Earlier I shared that our local homeschool convention is coming up.  Which means that I already have most to all of my curriculum thought out.  And for me once I get that done and know what I am going to be using, I begin to sketch out a schedule for next year.  Yes, I know a little crazy to already be thinking about that.  I tend to over plan!

In my experience though, I find it helps me a lot to begin planning now before the summer.  I like to work on it a few times to figure out the best way to work it.  I usually make changes a few times before I settle into one that I think will work.  Honestly though I also have realized that within the first few weeks of school that schedule might change again because I realize something isn't working.

If you have ever wondered how to go about creating a schedule that works for your family, I will hopefully be able to give you a few tips.

First, I figure out when we are going to begin school.  I look at the calendar for next year and count how many weeks there are until our projected finish date.  So for next year I would like to begin school on August 10th, I counted how many weeks there were until May 20th, which was 40.  I usually only plan to do about 35-36 weeks of school so that allows me to get 4 week long breaks through out the year.

Next, I look at our curriculum, and determine how many days a week I will need to do that particular subject.  For example, our Bible curriculum has 10 lessons that will each be done over a two week period of time.  So that tells me that I will need to do our Bible lessons 3 days a week.  I do that for all of our curriculum books, and that helps me to get a good idea as to how our schedule will play out.

Its all pretty simple but I know for some that organization and planning is not an easy task!  For others, like me, we live and breath planning and organization!

Here is a sample of our schedule at this point in time, yes it will probably change before August but this gives me a good starting point to go from.  The times are just a general guideline, I'm not a real stickler to them, but I like to have something to go off of, and make sure I get everything completed that day.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Schedule

8:30-9:00 Bible

9:00-9:20 Math for Elijah and Noah, Preschool for Zach

9:20-9:45 Handwriting (Noah), Preschool (Zach), English (Elijah)

9:45-10:15 Science (everybody)

10:15-10:30 Snack/Break

10:30-11:00 Reading/Spelling (Noah), Spanish (Elijah), Free Play (Zach)

11:00-11:30 Spanish (Noah), Vocabulary/Spelling (Elijah), Free Play (Zach)

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-12:45 Story time with Zach then rest time until 3:00

12:45-1:15 History

1:15-1:45 Read Aloud

1:45-3:00 Free Play (Elijah and Noah), Quiet time for Mom

3:00                         Snack, outside time, free play

Friday

8:30-9:00 Bible

9:00-9:20 Math (Elijah and Noah), Preschool (Zach)

9:20-9:45 Handwriting (Noah), Preschool (Zach), English (Elijah)

9:45-10:15 Reading/Spelling (Noah), Free Play (Zach and Elijah)

10:15-10:30 Snack/ Break

10:30-11:30 History

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-12:45 Story time with Zach then rest until 3:00

12:45-1:15 Read Aloud 

1:15-3:00 Free Time, Quiet time for mom

3:00        Snack, outside time, free play

Wednesday—Co-Op Day**

At Co-Op my boys will all be doing Science and Art, the older boys will be doing a Lego Club, and Noah will do a music class.

As I get deeper into my planning I will probably adjust this a bit, because I don't really have their co-op schedule quite yet and that will determine our science days.