One of my readers asked me to post our sample schedule. I will tell you my secret: schedules have never worked for us. Ever. I don’t like feeling like a clock has control over me or my next move.
However, I’ve realized that it’s hard to function as wife, mom, and homeschooling mom without some sort of rhythm. So, we do have a routine. I have some mile-markers along the way (the times you see listed), but they aren’t do-or-die moments.
This is what I have posted on our fridge:
Breakfast
Breakfast isn’t just breakfast. We also take the opportunity to review our memory work– Bible and poetry. This is a good start to our day, and it ensures that memory work is being worked on.
Morning Chores
I am a pretty random kind of gal. Morning chores consist of whatever needs done to keep our house decent and free from social service visits (just kidding . . . almost). Elijah might vacuum or fold a load of towels (or both). Simon might straighten the entry way, mop the dining room, or clean off the breakfast table. You never know. We all work hard, and we all work together.
Study Time
I am striving for TIME instead of content this year (after listening to Oliver DeMille). However, there are a few things I do insist on daily for Elijah: Primary Language Lessons, RS Math (game or lesson), and Explorer’s Bible Study. Elijah is responsible to fill the rest of his study time. Each week (sometimes each day!) looks a little different for him.
Simon also does some school each day, but he spends the bulk of his "study" time creating masterpieces and building Lego towers and ships.
Lunch & Read Aloud
I serve lunch and start reading as soon as I’m done eating. I’m trying to get in 90 minutes of read aloud (or audio book) each day. The boys can build, color, do puzzles, or knit (Elijah’s new thing!) while I read.
Free Play
The boys can do what they want at this point: go outside, play upstairs in their room, make a tent, free reading, etc., but they are responsible for filling their time with something profitable.
Clean Sweep
This is another time of teamwork cleaning. Everyone works on 1-2 chores that need to be done to bring the house back into some kind of order. š After clean sweep, I work on dinner and the boys can have some media time if they want (or they can go back outside or they can play upstairs).
That’s how it goes for us so far. We like it. Instead of lesson plans, I journal what we accomplish each day. I love the freedom we all are experiencing so far this year, and I am amazed at actually how full the journal is by the end of the week!
Thanks for sharing Ami! I am keeping a planner which I fill out at the end of the day with what we accomplished. I’m hoping this will be less stressful !
I like your routine Ami. Mine is pretty similar. It has milestones I like to meet during the day but I don’t watch the clock too much. Instead I focus on goals such as outside time for the children, story time for the children, nap times, etc. We are now used to our rhythm and our days flow nicely.
Thanks for sharing Ami. We are not schedule people here, but I think we are slowing approaching the need for a routine of sorts. Parker has asked to set aside time each day for a couple things and needs help figuring out how/when to fit them in. I mentioned the idea of a routine and he was all for it. We plan to sketch one out and see how we flow with it next week.
Hi Ami, š
Thank you for giving specific examples of your chores,
what each son is studying, and being real. š
How do you break up the time between Elijah, and Simon? Can you please share what memory work you do? Is it just the bible verses from the abc/lapbooks, or more? Also, what poetry? What are the audio books you’ve used? I just picked some up at the library to use with the abc book, and it was too short.
Do you do several to cover the 90 minutes? How do you define profitable? š What does that mean to your family? Do your kids ever tell you they don’t want to play? How do you handle that? Lastly, for this post :), how long (days/weeks) do you normally take for your alphabet books, and lapbooks?
Very grateful,
Michele š
Thanks so much for sharing, I love seeing what other mama’s days look like! I have been thinking about doing a read aloud during/after lunch as well — sounds great!