We jumped back into school full time this week, fairly successfully, I have to say.
I admit, I am a creature of habit, but for some reason I let my routines slide in the summer. There is something terribly refreshing to me about starting a newly revised and enforced schedule. My house gets instantly cleaner, my days become more productive, emails get answered. It seems to work magic, for me, anyway.
Our first day had its typical speed bumps. Phone calls that couldn’t wait, eggs that needed turning, squabbles needing peace, and preparations I forgot. Somehow, I had remembered to type up our daily schedule, but forgotten to print out the kids’ individual schedules.
Last year I decided to make the kids their own schedules to keep in their folder or by their seat that reminded them of what they should be doing throughout the day. While I have it all on the master schedule, it is helpful to have it boiled down in one easy slip to keep handy.
It looks something like this (each child’s is of course a little different):
All morning chores done by 9:00 (Bible time)
9:30 Missionary bio
9:45 Spelling and prep for day
10:00 Piano
10:15 Handwriting
10:30 Math with Mom
10:45 Math on own
11:00 Typing
11:15 Silent reading
11:30 English with Mom
11:45 English on own
12:00 PE / Clean school room
12:30 Eat lunch
1:00 clean up lunch chores
1:15 Study hall
2:15 AO Year 5 – with Mom and Paige
3:15 Notebooking page
3:45 Independent time
4:45 Cook with Mom on Monday
And, on Friday we stay together the whole day covering extra topics that we want to spend time on (foreign language, nature study, etc.)
So, today we had these in place since I finished them up last night, and today went even more smoothly. Something about everyone knowing which direction they should be going and having clear expectations on how to get there.
These individual schedules have definitely worked for us.
I know scheduling is one of the big questions of new (and veteran) homeschool moms.
Anyone else want to share what tips they use to make sure everything gets accomplished as needed?
Do you prefer schedules, routines, or more flexibility?
How often do you change your daily plan?