Our Yearly
School Schedule

One of the fabulous things about home-
schooling is the ability to create your own flow of how you want to enjoy your seasons.

We don't school year round, although we seem to always continue to learn.

For many years we followed the school district's schedule. After all, what else was there? I soon realized I didn't appreciate all the extra days off at their convenience- holidays, teacher in-service, etc- This was interrupting our own routines.

2 years ago I began to outline our own school year.

We began the 1st Monday in August. This is 4 weeks earlier than our public school peers. August is hot, and boredom sets in...so we choose to begin school. We follow a 9 weeks on (equal 1 quarter), 2 weeks off format. The 2 weeks off gives us time to finish a book, get paperwork in order, add a few field trips, & regroup for our next quarter.

Conveniently, with starting in August, our Christmas break lands just right. And we wrap up our school year in mid-May, which just happens to be when we have state testing, and this works for us!

Getting out 4 weeks earlier than public school gives us the opportunity to explore adventures before all the crowds set in. *smile*

For those who homeschool,
how do you approach your school year?

and for those whom don't homeschool,
how do you adjust to the random days off the school district needs?

Routines

Since I have been on the topic anyways, I am linking up to Tri-moms to share our schedule.


With our impending move (did I mention we are moving? *smile*) , I've had time to ponder how our schedule will best fit our family. Our outline for the past 2 years has worked well because we have not had any distractions. With us now heading back to our hometown, there comes activities, friends, and....church. Ofcourse these are favored choices within our family dynamics, but I want to stress balance in our lives.


Daily Schedule:
I struggle with wanting to start early. I *heart* mornings! I love Kathi's hours. That works for me, but my life isn't about me. My children adapt better with a slow-n-gentle start.

I also recently read about a mom choosing afternoon hours for schooling, which I think is a fabulous way to adapt to one's family. Yet, for us, attention spans begin to wane around 2 o'clock.

So, we are some where in the middle. Ideally, I like our day to begin around 8, but we tend to flow with the circumstance. I intend to rise early to enjoy my sanity, er, some quiet time.

Come August 01, here is our school routine:

Mornings:
(older kids / the littles)
Morning routine
Bible w/ breakfast
Math 1 hr/ 1 hr exercise for me
History 30 min / Circle Time
Science 30 min/ Story w/ craft
Language Arts 30 min/ Activity Time
Recess for ALL. 30 min.

Afternoons:
lunch clean up/ Andrew's reading lessons
Fine Arts/ Quiet time
Spanish & French/ still quiet time (hopefully)
Jurisdictions (chores) for all
Free time til Dinner

Evenings:

A family read aloud, I'm leaning towards C.S. Lewis this year.
and a literature book read before bed as down time.

Here is my faint Daily Flow chart:
The camera wouldn't focus :^/





I simply penciled in school & quiet time. It gives Grandma M an idea of what we are doing w/o getting bogged down by the details. I intentionally left Saturdays empty. We'll just place sticky notes on any activities or plans that arise.

*Tomorrow I will share how our yearly school schedule is laid out.

Now I must confess I find it amusing that many of us homeschooling families are discussing routines, school or otherwise, while many families are just beginning to embrace their summer break with not a thought about the first day of the next school year yet.

It is even more amusing to think that during my own summer breaks when I was young, I was planning, preparing, and teaching...my stuffed animals. Roll call and all *grin* Hey, give me a break, I was an only child for many years, and a latchkey kid...atleast I stayed out of trouble *hee*

How do you do "to do" lists?

Chrissy at
Enriched Living
had
asked this awhile back,
and
I could not figure out how to send her a document via e-mail...
so here it is via "a picture". Hope this helps Chrissy! *smile*

My day consists of :

a "Rise & Shine" routine, a time for just me in the mornings. My spiritual triathlon is 10 min reading, 10 praying, 10 listening (usually w/ worship music, but sometimes in silence)
Loving movements? yeah, that is just my kind way to tell myself to exercise ;^)

a "Morning" routine. Things I should have done before our schooling for the day begins.

a "Afternoon" routine, in which the kids do most of this. =)

a "Light's Out" routine; this is where we wrap up for the night, and the house is tidied up so that it is "smiling at me" in the morning. ;^)

I have had this schedule for many years. I laminate the 2 papers back to back and hang it on the wall for reminders. The only thing that really ever changes is "Our Day" when our school subjects can be rearranged or sports change the schedule.

I have not been doing my routines lately...and yes, it shows...not only by how the house looks, but in my attitude also....

Anyone else have routines to share?
How do your days look?

Confessions of an unscheduled week...

because I like keeping things real,
and after all,
no one reads on friday, right?

9:30 up & checking e-mails
The senior student has been up, showered, and working on geometry already this morning. My 3rd grader is working on her dad's Christmas present; she is also stalling to do her school work. I ponder about a healthy breakfast, then fix School Day Biscuits (aka biscuits w/ cinamon sugar & frosting). The aroma gets my 8th grader to crawl out of bed; he begins his math while waiting for breakfast. =)

10:00 the littles are up...
The kinder is helping Mr. Tot build a marble tower...they soon part ways as the kinder wanders off to play with Mr. Potato Head while Mr. Tot proceeds to dump out all the toy cars to play with on the Candyland game board. Yes, this does mean that all the Candyland playing cards are scattered amongst the floor... and where is mom? Out in the living room encouraging her daughter to begin her math lesson.

11:00 simplest of chores...
toilets swiped, laundry swapped about, breakfast dishes being done... the older boys are watching "Monk" while Katie is practicing a card trick, and the littlest boys are now fighting over a controller to a game system (we have 3 controllers by the way).

12:00 lunch time
consists of salami, cheese, & crackers followed by apple slices w/ peanut butter.

1:00 Katie is now whining about not getting up more Christmas decorations (we have only done the tree), and I am bargaining for a clean house... the front door entry way gets cleaned. (?)
Grandma is baking cupcakes for a week end event. The older boys are now playing a video game, and the littlest boys are watching a movie. "The Best Christmas Present of All" with Donutman. Me? I am going through our budget and planning to pay bills amonst Christmas shopping.

2:30 Katie gets distracted by learning to Hand Knit (which seems kinda cool). TJ (13) is wrestling on the bed with the littlest boys.

3:00 Grandpa is up (he worked til 4:30 a.m) and now has the littlest boys running wild outside with him. Katie & TJ are fighting. TJ is pestering, Katie is screaming, I do not like neither choice... they now are "reading" quietly.

3:30 Katie is now playing outside w/ the littlest boys...and...they find a long lost Easter egg...and yes, she did eat the candy that was inside it! I am now tidying up the house with the intentions of being ready to decorate the house tonight. The older boys are playing Chess. The dear husband calls to let me know he is at the hospital(?). Did I mention he has a dry sense of humor? Yeah, well, he was checking out a job site which is at a hospital building. Funny, eh?

4:30 I am now going through paper clutter on our computer/school desk...bills, assignments, crafts, teacher notes, coupons, etc... The older boys are unloading the dishwasher, Katie is hand-knitting again, and the littlest boys are running through the house chasing each other (pretending to be Ninjas I do believe) with their tinker-toy swords.

5:00 All is quiet! All the kids are watching "Elf", cept Bryson, whom has nodded off for a nap. I am still pushing through paperwork. Daddy is now home, yay for me!

6:00 I am going with Katie to her ballet class for a special parent night, while Dad (& Andrew) took Nick to soccer practice. TJ had the challenging job of babysitting his sleeping littlest brother...he played a game while we were gone.

8:00 We are all back home now. Bryson is now up. Dinner? hmmm... fried eggs & left over French Toast for most of us, pizza for the rest of 'em. Did I mention I don't cook much?

9:00 The littlest boys play randomly about the house with stuffed animals and plastic fruit. Somewhere along the line the magnetic ABC letters came out too, as the rest of us sat together to watch two, yes 2, episodes of 24.

11:00 Dad heads to bed, as does Katie. I check my e-mails (again) and drop a note on facebook. I get sidetracked by reading a few blogs (hey, atleast I'm honest, lol).

12:00 Bryson (whom has new found energy) starts bullying Andrew in which TJ tries to rescue him; mom (me) intervenes by channeling my wild childs energy to play with a ball in the kitchen. Nick escapes to the bedroom during all the chaos.

12:30 The oldest boys head to bed, the littlest boys lay down to watch a movie. Do I dare admit it is a "Care Bear" movie? I spend this quiet time creating our Christmas Letter, planning some Christmas day activities, and then decide to type up this post; aimless, eh?

2:00 Everyone is finally asleep.... We never did get to the Christmas decorations, and as I look about the house I see a sink full of dishes; hats, shoes, coats strung about; cars, fruit, Mr Potato Head, & stuffed animals covering our floors. The trash needs to be taken out (as in over-flowing), and the tree needs water... I will head to bed in about an hour (after the house is smiling at me), and now you will know why I wasn't up until 9:30 a.m. in the first place.

So...How are YOUR days looking lately?

l.i.f.e. Academy

Our latest field trip was to a local children's museum. Andrew received a "family" membership for his birthday! yay! Grandma Michele & Aunt Chanelle came with us to explore our new found fun!

~December goals~

French:
We missed most of our formal lessons last month due to illness, snow, & holidays. We will be practicing what we do know as a review this month.

English:
nothing formal this month, just practice & review.

Fine Arts:
Composer Piotr Ilyich Chaikovsky "The Nutcracker"
Artist Musee D' Orsay "The Dance Class"
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

History:
Last month we studied the Pilgrim heritage, and are continuing on to Jamestown this month.

Math:
reviews, practice fast facts, and a pop quiz this month.

Literature:
free reading choice

Science:

The water cycle, cloud study, weather analysis, & experiments on salt water.

Note: We intentionally have a light load for our studies in December as to focus our attention more on Christ through this can-be chaotic season. We will focus on peaceful purpose & loving attitudes. We will enjoy some hands-on activities such as crafts, baking, games, and add to our Jesse tree each day. Lesson on finances are a must during this season by earning money & spending wisely towards sibling gifts to each other. This will also include researching different charity causes, and donating to one of them.

Our Classroom Schedule:

Morning:
1/2 hr writing
1/2 hr English (grammar, punctuation, & vocabulary)
1/2 hr Science
1/2 hr Literature
1 hour Math

Afternoon:
1/2 hr French
1/2 hr Fine arts
1 hr history
(reading, map work, & sometimes history related activities)

Fine arts is broken into days:
Monday is our official Bible lesson,
(w/ scripture review the rest of the days)
Tuesday is our composer study.
(we continue to listen to the musical piece all week)
Wednesday is our artist study.
Thursday is our poet study.
Friday is our Nature Study.

Notice that I did not list a time on our schedule =)
Ideally we would do 9 a.m. - noon, and 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.,
but I am into keeping it real, right? so....

We have been staying up late (is 1 a.m. late? ok, ok, it's more like 3 a.m. for me),
and I am getting up around 9 (laughing at myself, because I am a morning person, the day is half over by then!) while the others get up around 10. This would mean our "morning studies" is done closer to afternoon, and our afternoon studies are done more towards evening. I don't really care when it gets done as long as it does.

Anyone else have odd hours? just wondering...

THIS HAS BEEN OUR SUMMER THUS FAR...
ok, today, is actually sunny, but the last few weeks have been exactly like these pics!

Our summer break officially begins on Jun 01.
With all this rain, my kids are getting restless!!

With school out, am I suppose to get a break too?..

Hmmm... must find something for the kids to do...

must create a routine to base our days off of...

MUST have FUN!

well, I am working on a flexible summer schedule. If I don't, my kids would stare at a TV all day.

Ummm, have you seen what's on TV nowadays, really seen?

and even if we DID find something of value,
have you seen the commercials? really?

cheap entertainment, maybe;
but NO thank-you.

Ofcourse there is always exceptions ;^)
as the WORLD CUP ROCKS.

but then again, commercials, ugh!
(I won't even mention the ones that really disturb me, blech!)

OUR SUMMER DAY

Up n at 'em- our morning routine
Fitness Fun- gym or nature walk
Yard Work- 30 min.
Backyard Basics*- ball, sandbox, chalk, tag, etc..
*(This is where Mom can get inside chores done)
LUNCH/DEVOTIONS
Power Hour - French practice/ nature journal/ silent read
'nap' for Bryson, quiet time for Andrew
= GAME time for the rest. no, not video ;^)
the good ole board games, uno, dominoes, cards, etc...
FREE time by 3 p.m.

Schedule is subject to change due to-
such things as field trips, dental appointments, park days.

Geocaching and Letterboxing will be a point of interest...
when the weather cooperates. ;^)

The Day in the Life of...

soon I will share my thoughts and practicalities on why we homeschool, but for today, I am sharing a simple moment in time...

Today is no school for our public school friends, which does not always mean we have it 'off'. As I see it, life's journey itself seems to always have a lesson on hand.

Our plans for today:
9:00 a.m. Friends & Family Craft time~ I have tons of huge pinecones that need some attention, so we will be making turkeys and bird feeders with them, along with probably a story and simple puppets for my younger ones.
10:00 Ladies Prayer~ a time to regroup and refocus my thoughts to the Lord.
12:00 Lunch w/ my Angie & our kids.
1:ish "Get 'er dun" time~ Christmas cards are on the agenda today...I do not feel very creative today, so we will see how this goes, lol.
4:00 Our 'power hour' cleaning in which the kids will help tidy the house before Daddy gets home so he can just relax. (aka...the mice have been at play all day while the cat was away, now he will also get to play.)
Evening Hour: dinner together, sharing our day, and I have a feeling that "Blind man's Search" (hide-n-go seek in the dark) may be on the agenda tonight...