Scheduling troubles!

Not all of it of course, but any of the school work be done outside while the 3 yo is playing (in a sandbox for example)?

Looking at your schedule from the other way round – how much time is there for schoolwork if you blocked in meal prep/meals; quiet time; outside time? Could you have 2 or 3 days with longer time outdoors and the other days do more schoolwork inside and shorter outdoor time w/ a meal in the crockpot? 

Can you pull anything from last year’s schedule that worked, even if you don’t use the whole thing?

I’m on schedule verison #3 or 4 now, the toddler is awake during school hours and it doesn’t work to have school during his naptime at all. So I hear ya!

Can you alternate days for reading with your younger children instead? this should at least give you an extra hour or so a day while providing enough attention to their reading. Maybe on the days that your 6 year old is with you reading, have your 8 year old just do copy work that day or look at a picture book and tell you about it later.

It’s impossible to do everything everyday. Break it up into smaller chunks but keep the consistency.

Also, another huge help for me is books on audio. I can have one child listen to a story and or poetry on librivox and not feel guilty that they are not doing something good. 🙂 I also use my iPhone voice memo recorder to record myself for various stories/ recitations that can be listened to while I’m getting lunch ready or whatever. It’s like a teacher’s aid and my kids really like it.

Sorry for the typing errors, need to sign off. 🙂

I am also an introvert and I must have that down time every day, that time when no one is talking to me and I can refresh and recharge.  This is probably the most important part of our day and it is the part that I would never cut.  Honestly, I would cut out math before I would cut out naptime.  I am not an effective wife, mom, or teacher without it.  We have naptime every single day, Sunday through Saturday, at our house.  My kids are 11, 10, 8, 6, and 4.  The kids just have to stay still and quiet.  None of them sleep anymore.  I find that having that set time when I know I can go to my room and recharge gets me through the morning and lunch time.  

We get up about 7:00, eat breakfast by 7:45, do chores, and then do schoolwork.  We work diligently and non-stop until about 10:00 or 10:30.  At that point the kids take a break to do their own things or I work one-on-one with whoever needs it.  My 6 and 4 year old spend some of that morning time playing together since they don’t have as much schoolwork to do.  We eat lunch about 11:30, do chores, and then we usually have one group subject that we can take care of right then.  From about 12:30 to 1:30 we are all free to do what we want.  Then at 1:30 it’s nap.  2:30 we get up, kids have a snack, and then about 3:00 we do a group subject together and the kids finish any individual work they had left from the morning.  They usually go outside about 4:30 and I start dinner prep.  

We are doing school work off and on all day.  I like it that way.  If we spread it out, I feel like we all get free time to do our own thing and follow our own interests.  

A few things that help us:  

I try to study things as a group as much as possible.  History, Science, Geography, Bible – all these we do together.

 I use the Harmony Fine Arts plans for music and art study because my kids can do them completely independent of me.  I wish we did it all together, but that’s something I had to let go.  The kids can go do these lessons at any time while waiting for me to be available to work with them.  

I give as much independent work as I possibly can to each kid.  I would love to be able to sit there with each one as they do their work and interact with them, but this just isn’t realistic right now.

We all work in the same room as this makes it easier for me to be available to everyone.  The kids also know that they need to be available if a younger brother or sister has a quick question.

From birth, my kids are part of school time.  I have the baby sit at the table as we read history or whatever.  They start doing “schoolwork” at about age 2, whether that’s coloring or sorting pegs or whatever quiet and age-appropriate activity I have for them.  It might only give us 20 minutes of peace for school, but it is training them to understand how to behave during school time.

We all have an hour of downtime together in the evening with my husband reading Bible or we listen to an audio book.  Prayers and bed are at 8:00.  This gives me an hour of relaxation time with my husband before I fall asleep.  I find that I really need this time.  

Is that helpful at all?  Is there something more specific you would like answered?  

I haven’t read all of the responses yet, so forgive me if I repeat anyone. I just wanted to chime in because I can totally relate to you. I, too, want desperately to fit in the morning walk ~ it’s the only place I can possibly see ME getting any exercise and it would ensure daily outside/sunshine time in case it doesn’t happen later. I also have kept “quiet times” since birth ~ their naps morphed into daily “quiet time” when they quit napping. They can read, craft, draw or play quietly in their rooms (and honestly, this summer, they more often than not just watched a movie ~ shame on me, lol). So, when we want a morning walk and an afternoon rest time and make our meals at home and clean up after those meals and keep our house running even a smidge smoothly, in all honesty, that leaves only a small amount of time for actual LESSONS. I realized that a while ago. But, I did have to remind myself that they are learning all the time and that those family rhythms matter as much (if not more) than formal academics.

But, you want practical advice. I have an 8 year old (that I consider 2nd grade ~ she JUST turned 8 and I would have waited til 6 for kindy if she were schooled) and a 9 year old that I consider 4th grade. I’ve come to the conclusion that although I wholeheartedly believe in spreading the feast as CM would advocate, I also have to make things simple in order for them to last. In all honesty, what matters most (to me) for 1-3 grades are the skills ~ reading, writing and very basic math (and of course oral narration). 4-6 grades step up a BIT in my mind, but not too terribly much because I believe that most of what is learned before 7th grade is forgotten anyway (as far as conent). It’s more about developing a LOVE for learning than remembering actual facts. So, for me, the focus in the early years is more relaxed, knowing that we will really step it up in the final 6 years.

All of that to say, maybe you could scale back on what you are actually trying to fit into every day. Some practical ideas:

• Alternate picture study and composer study every other week so that it only takes up ONE tiny slot on your week’s schedule
• Alternate science and history ~ never doing both on the same day
• Listen to literature audio books at lunch or something like that? Or, maybe even some of your history books if you can find them on audio.
• Scale back on even the independent stuff ~ maybe alternate copywork with reading instead of trying to fit both in every day ~ as long as your are consistent, two times a week all year long adds up just as nicely as every single day.
• Same with math ~ is it something that MUST be done daily? What about 3 times a week?
• Does your older one really need YOU to do some of those subjects? Like could you do math at the same time, the 4th grader working independently (unless he has a question) while you help the younger one? Then, copywork all at the same time, just different passages? The older one reads while you work on reading with the younger, etc?
• Could you have an afternoon tea time for things like poetry, art/music, literature? Instead of during your designated school time? What about Bible at Breakfast instead of during school? And, what about them doing their reading during quiet time? If all you had to fit in during “school time” was the skills (math, copywork, dictation once a week for the older, grammar) and EITHER science OR history, it might be easier.

Around here our morning routine and chores take us up to about 9:30. If we walk then, and factor in the time it takes to settle after, we’re looking at 10:30. If I want to eat lunch at 1:00, that only gives me about 2 1/2 hours to work with for lesson time. I try to have three solid academic days ~ math, language lessons, copywork OR typing, dictation ONCE for my older one and then about two readings, but only one main focus subject. I have the 4th day for nature study and shakespeare and games and the like. I put the “reading” at quiet time and poetry and literature at “tea time”. And I just try to remember that consistency will allow for little “drops” to add up in the bucket. Overall, I want them surrounded with a variety of ideas and I want to be sure they can read and write, but really at this stage, reading, writing, math, God and nature are what matter most (to me).

For a practical look, here’s what I have WRITTEN DOWN (note that reality rarely matches up):

• Morning routine & chores (til about 9:30)
• Walk (9:30-10:30)
• School (10:30-1:00)
• Lunch & Clean Up (1-2)
• Quiet Time (2:30-4)
• Afternoon tea (4-4:30)
• They play while I “work” and make dinner (4:30-6:30)
• Dinner & Clean Up (6:30-7:30)
• Evening routine & bed (7:30-8:30)

Hope that was a little helpful. Remember to SIMPLIFY and REDUCE if you need to. I agree that outside time and walks and quiet time and SLOW pace and play time are all important, too. We have to really look at what matters MOST to US and then adjust our schedules accordingly.

🙂

Melissa

My kids roughly correspond in age to yours (with the addition of an 11 year old), and this is our schedule:

*Breakfast and chores done by 8:30am.

*8:30 – Family bible, hymn, prayer. We also discuss the day and do some memory work in Geography, French, Scripture, and Poetry during this time. Even some math drill work if we can fit it in.

*9:30 – Split up to do the ‘desk work’. For most of the kids this is: copywork, dictation, handwriting, and math. The older two add written or computer French and grammar. While the older kids are working individually, I work first with my Kindergarten kiddo, then with my preschooler. I have heard that the pre-K child should come first, but with my kids’ temperments this just worked out better. I try to teach my children to ask their older sibling for help, and to really try to figure out directions before interrupting me. This is a valuable life skill! But I am available to help them if they are really stumped on an assignment, and I peek at their work quite a bit to make course corrections if needed.

* Generally by about 10:45 – 11:00, this segment of school work is over, and the kids have some outdoor time and piano or music practice before lunch (we eat at 11:30). I go over their work and call them in to correct/adjust things during this time.

* 12:30 – After lunch/ clean up, we tackle science and history. Then my little guy has his own story (which older siblings usually sit in on) and he takes a nap.

* 1:30 ALL KIDS HAVE QUIET TIME!!!! This is so important for your sanity, and as a time for them to read quietly and learn to be alone with their thoughts! It is a must have! This is when my kids do any independent reading they are assigned, but they also listen to classical music, read other books, and work on thier crafts.

* 2:30 Official ‘school’ is over. The rest of our day is spent working on crafts, reading, playing outside, etc… BUT…

* 7:00 After baths and tooth brushing and picking up around the house, we do our read aloud, followed by a brief scripture reading and prayer. Then it is bed time!

Also, I should point out that I save art and art appreciation, composer study, and ‘projects’ for Fridays. We also do most of our running around on Fridays. So Friday is library day, field trip day, etc…The kids really look forward to having a hands on day of learning, and it keeps me from putting off doing the ‘messy stuff’ or things that just don’t easily fit into a routine day. It is our favorite school day!

I am sure I am leaving some things out, but maybe seeing a typical day will help!

I also wanted to mention “Large Family Logistics”. She has some great ideas for how to organize your home life and your home school.

One of the things that helped me is to break up cleaning the house by different days. We have daily chores, but we do bathrooms on Tuesdays, for example. Dusting furniture is Wednesday. Vaccuuming and mopping Thursday, etc…it helps me to know that as long as things are picked up I don’t have to stress about doing everything everyday.

And keep meals simple…Crockpot and bread machine!!! Meals are important, but there is nothing I prepare that takes over 30 minutes prep time.

Just practical things that help me stay sane :0).

I didn’t get to read most of the posts so if this is redundant please forgive.

  I would set out blocking out what time you want to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner.Then, I would block out your personal time you need. Either make that a quiet time for everyone or make it reading time for those who can read. Make sure you are killing two birds with one stone by making it a History or scientist reading ect… Make sure everyone is quiet though. Younger kids can lay in bed and play quietly with puppets, a book or legos ect… As long as they are quiet.  If you need to walk or exercise plan that too. Whatever is important in your day.

  Then with the left over time slots plan your basics. Math, spelling, writing, science, ect…  Have the older children teaching the younger ones to double up on time blocks and get more done. I have my sons help my daughter with her alphabet, sounds, and Bob books.  They have learned how to do it already and you are giving them parenting skills along with teaching skills. It helps them feel good about themselves and it gives you a break. So, double up where you can.  Have an older child read to a younger one while you help another with Math. An older child can do spelling with a younger one also.  So, remember to knock out a couple of those out of your schedule. Make your walking time your Nature study also.  I like to get my son to start the shower for my daughter. Then, she gets in. while I am boiling water ect… I run in and wash her hair. then, she knows how to shut it off, get the towel and dress herself. If you have a older child of the same sex you can have them sit and read to them while they bathe. Then, they can help with the little things.  As long as they are old enough to be in the tub. If not I just put mine in the sink and have them play while an older one helps play with them. This helped me alot. Even if they just had their feet in and sat on the counter.  Nothing dangerous of course! 🙂 I am near the sink and our bathroom is near the kitchen. I am not sure how your house is laid out. You know what you can do in your situation. 

   Leave a few 15 min breaks here and there for some down time. you can make them time to relax while the kids get a recess or a chore break.  This is your wash dishes time ect.. Which each child should have plenty of chores. All age appropriate.  You are training them to be adults. They should be able to do all the chores in the house by the time they are teenagers.

          I hope this helps. Every year is different. Every situation is different. Every family different. You need to find out what fits your family and then make the schedule. This will help you eliminate things that are causing you grief. You will prioritze what needs to be done instead of what you would like to accomplish.  Sometimes we want to do something or lots of something but there just isn’t enough time to do it.  At least without making us and everyone else around us crazy!!! 🙂

        Good Luck I hope you find your happy schedule..   BLessings!