HOmeSCooL PosTings!

I thought I would do a series of homeschool postings. Every year the dynamics of our homeschool change because I have children in different grades and children that have graduated. This year I have made a lot of changes and thought I would do some postings on them. I had 4 major goals for this year: 1. Be more organized 2. Create a method that would track progress. 3. Spend more time reading- out loud and silently. 4. Be consistent with family bible time. Every year I make a schedule that we follow. Most years we stray a little from the schedule. This year I have decided to really try and stick to it as much as possible.

The Picture above is of our schedule which is posted in the kitchen. I am also planning to make smaller copies of it to post around the house so the kids can keep track of where they should be.

Here it is:

6:30 -7:00- Mom goes for walk

7:00 -8:00- Mom's quiet time/breakfast/start laundry /check e-mail

8:00-9:00- Kids wake up/Morning chores/ Breakfast

9:00-9:30 - Family Bible Time

9:30 - 10:30- Math/ Isabella's seat work with mommy

10:30-11:00- English/ Jeremy -Spanish

11:00-12:00- Science with the boys

12:00- 1:00- Lunch and Read Aloud time

1:00-2:00 - History with the boys

2:00-3:oo Reading and spelling / read aloud with Isabella

3:00 -4:00 - Kids exercise

4:00-5:00- Mom starts dinner/ kids afternoon chores

5:00-6:00 - Free time/ Jeremy practices music

6:00-7:00- Dinner and evening devotions

7:00 - 8:00 Baths

8:00-9:00 - Silent reading

9:00- bed time unless tv/dvd has been earned.


So far this has worked for us. It will probably change a little as we add some outside activities. I try not to leave the house during our "school" time. If I have to go out I wait until 3:00. I try and do my food shopping for the week on the weekends so that I am not tempted to leave the house during school hours. It helps having two adult children living at home who drive! I can delegate when necessary.

This is our schedule Monday -Thursday. Our Friday is completely different. We get up and do all subjects except for history and science. I grade everyone's work for the week and they make any corrections that are necessary. After lunch we work on some other kind of work. Right now we are doing nature studies with another family which means we drive to a near by park. When the weather gets to cold we will change gears and work on learning art, music, creation, and whatever else I find of interest.

I dont want you to think that all I do during the day is homeschool. While the kids are on task, I put in laundry, pay bills, clean etc.... BUT the kids schooling comes first. I try not to answer the phone or check e-mail during school hours. (sometimes that is not possible but I do try and make it a general rule)

If you have never tried a schedule I encourage you to give it a chance. It takes time to really make it stick and work but I find when we stick to the schedule we get things done and I am a happier homeschooling momma!