Daily Schedule 2016-17

I love schedules!  If you have read my blog ever you already know that.  So this year our schedule is a bit tricky.  Since we will be starting Classical Conversations for the first time, I am not too sure what our final schedule will look like, but here is what we are working with right now.

Time	Mom	Zach	Noah	Elijah
7:00	Wake up, prepare for the day	Sleep	Sleep	Sleep
7:30	Wake up, prepare for the day	Wake Up, morning check list	Wake Up, morning check list	Wake Up, morning check list
8:00- 9:00	Breakfast/chores	Breakfast/chores	Breakfast/chores	Breakfast/chores
9:00- 11:30 Morning Time/ Memory Work	Bible Memory Work: Vocabulary Latin Science History  Read Aloud Music/Art	Bible Memory Work: Vocabulary Latin Science History  Read Aloud Music/Art	Bible Memory Work: Vocabulary Latin Science History  Read Aloud Music/Art	Bible Memory Work: Vocabulary Latin Science History  Read Aloud Music/Art
11:30	Lunch/ afternoon chores	Lunch/ afternoon chores	Lunch/ afternoon chores	Lunch/ afternoon chores
12:15	Sustained Silent Reading	Sustained Silent Reading	Sustained Silent Reading	Sustained Silent Reading
12:30- 1:45	Kindergarten Reading Math  Handwriting	Kindergarten Reading Math  Handwriting	Math  handwriting Typing/Coding	Math IEW Writing Grammar Typing/ Coding
1:45	Reading Spelling	Free Play	Reading Spelling	math IEW Writing Grammar Typing/ Coding
2:15	Writing	Free Play	Writing	math IEW Writing Grammar Typing/ Coding
2:45	Reading to Noah	Free Play	Reading with Mom	math IEW Writing Grammar Typing/ Coding
3:00	Quiet Time	Free Play	Free Play	Free Play

Our morning time will cover a lot of ground for us this year.  We will be including all memory work, read alouds, history, and science.  So far that is working really well for us.  

After lunch we will dive into our independent subjects, this is totally new for us this year.  Typically we would do our independent things in the morning, and then do together subjects in the afternoon.  I always wanted to get math and reading out of the way while their brains were fresh, but I think this will work well doing it after lunch.  

As you can see Elijah has a big block of subjects and basically when he is done with those he is done with his school day.  While I am working with Zach, Noah will be doing what he can on his own.  Then once Zach is done I will move on to teaching Noah.  

Keep in mind that the times posted are just approximate, we don't stick too closely to those.  I really like to have an idea of when things should happen to keep me on track with our day.  

Our Homeschool Daily Schedule for 2015-16

Schedules!  Yes I love schedules!  I know most people are not that way, but for me I function so much better when I have something written down to tell me what I need to do and when.

In our homeschool we thrive with schedules!  Although I am not a strict, down to the minute scheduler, we do follow an outline for our days.  You will notice the color codes for each child, we use this for most everything in our home.  From notebooks to cups to pencil boxes, I try to stick to their colors.  Plus it just makes the schedule look so pretty!

Here is a basic run down of what a day in our life looks like:

8:00     Breakfast/ Daily Chore
8:30     Exercise/Large Motor
8:45     Calendar
9:00     Bible
9:20     Preschool with Zach, Elijah Reading, Noah Handwriting/Typing or Coding
9:45     Science (M,T,TH), Art/Experiments (F)
10:10   Snack
10:20   Math
10:45   Language Arts with Elijah, Free Time for the other two boys
11:15   Spanish
11:45   Lunch
12:30   Reading time with Zach, Quiet Time for the other two boys
12:45   Reading/Spelling with Noah, Elijah Typing/Coding
1:15    History
1:45    Read Aloud
2:15    Quiet Time for Mom, the boys do quiet activities
3:00    Snack/Outside Time

Although the times are pretty specific, it just gives me a basic guide to follow.  I print this off and post it in our school room, along with one for each specific child.  There might be some adjusting once we actually start our school year.  Since we have not done our History program before I am not sure exactly how long it will take so I might need to add a bit more time to it.  Wednesday is our Co-Op day, so I do not have any school work assigned for that day, we are going to try to get our things done the other days.  If I need to we will throw a few things in before we have to be at Co-Op in the mornings, I am hoping to not have to do this, but we will see.

For Elijah this year I am going to allow him to work through his subjects in any order as long as he completes the assignments. The exception being for Bible, Science, and History as those are our all together subjects, he will need to wait for the rest of us.  My goal for him this year is to become more independent and learn some time management skills.

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.

Our Daily Schedule

If you know anything about me at all, you should know that I am a schedule girl!  I like schedules, I like order!  I like to know what is going to happen and when!  So of course our school day has a schedule!  Keep in mind that even though there are times written, I am also pretty flexible with those times.  The times written just give us a good idea as to how we are doing in our day and they help me to stay on task!

Our Homeschool Daily Schedule:

Everyday
6:45-7:30   Mom wakes up, gets ready, Quiet Time/Prayer
6:30-7:30   Boys are up and eating breakfast
7:30-8:30   Mom eats breakfast, cleans up breakfast, begins dinner prep, starts laundry

Monday/ Wednesday
8:30-9:05      Group Time: Missionary Story, Devotion, Memory Verses, Prayer
9:05-9:20      Science
9:20-9:35      Art/Music
9:35-9:50      Latin
9:50-10:05    English (Elijah) Handwriting (Noah)
10:05-10:20  Snack/ Break
10:20-10:40  Math (everyone)
10:40-10:55  Handwriting (Elijah) Bible/History (Noah)
10:55-11:15  Reading (Noah) Free Time (Elijah)
11:15-11:30   Spelling (Elijah) Free Time (Noah)
11:30-12:30   Lunch, prepare Zach for rest time
12:30-12:45   Geography
12:45-1:30     Read Aloud Time
1:30-3:00       Free Time/Quiet Time
3:00               Snack/TV/ Free Time

Tuesday/Thursday
8:30-9:15      Take Zach to Pre-School
9:15-9:30      Science
9:30-9:45      Art/Music
9:45-10:00    English (Elijah)  Handwriting (Noah)
10:00-10:15  Snack/Break
10:15-10:30  Math
10:30-10:11  Bible/History, Reading (Noah)
11:00-11:15  Spelling (Elijah)
11:15-11:45  Pick Zach Up from Pre-School
11:45-12:30  Lunch, prepare Zach for rest time
**The afternoon is the same as Monday/Wednesday**

Fridays are our Home Economics days (aka house cleaning day!).  I also like to keep this day for making up any work that we missed during the week, or doing special projects that we didn't have time for during the week.

This is a general run down of how I organize our school day, as you can see it looks pretty structured but really it's not too rigid.  I let them pick and choose, like sometimes Elijah feels like doing Math before English and that's ok.  Sometimes he prefers to do his whole handwriting sheet in one day sometimes he likes to do a little bit everyday.  Noah's school day is really short and sometimes I just sit with him for about 30-45 minutes and get it all done at once because he is hard to get to come back once he has left!  If you notice I don't have anytime scheduled with Zach, and that's not because I don't spend anytime with him.  He joins in our group time, science, music/art, and Latin.  When we are doing our other work I have things set out to keep him occupied.  He gets to color, paint, cut, use stickers, play with rice, play dough, and puzzles.  Also I spend about 20 minutes reading to him before he goes in to his room for rest time.  So never fear, he does get attention!

Summer Schedule

This summer with all of our activities and things, I still wanted to keep a general schedule going.  As you know I am a scheduler and my kids like routine and schedules as well.  If I don't have a schedule and some goals then nothing get accomplished.  So here is how our summer will going this year.  Just a reminder that I put times but the times are just a general guideline for me to follow, its not as strict as it looks.

8:00         Breakfast
8:30         Character Quality/ Devotion
9:00         Star Challenge Activities
                    Handwriting page, Math page, reading
10:00       Outside, Library, Park, Play date
11:30       Lunch
12:00       Nap for Zach, Read Aloud for the rest of us
1:00         Rest time, movie, downstairs lego building
3:00          Snack time, outside water play

As you can see I try to keep our morning pretty structured and "normal".  In case you are wondering what Character Quality education we are using, we are using Confessions of a Homeschooler Character Study.  So far we are enjoying it and I think it will be a great addition to our summer learning.

Here are the summer goals I set out for my boys.

Elijah:
    Practice cursive writing
    Read 30 minutes a day
    Keep math facts fresh

Noah:
    Practice handwriting
    Reading practice 15 minutes a day (we will be using All About Reading Level 1 this summer)
   
Zach:
    Potty train!  (yes I know, I wrote a while back what was working for us in potty training, well since school began in the fall he fell off the wagon!  So we are back at it this summer!  So far he is doing really well.)

Hopefully with this schedule and these goals our summer will run smoothly and it will be a wonderful refreshing time for everyone.

Schedules for 2013-14

I am a very scheduled person.  I like to know what is going to happen and when.  My first born is the exact same!  So I always make up schedules for us to follow, that way we are kept on track and know what we are supposed to be doing at any given time.  

Here are the schedules that I have worked up for us to follow for the upcoming school year.  As always these are subject to change, and if its like last year change frequently!  

Noah’s Schedule for 2013-14 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-10:00	Free Play/ ipad/ computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer	Free Play/ ipad/computer
10:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
10:15	History	History	History	History
10:45		Science		Science
11:15	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
12:00	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket	Book Basket
12:30	Math	Math	Math	Math
12:45	Language Arts	Language Arts	Language Arts	Language Arts
1:00	Latin		Latin
1:30	Activities	Activities	Activities	Activities
2:00	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud
2:30	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time
3:30	Snack/Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside	Snack/ Outside

Elijah’s Schedule for 2013-14

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30	English	English	English	Dictation
8:45	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading	Reading
9:00	Bible	Bible	Bible	Bible
9:30	Math	Math	Math	Math	Math
10:00	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
10:15	History	History	History	History
10:45		Science		Science
11:15	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
11:45	Piano	Piano	Piano	Piano	Piano
12:00	Spelling	Spelling	Spelling	Spelling
12:30	Handwriting	Typing	Handwriting	Typing
1:00	Latin	Art	Latin	Art
2:00	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud
2:30	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time	Rest Time
3:30	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside	Snack/Outside