At the moment we are a one-car family. DH has to be at work at 5 am, so I don't take him, but he only works about a mile away and he has to run a deposit for work, so he can bring me the van. The problem is, he can only bring it to me around 11. Needless to say, I try to save all my errands for one day, because it's really a hassle to be limited like that. The problem is, I only have a 4 hour window before I have to pick up him from work (he's done at 3). And really, it may be less than that because half the time he calls me at 2 to say he's ready to go home. What all of this means is that I have about an hour for school work before he brings me the van. Then I try to get all my errands done (with 4 boys in tow, doubling how long they take me) before he calls for me to come get him. Then DH is home, and we've all had the talk about how distracting that is for school. lol. So on days when I have to run errands, we get almost no school work done! That being said: yes, I try to limit how many errands I do during the week. But sometimes it's unavoidable. And the reason we start our school day so "late" (10 am) is that the boys usually sleep until 8 and they are NOT ready to start school anytime soon after. They are distinctly anti-morning-people. So, if it were you, would you force them to wake up early and start school work knowing it was going to be a nightmare, or just resign yourself to only doing an hour on a day every couple of weeks?
I'd work around it. Do more work on the days you're not running errands and less work on the days you do. Don't work with them when they're tired, because everyone will end up hating school (you included).
I think I might try to gradually get them up earlier. 15 min at a time, maybe, until they're used to getting up earlier. Fifteen minutes earlier than now until they get used to it, then 10 minutes more until they get used to that, then 10 minutes more.... They might also need to have an earlier bedtime corresponding - but I have no idea what time they go to bed now, so ....
I agree. We also do lots of errands for our business, so I usually do one extra lesson each day in one of our main subjects, that way on the day/s we have to run all over the place we only have to worry about a small amount getting done.
They go to bed at 8. They just need a lot of sleep. I was the same way when I was a kid. I remember being in Jr. High, still going to be at 8, but having to take a nap when I got home from school because I got up "too early" in the morning (usually around 7). And I always had trouble staying awake in class (ok, more so than just out of boredom. ha!). When I was allowed to "sleep in" on the weekends (I usually got up around 9), I was a different kid: totally awake and full of energy. Also, keep in mind that my oldest is only 8. So I wouldn't want to try to wake them earlier every day. They still need the sleep. I just feel a little like a slacker letting them off with only an hour of school work. lol
Hey... as long as they're learning all you need them to learn in a week, why does it matter when they do it or how long it takes to learn it?
I have some late sleepers too. By the time they get up at 8:00-8:30 and we do breakfast, dishes, get dressed, and do some chores we sometimes don't get started until 10:30 or 11:00. But, my kids NEED that sleep. If I have to wake them up early for something, it affects the rest of their day. I wouldn't worry about the errand days. Just do what you can those days and maybe work a little extra on the other days if you need to. If it really bothers you, though, you might talk to your husband about whether he'd be willing to run errands with you after work one day a week. If he gets off at 2 or 3, that should leave you plenty of time for errands and still have time in the evenings at home. A 2-4 ratio is much easier to manage than 1-4, especially with a baby (I have 4 kiddos too). If there's something you need to do where you just have to run in and back out, one of you could sit in the car with the kids while the other went in. This would give you more time during the day for school work and also make it faster and easier to get your errands done.
That's a fantastic idea that we might try this Summer (we homeschool year round). Right now, though, the only night he doesn't have class is Friday... and you won't catch me dead trying to go to any store on Friday night. lol.
I forgot that your husband was taking classes. I can definitely see what you mean about Friday night. In our town, that is the official "go out to eat and then go to Wal-Mart" night. You definitely don't want to be trying to buy your groceries then. :lol:
Can he walk home in the afternoon? A mile doesn't really take that long to walk and the weather is getting nicer....
If your boys are not big morning boys, what about afternoon schooling and evening? Say they get up at 8am get all morning things done, bible or whatever you do that is not too time consuming. Then by 11 you are ready to head out the door with the boys to do what you need to. Come home at 3 do math, la etc. You stop for a while have dh take over and do reading or read a loud with the boys whether it be science reading or history, while you make dinner. Then after dinner if there is any science experiments or art projects get those done. Take baths after that mess. Enjoy your evening.
Forgot to say no one ever said schooling needs to be done in the morning or early afternoon. You can still count your hours, they will just be spread through out the day.
Without reading the other responses cause I'm pressed for time my initial ideas are... 1-can errands count as school? Like grocery shopping you can fit in home ec, health and math, etc. 2-do you have a DVD player in the van? Take a documentary along to count drive time as school hours. 3-make hubby run some errands after work (getting off that early leaves time) or after you pick him up drop him AND the kids off and finish errands ALONE! 4-Add some unschooly things to the evenings/weekends to make up for your 'lost day' educational dvds, read alounds, field trips, hands-on stuff, etc. 5-Can hubby bum a ride home on errand day-if it's just a mile someone should be willing to give him a lift.... 6-Do you have a friend or family member who could run errands with you? It would save time. 7-Hire a teen homeschooler to watch your kids and do some lite school while you run errands alone (I say homeschool teen cause her mom might count it as school for her for child care, home ec, or something-esp good if the teen wants to homeschool, be a teacher, etc I've heard of homeschoolers doing this for free to count it as school for the teen too)
If you can play an ipod in the van than you can download books from the library to listen to as you run errands. My ipod is full of books, skip counting songs, science songs, geography songs, and etc. I just put all my educational CDs onto the ipod and now we are learning as we do our errands.
I could, but at this point it seems dishonest given that we've already counted so dang many "shopping" hours for things. Nope. No DVD player. He has homework then class. He can't really do his homework with the boys running around, any better than I can. ha! Good plan He's the only one off when he leaves. They have single-coverage. I might be able to wrangle a friend now and then. Good idea! Another fantastic idea! I'll have to ask around.
Where do you get the CDs without spending a fortune? My library doesn't seem to have much of a selection and they are SO expensive anywhere I've looked! I'd love to do this (we do use the iPod in the van), but it's not economical.
This year has been a nightmare for us. Dd12 has had physical therapy twice (M/W) a week in the am almost all year. Ds15 has a book club (M) and a film class (W) outside the house in the middle of the day (2 separate days). Dd9 has ballet 2 days a week (Tu/Th) at noon (hs class that I chose, before I knew about PT, because I thought it would make afternoon activities easier!!) It's been a "get what we have to get done" year for us. We will still be working this summer too. I try to do errands while one of the kids is in an activity. Like today I'm going to the grocery store while dd9 is in ballet class. Ds 15 is old enough to keep going on his own while we are out. Dd12 is a big help with shopping, so I take her and dd7 with me. My kids are late sleepers. I don't wake them up early for school. I figure if they are sleeping they need the sleep. We just work around the schedule. For you, can you come up with a way to count your errands as school-just for the sake of hours? I don't think being out with errands once a week or every two weeks will hurt, but if you need hours, you need hours!
I can sure sympathize with you. We went many years with only one car. I hated running errands with small kids (and I only have two). We usually lived close to my dh work, but he hates to ask for a ride and I seriously doubt he would have been willing to walk. Thankfully keeping track of hours is not required in SC. I agree with the others who suggest doing extra on the other days and doing fun things like videos and art on errand day. Is it possible to add some field trips on a couple weekends to help add hours? Btw, we are all late sleepers. I struggle to get up at 8:30. Most mornings I lose the battle. Lol
