Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: cm ideals, CM tight schedule, fitting it all, outdoor time, reality, schedules

This topic has 47 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 9 months ago by Claire.

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 48 total)

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August 11, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Sara B.
Participant
So I’ve cut back on the books I’m doing. Yay! Now I’m working on our daily schedules. I have yet to read CM’s books, but I’ve heard she has a goal of 4 hours of outside time per day. But then she also says to do handicrafts/art/piano practice, etc in the afternoons. Granted, most of these families didn’t have chores for their children, or have to make their own meals, etc. So how do I get outside time in every day while still getting some piano practice in there plus art/handicrafts? Piano I have 3 children doing them (I’m giving the lessons myself – for now), and art/handicrafts I have scheduled for 1 afternoon a week. But then I run out of time for outside time – they’d maybe get an hour or 2 a day or so, but on that one day I have handicrafts & art, they may not get outside at all. What do you all do for this? How do you make it work?
August 11, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Gem
Participant
Hi Sara! I am not sure we get strictly 4hrs of outside time each day – it varies wildly according to the seasons and our schedule, of course, but here is one thing I do when the weather permits: I start our day with some read aloud time outdoors. We have a swingset and I have a chair and table set up down there and we do a couple of readings outside in the mornings when it is cool – the kids swing while I sit and read. Then we might look at a few things outdoors before we go in to do some kind of seat-work, like math, for instance.
I originally started this as a better way to transition from early morning play to lesson time, but I later came to realize that it benefited us in the nature study area as well.
August 11, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Tristan
Participant
We never spend that much time outside. It just isn’t realistic for our family. Still, you just have to take Charlotte’s recommendations and fit them to your family. Can anyone do piano during the morning hours as an independent subject when you’re working with other children on something? Are you doing everything every day (history/science/etc)? We only do science 3 days a week, which frees up a block of time for other things twice a week that we don’t do daily (picture study, composer, handicrafts, etc).
August 11, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Shannon
Participant
I’ve deleted two responses to this already, not feeling like I’m addressing your question. Do you have your morning time settled and are just looking for suggestions on how to fit in Outside Time, Piano and Handcrafts into your afternoon?
How often do you do piano lessons? Do you have to be there with full attention while they practice daily or only during their lessons?
My suggestion is to not worry if your outside time is shorter than you’d like…at first. The most important goal (in my family at least) is to do it regularly and then over time you can make it longer.
This year I am homeschooling my two 5yo boys. We have put outside time into the morning because it is such a priority. We can get a lot of our learning done through ‘outside time’. Could you fit outside time into your morning by combining what you do while outside?
In reality, though, I don’t see how people can get four hours outside every day while still getting everything else (homeschool, home management, cooking) done. I look forward to hearing how others handle this.
Shannon in NC
August 11, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Sara B.
Participant
Oh, that’s a good idea to read a book or 2 outside – at least on nice days. I’m in MN – the weather is iffy from Sept. through May. 😛
Tristan, we don’t do everything every day. Those time slots are divided up during the week, so we cover 2 subjects in the same time slot throughout the week. But they’re all full. Right now, with 3 kids who need my help almost completely, I have school scheduled from 8am to 11:30am. We need to stop then so that the kids can have a break while I get lunch ready. We have quiet time from 1pm to 2:30pm (I read their literature and the 4yo’s read-aloud at the beginning), and then I’d like outside time after that. Or maybe a piano lesson or 2? IDK.
For piano, I need to do their lesson with them, probably about 15 min-20 min. (because I’m a beginner myself), then they can practice the rest of the week. I plan to stay at least 1 or 2 lessons ahead of them as we get further along. I haven’t played in a very long time, though we play a little bit at Christmastime. Once we get to a point where I can’t teach it anymore, I’ll look for a teacher. Then it’ll be planned into our schedule for us.
Shannon, yes, I just need some ideas for how to fit it into the schedule. The kids spend most of their days outside in the summertime, but come the school year, it’s hit or miss for when/if they go outside. But it’s normally in the afternoons. If we don’t stick to a pretty rigid routine in the morning, I lose them, and the day is shot. I do want to make it a regular thing, though, even in the cold months – at least when there’s not a blizzard or sub-zero temps.
Handicrafts, I just don’t have any ideas for except to not go outside one day so we can just do some art (doing Artistic Pursuits this year) and handicrafts. Maybe I could check the weather throughout the week and pick the worst day to do that?
And I still have to fit in regular cooking/cleaning/laundry, etc….. Oy….
August 11, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Shannon
Participant
Hmmm is there a way to show your whole schedule for the day? Maybe that would help… And how old are your children? What time do you need to start dinner prep? Do your children help with housework/cooking?
Outside reading is of course lovely (though I believe CM says to not do it, doesn’t she??) and it provides the fresh air and sunshine that is so vital. (Sunlight exposure in the morning is especially important for melatonin production and therefore helps with good sleep at nighttime!) But nature study is more involved than reading books outside, takes more time. Sara, are you trying to incorporate ‘outside play time’ or ‘nature study’ into your schedule? Or a little of both?
Shannon in NC
August 11, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
Shannon in NC: Do you know what the difference is in sunlight exposure in the morning vs. in the afternoon? I didn’t think it would matter. Could you expand on that, please?
Sara: We don’t get nearly 4 hours outside. There is too much other work to do. It may be more time if I had a garden. Do what works best for your family.
I admire you teaching piano to your 3 dc. I hope to teach my two, but I never find the time! What books/method are you using? Even though you don’t teach a lesson each day, don’t they need to practice each day?
August 11, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Sara B.
Participant
My schedule is mostly finished, except for this tweaking, but here it is:
8am to 11:30am School
12pm Lunch
1pm to 2:30pm Quiet time (I do the read-alouds/literature at the beginning)
5:30pm or so start dinner, sometimes earlier, sometimes later
6pm Dinner
8pm Bedtime for the youngest 3
9pm Bedtime for my oldest

My kids are 8, 7, 4 1/2, and 2. They do help with chores. This schedule is for Mon-Thurs. We have co-op every other Friday, and I’ve decided this year we need to use those “off” Fridays for a break/house cleaning day. So we’d do the bare minimum of chores daily, and then go crazy with dusting and vacuuming, etc on those Fridays.
I guess I don’t know what the “outside time” is for from CM’s books! We are doing nature walks on the weekends, as we have time for them, and a nature study of sorts with our co-op. I guess I assumed it was just being outside – playing, nature study, or whatever. Can anyone define those recommended 4 hours?
Sarah, I haven’t decided on books yet. I figure I’ll head to a music store in the next couple of weeks and pick something. 😛 Yes, I would give the lesson one day, say Monday, and they’d have the rest of the week to practice every day. That way I could potentially have one lesson every day, and each of them have practice time on their own every day, rather than teaching a lesson to all 3 of them in one day. Maybe my oldest on Monday, next on Tuesday, and the 3rd on Wed, and then every day give them 15-30 min. of practice time? Still have to fit that all in there, though…
August 11, 2011 at 7:04 pm
Shannon
Participant
Sarah I’m trying to find for you a research paper or something with more authority about it but basically it comes down to circadian rhythms which are easily altered due to the type and amount of light you have around you. There was a study done by Lighting Research Center but right now I can’t find the specific one (and got to get off this darn computer!) – they have several interesting articles though! What I remember is by limiting outdoor sunlight in the morning you delay the onset of melatonin in the evenings, making it harder to fall asleep at the proper time. I think what it comes down to is telling your body ‘Yup, it’s morning and time to reset that old clock again!’ I’ll look for it again in the next day or so when I have more time.
shannon in NC
August 11, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
Could they do “quiet time” outside? Or is that for naps?
Good info. on the am sunshine. That may be part of my sleep problems! Kids don’t have any sleep problems, though.
August 11, 2011 at 11:55 pm
Sara B.
Participant
Quiet time is for naps for my 2yo and sometimes my 4yo. Rarely does my 7yo fall asleep. My 8yo never does. She just reads. So she could easily read outside, but talk about a fight on my hands that it’s not fair! 8-/
I will definitely have to think more about that morning sunshine. For me, if I can’t get the kids up and at ’em with their chores and schoolwork on time, the day is just shot and we never get to schoolwork for the day. And I can’t imagine starting school later and having to do academics in the afternoon. At least not at these ages. Hmmmm……
August 12, 2011 at 1:09 am
Janell
Participant
My children and I take a 3.5 mile walk around a lake right after breakfast. It encourages everyone to get their chores done in a timely manner. This walk is vital to our homeschool day. Without it, we are less focused on our school tasks and more likely to encounter irritability…When we come home we are very ready to settle down and do our school.
The children play outside in the afternoon as well…it is the reward of the day.
August 12, 2011 at 1:12 am
Sara B.
Participant
Janell, what time do you get up, etc, then what time to do you walk, and then what times are your school days? I’m also wondering how old your kids are. I love the idea of a walk in the morning, or somehow being outside. Just not sure how to fit it into our day.
August 12, 2011 at 1:50 am
my3boys
Participant
We have a really hard time leaving the house in the morning, for any reason, then getting to work at a decent time. I’d like to do that, if I knew we wouldn’t be completely out of whack when we returned. Once 10/11am hits in our house and we haven’t really tackled some readings/narrations/copywork, etc. then we are all messed up.
We are better, I guess, at getting started early and ending at a decent time for all the other activities that happen in the afternoon: outdoor time, dinner prep, picking up house, sports, leisure reading, etc.
Hmmm, something to think about, though.
August 12, 2011 at 3:05 am
Janell
Participant
Hi, Sara.
I have 3 girls and 4 boys ages 1 to 13.
I have always been intrigued about CM free afternoons out of doors, but it just doesn’t work out for me because the longing to move out of doors in the early morning is so strong. So, we split it up and have about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon of outdoor activity.
Here is an ideal day in my house but remember…“There are goals, and then there is reality”—Michelle Duggar
We do a time block schedule: Before Breakfast, Morning Movement out of doors, Table Time, Lunch and Living books, Afternoon Activities, Dinner and Daddy.I loved what Sonya wrote about how if one time block doesn’t work out, the following one can be a new beginning. The day is not a complete failure.
We must start our day early in order to fit in all in…
4:00 Fitness time with my husband (treadmill, weights, stretches)
5:00 Personal hygiene and devotions (myself and older children 9-13)
6:00 Grammar/Dictation rotation and Latin (older children grouped together while younger crew start to rise and shine)
7:00 Breakfast (oatmeal gets us through the morning), Family Bible, Family Scripture Memory, Hymn, Prayer, Morning Chores
8:00 Water garden, trees, animals…and then walk around the lake…then a little yard play with snack
(so I can nurse baby right after our walk)
10:00 I settle down with the younger crew for phonics, copywork, read alouds, narrations, and the older
children work on math and, as scheduled for that day: music, letter writing, Rosetta Stone Spanish, typing
12:00 Children eat lunch and fold laundry as I read aloud from the Proverbs of the day, a nonfiction book, a poem, and our literature selection
1:00 Quiet time (nurse baby, naps for younger children). This is personal reading time followed by notebooking (written narrations) and a quick clean up to go outside. I use this time for my home and personal tasks before checking the children’s notebooks and chores.
3:00 Free time outside with snack (a rewarded for a job well done…this is the time used to discipline and for catch up work due to dawdling)
5:00 The children wash hands, set the table for dinner, and are ready for one family activity like composer/picture/artist/ nature study, science experiments, timeline books, handicrafts. We do this before dinner as we wait for Daddy.
6:00 Dinner
6:30 After dinner we do the majority of our daily chores to get ready for the following day. Dishes, showers, teeth brushing, bathroom, bedrooms, etc. When we all get going, the jobs can really get done.
7:15 Daddy’s time with Bible and Literature while I nurse baby. Prayer. (younger children have fallen asleep on the rug)
8:15 Older children write in their personal and thanksgiving journals…
8:30 I say, “God’s Love…”
They say, “Christ’s Light…”
We all say “Good Night” and then I get to my bedtime routine.
Janell