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Struggling with schedule for 5 children ages 2-12
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Hi there, I am wondering if anyone can give me some ideas to help pull me out of my mental block with our schedule? I have 5 children, ages 2-12. I find that our house goes to chaos if we don’t have a well-defined schedule, so in the past I have used a schedule similar to Managers of Their Homes – i.e. a grid for each person for each half hour time block.
The pros of this is that I can assign older children to help with younger at certain times, and everyone knows what they are supposed to do all day. Cons are that we always struggle to stick with it, and it adds a bit of stress to know we are supposed to do all of these things at certain times.
I’ve wondered about having a more flexible, maybe “time block” schedule, but then I fear we will lose the order, and there will be no one to play with the toddler at certain times, no one scheduled for music practice, etc.
So, I guess I am trying to figure out a happy middle ground, but am really unsure of how to re-think things, and am looking for some new inspiration.
Thanks so much,
Jennifer
With my four children, 3-13, we use time blocks. I never felt the Managers of Their Homes was a good fit for my family. It felt too rigid. But SCM’s time block print out is easy to apply to our day. I don’t really go by times, just meals. 🙂 Before breakfast chores, after breakfast school activites, then Family Studies during morning snack, then each older child has Guided Time with mom while little ones play, then lunch with a read aloud, after lunch is “Zone” cleaning in which each child is assigned their one cleaning area,etc.
We do this everyday consistently during the week, but I’m not chained to times. It usually ends up being the same time everyday, give or take 1/2 hour or so.
It’s hard to fit everything in every single day, so my Mondays and Wednesdays are different than Tues and Thursdays. This is easy to write down on the printed out schedule as it has the days listed across and the blocks are beneath.
HTH!
We do half hour time blocks as well with 4 kids ages 5-14. I have everyone scheduled -with the olders rotating helping out with the youngest. What helps me is scheduling plenty of time for an activity within the block of time. So, often times we have 5-10 extra minutes within that half hour block…it gives time for everyone to have a potty break, grab a snack, sharpen pencils, etc. I save the more time consuming activites for the last activites of the day knowing that they don’t fit neatly into half an hour. These include science (we are working on a lapbook this year to go along with it), nature study, and art.
My highschooler has half hour blocks to work on things and what does not get done in the half hour she gets to finish at the end of the day. That way we are not thrown off the schedule while waiting for her. I assume your 12 yo might need more time to finish work than half hour.
If half hour blocks move too quickly maybe you can think about 45 min blocks of times for some of those longer activities? It would give you more wiggle room to play with while still staying on schedule and ensuring your little one is entertained.
6 kids 2-13.
Been there, doing that!
I also use more of a time block with a lot of wiggle room. I have a set 30 minutes I spend with each child each day. That I try to adhere to or I will realize it has been a week since I’ve sat down with a child and gone over their work from that week/day. During this time, I will also work on math lessons (if it is their day of the week for a new math concept–I rotate so I’m not teaching each one a new concept on the same day), go over any problems their having with a lesson, just chat, listen to narrations, oral grammar lessons for two of them, read-aloud to youngers, etc.
My biggest struggle right now is keeping our 2YO occupied and engaged while I’m trying to work with the other 5. I am going to have to work on that b/c she can really disrupt the flow of the day, which I don’t like to say but it is the truth. She is just so demanding right now, only being home with us from China for 6 months.
And then sometime this fall, she’ll be undergoing major, open-heart surgery so I’m just trying to not stress over a schedule, b/c it will flex and change when she has her surgery and recovers. Little DS, 7, also has surgery scheduled for Sept. 26, with a 5 to 7-day stay.
OY! Yes, our schedules have to be fluid!
Jennifer, I have nothing helpful to add except that I am with ya and looking for ideas, too! I have used MOTH with success when we were doing workbook/school-in-a-box approach, but that doesn’t seem to do so well with CM style. I have 6 kids ages 2-11. So, thanks for asking the question that was on my mind! 🙂
Lindsay
Thank you so much for all of this food for thought…you’ve got my wheels turning…
If I could dig a little deeper, can those of you who use a time-block approach (rather than each person having their own schedule of half-hour blocks, a.k.a. MOTH), tell me how you work out different jobs for certain children within that “block”? For example, if we have a time block for “individual work”, how would you identify which child plays with the toddler at certain times, or who helps the 5 year old with reading, etc? Is there a way to still do this and still maintain a more flexible time-block approach? Am I making any sense?? I’m not sure 🙂
Good question. I wish I had a photo of my sheet to show you. Last year I started dividing some of my time blocks with pencil and simply noted what each child is to be doing during that block. So for instance, the “After Breakfast” block has listed dd8:independent work, then underneath that dd6 reading lesson, and underneath that is dd3, preschool “quiet box”.
This Daily Schedule sheet is very clean and just notes the general flow of subjects done in each time box. It is housed in front of my school folder which is divided into sections for each child. For any specific details of their work needed, I refer to those sections throughout the day.
The Time Block schedules that you download on this site are different than mine, but you can use those for the same effect. My sheet is from SCM’s Planning Your CM Education. It is the “free floating” Time Box version with much larger squares.
If none of the above makes sense, pm me. I will privately email you a picture! 🙂
I never fit with time blocks, routines, or schedules, so I made up my own thing – a scheduled routine. It’s a mix of both. We have a certain time to get up, get ready for the day, & eat breakfast. Kitchen closes at 8:30am. Then we do chores. School is at 9am to 11:30am (school is scheduled in order of subjects, and I list how long each subject will take, so we always end on time or earlier). They have free time if they finished their chores, or else they have to finish chores, while I make lunch, which is at noon. After lunch, 3yo goes to quiet time while we finish school by about 1:30/2pm. I should mention that this time is for math for the 2 olders (5yo is done in the am) & independent stuff, and maybe a narration or 2. Then it’s outside till 5pm, when they pick up inside & outside. Dinner is at 6pm, and I stagger bedtimes (3 girls in a room – ’nuff said, right?). So it’s organized, it *looks* like it’s scheduled, but it *feels* like a routine. The kids have loved our schedule. This year I plan to make some school subjects just “life” and schedule it into other areas of our day, but I do hesitate to change up what’s been working so well for us, too.
I have 7 kiddos (age 11 years down to 7 months) and don’t schedule someone to play with the preschoolers, toddler, or baby. Instead we do table time. When we’re doing individual work the little ones are right there at the table (in a booster seat with a seatbelt as needed). They have toys and activities they can do and after the initial training period will sit happily for an hour while I work alongside with big ones as needed. Let me know if you want more information on table time and I’ll pull up some old blog posts that explain it better.
Tristan, I’ve got to get DD2 trained at table time. I just need to be more consistent. Even at mealtimes, she is not doing so great after about 15 minutes. If you are done, fine, but if we are still eating and having family time, she can sit for 30 minutes or more.
I know if I was more consistent in the day with training her on it, the dinner time struggle would get better.
Tristan, I would love your tips for successfully training the little one to sit contentedly for table time! I’ve attempted this in the past, but never successfully – I don’t think I had the proper method or ideas, and always ended up giving up.
Can someone post a link to the “Time Block” form that has been mentioned if it is available for a download? Thanks.
HiddenJewel, I think this is what you are looking for http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/daily/
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