in church!

Since this post is getting so long, I’ll stop here to let you digest a bit before I go on with the rest of the schedule.  As always, feel free to ask questions and make comments.   I truly hope this is helping you create a comfortable and *do-able* schedule!

So, please join me next time for part 3 of this scheduling series!  Until then, keep on growing!!

Related Posts

• Your Home School Schedule – Part 3
• Accelerated Christian Education – Making Exciting Changes To Our Method!
• Old Schoolhouse Magazine Crew Review – GyMathtics
• Thirsty Thursday – Planning For The Next Year All At Once
• I Had Unexpected Company AND a Day Off – All Because of My Schedule

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