It's only our second week, so we're still in the tweaking stage, but I thought I'd post our homeschooling schedule.
It's working pretty well for us, partly, I think, because I scheduled in a lot of breathing room. There is, for instance, a huge three hour+ gap in the middle of each day for . . . whatever needs to happen that day.
One of the nice things about this schedule is that making it made me realize that the babies aren't babies any more. In scheduling our day, I realized that I'm not in the newborn fog anymore. For the first time in over five years, I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding. Our twins are one and a half now, and that means that we don't have to be uber-flexible anymore. Without any babies - who might need to eat or sleep at any moment - we can have a schedule. And I'm enjoying the order.
That said, we do have two toddlers, a preschooler and a kindergartener, so our order, while not bubble-gum flexible, is at least Femo-clay-flexible. I'm bolding the parts that are actually school-related. Here it is:
6 AM - Jess up, and writing her novel.
7-9 AM - kids get up somewhere in here. Everyone's diapered and pottied and breakfasted. Morning chores are done, and Bess works on her poetry memorization with me while I work.(I try to do some supper prep. in here too.)
9 AM - reading and writing lesson with Bess. (This is a good time to start school, because the twins always want to run off and play after breakfast)
9:30 AM - read to all the kids. (This is the just-for-fun storytime, where the kids get to pick the books)
10 AM - kids have snack while I read a Bible story to them. I get Bess started on her Bible story illustration and then put the twins down for their quiet time.
10:30 AM - twins' quiet time, and Bess' math lesson.
11 ish - twins up and make lunch.
11:30 - lunch and memory verse and play and chores and going out . . . **
2:30 - twins down for nap while kids watch a movie and I get a break.
3:00 - School storytime (this is where I pick the books, and they have something to do with science or history or they're in Spanish - usually one of each.)
3:30 - Bess and Gamgee have a quiet time, and I have my devotions.
4:00 - I work out (older kids still in quiet time, twins still asleep).
4:30 - Bess' Spanish lesson. *
5 - make dinner.
** On Friday, Bess has her outside P.E. class during this time.
* on Tuesday, we have art during this time. Supposedly science too, but I think I need to find a different place for it.
Tuesdays are our off days, where we don't do reading/writing/Bible/math/Spanish, but do art and science instead. I think science is actually going to end up being in the morning.
I'm really blessed, because my Dad has agreed to do Bess' art lessons (he's a great teacher and a good artist) and my sister has agreed to come once a week to have a Spanish tea with the kids (she's a professional Spanish teacher - and at the tea they have special snacks - but are only allowed to speak in Spanish). This week was the first time both of those happened, and they both went really well. I love watching my family interact with my kids, and both my dad and sister are such good teachers, meeting Bess where she's at and helping her go just a little further. The outside P.E. class is a blessing too - it's a chance for her to run around with lots of other kids her own age, and do things like play with parachutes and run relay races and throw beanbags.
So, that's what our schedule looks like right now. It doesn't go perfectly every day, but so far, it seems to have a mix of hard stops and flexibility that make it very do-able. The big gaps of time that are for chores or whatever needs to be done allow lots of time for the three younger kids to get the attention they need, and for Bess to run and jump and climb and play.
It also helps me, because after scheduling my kids' time, I took the opportunity to schedule my own, thinking about what was really important to me, and what I really wanted to get done each day (apart from the things which must be done each day). My incentive to keep to the schedule is that if I do a good job keeping to the schedule, I get to write everyday.
Anyway, I enjoy seeing how other people do homeschool, so I hope you've enjoyed seeing how we're doing it!
peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
3 comments:
I enjoy reading about other people's schedules, it gives me a good starting point when thinking about ours and if/when we ever start to homeschool (or have more children, God willing). Thanks for sharing this! I'd love to know how you know your twins will still be sleeping at 4pm - are they just very predictable or do they stay in their room for a certain amount of time regardless of whether they've woken?
Hi Nicole!
They're predictable. I can generally count on them sleeping about 3-5:30, sometimes a bit later. I go get them when they start squawking for me. :)
It is good to "hear" from you again - I've been thinking about you and wondering how it was going with starting school and all. Your schedule looks great - and isn't it nice to be able to have one? I'm getting to do one this year too (that is, on that isn't all house-building, all the time) and I'm really enjoying being a homeschooling mother and homemaker rather than a construction worker who is trying to do the other two things in her spare moments.
I love your Spanish language tea - what a blessing to have your sister both trained in that area and close enough to do this! And to have your Dad involved like that too is fantastic. What a great way to bring the family together.
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