I must admit that this month's Sonlight and their Sonlight Blog Party challenge has been just that for me, a huge challenge. This month we are discussing our average homeschooling schedule. This month, due to life and the way that it tends to get in the way, I have no homeschooling schedule. Please don't get me wrong, I started the year off with an awesome schedule. I was going to be an amazingly organized homeschooling mama that would make the blogosphere proud. Oh, to be an organized homeschooler with an awesome schedule, it hasn't happened yet.
At the beginning of our school year, I had a wonderful schedule written out. It went something like this:
7:00 Wake Up
7:05 Personal Prayer and Devotions
7:30 Start Laundry / Morning Chores
8:00 Begin Breakfast
8:45 Organize Children for their Private Bible Study
9:00 Morning Meeting for School
9:30 Family Bible Study
10:00 Fun Monthly Unit Study
10:30 Morning Seat Work
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Science
12:30 Finish Science / Morning Work
1:00 Reading Together
2:00 Afternoon Free Time
4:00 Afternoon Chores
5:00 Supper Preparations
6:00 Supper as a Family
7:30 Start Baths
8:30 Little Best's to Bed
9:30 Everyone to Bed
Doesn't that schedule look amazing. To me, there was plenty of time for errands, chores, and well life. If I am being totally honest, our schedule is no where close to this. Oh, there are some things that do happen. Supper does have to start around 5:00 or else the five little Best's revolt, but that is about all that is same. In reality our schedule looks more like this:
8:00 Try to get up. Some kiddos are up, some aren't.
9:00 Remind kiddos for the 5th time they need to eat breakfast.
9:30 Remind kiddos that before school starts they have to be at least dressed with their teeth brushed.
10:00 Announce that school is starting in FIVE minutes
10:30 Actually start school skipping Bible and Unit Fun to tackle morning work and feel like your being productive.
11:30 Lunch, because boys are starving after only two hours.
12:00 Time for chores, playing, and errands.
2:00 Nap time. Quiet reading time and finish morning work time.
3:00 Bible / Prayers / Unit Fun
4:00 Reading
5:00 Supper
7:30 Baths
8:00 Bedtime / Finish Reading
In many ways, the second schedule is really how our days go. Too often life happens and even the second schedule is thrown out the window. If there is one thing that I have learned in our four or so years of homeschooling it's that being flexible is the best way to handle life. Having a schedule is a GREAT IDEA, but being a slave to the schedule isn't always feasible. Besides, in my opinion, homeschooling is about teaching your children how to roll with the punches and teaching them to be flexible and loosely follow their schedule teaches them just that.
Having a schedule is great. Being organized is great. Maybe one day I will get there. In the mean time, I will have fun being flexible and trying to follow a schedule, whatever it may be.
Our "schedule" is more of a general flow chart or to do list, too!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I saw your "real" schedule... because we have so many days like that! Like you said, flexibility is the key. Thanks for sharing!
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