Year 8, Week 3: Scheduling, Part Two

     I hope my last post on scheduling was clear.  I feel like I was rambling, but then again....I did warn you!  In this post I'm sharing what our day typically looks like.  If you're a parent whose child(ren) is doing distance learning due to the SAH orders, some of this may not apply to you but it might give you a better sense of what homeschooling entails or prepare you for the long haul.

     We start our day between 8:30 and 9.  The kids know their morning chores/routine need to be done by 8:30, thus they're up around 7:30.  Their morning routine includes making their bed, having breakfast, doing the morning dishes, feeding and walking our dog.  Then we start our day:

Bible and prayer	8:30 - 9:00
History	9:00 - 9:45
Break (to walk the dog)	9:45 - 10:00
Grammar/Spelling	10:00 - 10:30
Math	10:30 - 11:00 (This is usually when I get to work out, after I go over their lesson for the day and while they do their assignment.)
Writing	11:00 - 12:30 (This is only once a week because Little Toughie has an online course.  A380 is doing something different  We're usually done before 12 or a bit after.)
Lunch	12:00 - 1:00
Science	1:00 - 1:30
Assigned Reading	Must be done before any screen time
Free Reading	Should be done before dinner

  

     I have specific times, but that's really just a guide.  This is basically Block Scheduling but I have specific times just to make sure we aren't dawdling; it's very easy for us to get caught up in discussions (we do it often) and lose track of time.  Bible, History and Writing are well-known for drawing us into long conversations after I read to them.  It may look like our day is complete by 2 or so but, like most kids, they have activities outside the home roughly three days out of five, sometimes more depending on the time of the year.  If for some reason we don't finish we can go back to it and I know where we left off.

     "Homework" would be anything that they didn't get completed during our day or anything that I asked them to correct.  They also have a chore of the day that I have on our schedule, but much like their Assigned and Free Reading, there's no time.  It just has to be done before any screen time AND before dinner.

     Our Fridays have a lighter schedule to give them time to work on projects or experiments or to catch up on anything that didn't get completed during the week.  At this point, week three, there isn't much to do but I know as the year progresses the work load will increase.  Friday is also the day where I use Looping in our schedule.  We alternate between a geography game, Art, Music Appreciation, writing poetry and mapping skills.  If I find an educational game then I might add that to the schedule or if they want to spend some time doing something of their own choosing (delight directed learning) we can add that in as well.  Something my daughter wants to add this year is FCS (Family and Consumer Science)----Can I just tell you how much cooler that sounds than the "Home Ec. of my days?!)  She's in the midst of preparing for an audition, so I don't know if we'll be able to do that, but that's the benefit of looping.

   For all of this I use Homeschool Planet.  I'm not getting paid or anything like that to share this.  I'm really just sharing what I use and what I like about it.  First, it's very user friendly.  I've been using it for the past four years.  I had a free trial and was immediately able to use it without even watching the tutorials.  I can easily mark off what's been completed.  I can change an assignment, drag and drop a particular part of our day, print reports and more.  I can view the schedule of just one kid or both.  I can give each child their own log in.  One of the things I do every year is print out and keep our school year attendance (as required by our state) and then a copy of our weekly schedule (just one week and I usually pick one later in the year once I know we've found our groove).  Since I can also add Resources, I print out that list too, so that I know what books we've read and used.  Later I'll also be able to print out high school transcripts for college purposes!

Courtesy of Homeschool Planet

     Next week, I'll share our week along with a bit of each subject we're studying this year.  This week was pretty quiet; we've added a couple of things into our schedule so it's starting to get busy.  I forgot to order their grammar books so what I thought was the last of the homeschool books deliveries was incorrect!  That will be the last of them when they get here.  That's all for now.  Have a great weekend!