Hello all. I am getting ready for school and with this being my first year, I wanted to see how you all structure your day. At first, I was going to go with a similar schedule to ps but am thinking of maybe a more relaxed one. Maybe a 4 day school week. I have a 1 yr old to care for while teaching my 5 & 7 y/o dd's. I appreciate any input you have to offer. Thanks.
Hi Angie! I have an 11yo dd a 9yo dd and a 2yo ds. I have the kids up by 8 and ready to work by 9. The more I stick to this the better we do. Otherwise we'd be lounging or playing until lunchtime. We like to get the harder work done first, usually math and have our basic core subjects done by lunchtime. Then we have the afternoon for easier or fun stuff like quiet reading or science experiments.
Angie, first let me say that every one of us structures our day differently. It will take a bit to find what's right for YOU and your family. There is NO "right" or "wrong" way to do it! My kids are 12, 10, and 6. We will be entering Year 8!!! We have learned that for us, it's best to be up with Daddy at 6:00. (Yes, that's AM, lol!!!). I'm not a morning person, but our day works best that way. We all have breakfast together, and then have prayer. After that, we get started with school, between 7 and 7:30. We are ready for a break around 10:30. Lunch is around 11:30. Around 1:00, all three go to their rooms for Silent Reading. THIS IS MY MOMMY TIME!!! I believe VERY STRONGLY in this! They are there for a half-hour, and know that, unless the house is on fire, they are NOT to bother me, lol! After that half-hour, I read aloud to them. Usually a classic or biography, or historical fiction on whatever we're doing in history. (My husband enjoys reding the "fluff" to them in the evenings!). On Mondays, I spend all day doing laundry between lessons, so they spend this read aloud time folding clothes. Then I usually do either history or science, which I do with all kids at once (though my oldest will be doing science seperate this year). We are done about 2:30 or 3:00. The most important thing to remember is that all schedules need to be FLEXIBLE!!! "BLessed are the flexible, for they will not be bent out of shape!" Since we get so much done so early, I can go grocery shopping, or to the library, or whatever without worrying about it. At least my math and language is done, lol! Also, your kids are still young. You will find that the older they get, the more structure they need. My oldest is at a place where I need to start assigning grades to her and keep transcripts. So she needs to be more on a PS schedule. But with young children, you still have lots of learning through play. Keep lessons short, with lots of breaks. Teach through your daily activities. Do math at the grocery store. "How much do you think these bananas weigh?" "If two bananas weigh a half pound, how much do you think just one will weigh?" I would also do pre-reading at the grocery. Write out a list and give it to the child. Have her cross off the words. "What letter does BANANAS start with? Can you find the "B" word and mark it off?" We did a unit on apples, and the next time we went to the store, my oldest (grade 1 at the time) had paper to write down all the products she found that had apples in it!
We are starting our 2nd year of homeschooling. I run our business full time from our house, so I have to keep a schedule for everything. I get up around 6:00 with my husband. I get a workout in and my husband leaves for work at 6:45. I then take a shower and get ready for the day. I check my business email and take care of any correspondence I need to. My kids get up between 6:00 and 7:45. They get dressed and get themselves breakfast. I have devotions with the kids at 8. We then go over what we want to get done during the day and see if there is anything that we need to review. The older boys start on their spelling and grammer books. The younger two work on letter and number games and workbooks. I am in my office handling business calls, in between calls I am in with the kids. Around 10:30 we have a break. The kids play outside or work on a craft project for 15-30 minutes- depending on what they are doing and how well they are getting along. I generally pack orders between 10:30 and 12:00- sometimes the kids will come and help me if they need a change of pace. From 11-12, the older two work on their math and the younger two watch Reading Rainbow and In-Between the Lions while coloring. My husband come home from 12-12:45 for lunch. The kids eat with him while I run to the bank and post office. At 1:00 we have reading time- the older two can read whatever they would like while the younger two look at books, or have the older ones read to them. At 1:45, the kids watch a science or social studies DVD and then work on workbooks relating to what they are watching. At 3, they are free to play board games, play school games on the computer, play outside, etc. My husband gets home around 5, I finish work at 5, and the kids are free to watch TV, play games, etc. My husband usually plays a board game with the boys at night. Since I also work during the day, I never know how busy I will be. I try to get as much teaching time in as I can. Sometimes we will have a teaching time in the evening or weekends and my husband helps out as much as he can. The kids usually take turns cooking dinner with me. It gives us time to read and work on math while cooking together. We try to use every learing opportunity we can. We have also found, that no matter what we plan, things happen and we have to be flexible. The kids really seem to enjoy our days and they love to help out with the business. I only wish I had more time to spend with each of the kids and to really focus on their schooling. I am sure that with our third starting kindergarten this year, our schedule will changing once again.
I think we are very relaxed in our homeschool style. I have one son 11yrs old. I usually let my son sleep until he wakes which all depends on the time of year. When its summer he slept later because we are out later and doing more things in the evening while the sun is still out. In the morning after my son is up (which is anywhere from 6:30 til 8am) and has had his breakfast, he then is responsible for this chores, ( taking care of the dogs outside water and rabbits then anything else the needs to be clean up) I run a homedaycare so this is free time for the children because I am usually doing my morning cleaning as well. Then I let my son know his morning assignments which depends on how well he understand a concept. If it something he only need instruction on then its in the morning. I usually set an activity up for the daycare children at this time, sometimes my son is involved and other times he is working on his own project. Then if the wealther is nice we head outside and the children play freely. My son at this time will finish up what he hasn't gotten done for his morning assignment or if there is a concept that has puzzles him I will work with him at this time. This is also time for him to work on his outside projects he always has something going on. If its helping a neighbor with gardening or with their pets or something in the garage, motors is a big interest along with woodworking. He knows morning work needs to be done before lunch which all depends on the time of year and weather. Lunch can be between 11:30 and 12:30 Then we have a story time and then it is nap time for the daycare children. My son and I then do our one on one work. These are the areas where my son needs me to help with the reading and work that goes along with it. We also do bible studies at this time. By the time we are done around 2:30 or 3:00 most of his friends are coming home from school and they will usually hang out for a while alot of the times checking out my sons new gagets or playing in the yard or riding bikes. Lot of our evening are spent in the yard as a family, watching a movie or fishing late into the night. My daycare children will be all gone at the end of this summer and I am not sure what I will be doing then, I look forward to being with my son durning the day just us. So if we want to get up and go we can. There are so many places and things I would like to do with my son without having other children around to worry about. But working out of the home is not something I am looking forward to, we may also be moving so time will tell what next year will bring. My son works best if he is not pressured to stay on a strick schedule. He is going into 6th grade so that may also play a role in how we school we will have to wait and see. But I'm one of those homeschooling moms that doesn't think we have to be sitting at a table all the time. We work all over the place, sometimes under the tree in the yard, at the table outside, on the couch or laying in my bed and when needed at the computer desk. we always seem to get all our work done. We have also done a 4 day week but fridays where either fieldtrip or busy days. No sitting around an watching tv or vedio games all day. I think some kids need a strick schedule and even some parents and others work better with a relaxed schedule. I think you need to just see what works for you. And most important things is have fun and enjoy your children and they will learn.
Angie, The important thing was already said "do what fits your schedule". Please keep in mind that for the age of your children....3 hours TOPS is a good rule of thumb. If you are trying to start school at 8a and not done until 3:30p you and they are going to burn out! The other thing is there is absolutly nothing wrong with being an afternoon schooler. Especially with a one year old around who...if you are lucky still takes an afternoon nap. :wink: We have a 3 year old and we just haven't changed our school schedule to the morning since he gave up naps a year ago. We got to gym in the morning (the childcare doesn't start until 8a) I shower and then if we need to hit the grocery store or head to music or whatever...we do. If not then we head home but...typically...we still wait until about 1p to start school. It just works for us. Will it once my oldest gets into more challenging work...who knows. He does 3rd grade level now but..not necessarily 3rd grade level pace. kwim? He is only 7 so...I keep that in mind in his work load and what I expect of him. Tina and I help new homeschoolers their first & for some their second year. What I tell them is to track one week. Get a scheduled sheet of paper with times down the left and days across the top. Track what your life is like for one week. It doesn't matter what week you pick because no week is ever the same :wink: but....this is a good gage as to when you should school. If you aren't a moring person don't schedule school to start at 7a. If you get up around 10a then schedule school later -- MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!!!! We do get up around 7a but...don't school until 1p...it works for us. Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find works for you and your family.
Angie, I have a friend who doesn't get up until noon, and doesn't start school until after dinner! Then they do school until around midnight. Not what most people would want, but it sure works for them! (I think it also has to do with the fact that the dad works third shift.)
Wow. Thank you all for your quick and in depth responses. It's good to know how you plan your days. Moving from one place to another sounds great-something I had not considered. I have a large glass table outside that would be perfect for some schoolwork on a nice day. I am blessed to have you all for a resource. I'll keep watch for any other suggestions and keep you posted on how we do. Bless you!
My husband swings days and nights some weekday and some weekends when he is working so we do school when Daddy works. LOL That works for us.
I agree with moving around. My boys tend to migrate from the school room to the dining room to the living room and even the stairs. I do not care where they are doing their work at as long as they are doing their work. My oldest often lays on the stairs to do his work. I think it is funny, but he finds it comfortable.
this year will be our second year of of homeschooling our 2 daughters 6yrs.old and 4 1/2 yrs.old. we start normally around 9 am with prayers and spiritual studies and the phonics, math, and other subjects depending on our days. I found it helpful to devide your week days ahead of time. so we did science Monday for example. they have to read me one book each every day except weekend and that boost their reading skill and made them more comfortable reading. NO TV in the morning even in the summer. TV is their reward in the after noon. I normally arrange a play day with a friend one or twice a week I school them 4 days a week and some times 3 days a week they still go to our local library story time once a week and our HS play day once a week It worked for us that way. I am too on the lookout for more helpful tips and more ideas. Good luck
Our schedule runs close to what Jackie does. My middle child has lots of energy, so if I forced him to sit in one place he'd have problems! It's funny the ways and places he's ended up working on schoolwork! That's one reason I'm thankful to be homeschooling---he's such a great kid, but with the extra energy, he'd be getting in trouble at school and be labelled as a trouble-maker. I'm thankful we can encourage his strengths and work on his weaknesses, with no labelling or name-calling, just love and support! Yep, homeschooling is great!
I really enjoy reading how everyone works out their schedule. To me this is the beauty of homeschooling. It is what works best for you and your children. It really does make a difference as how they learn. In a public system, all children are expected to work at the same level and basically conform to the publics standards. When they are homeschooled, they learn by what is best for them as an individual. In our home, the day begins with breakfast, Emma is like her daddy. Her tummy is grumbling the moment her feet hit the floor. We shower and sometimes start school work right away or head on out to the market. I allow her to work in what ever subject she pleases first, that is after prayer, pledge and Bible. Sometimes she may be tired of looking at the same Math book everyday so we take it to the driveway and I write the problems on the cement, she answers them and then we put them in the book. Sometimes we wait until lunch time, pack a picnic, and take the school work to the park instead. For Emma, she really learns well this way. The first year we were very strict. It was sit down and get the job done. This did work for us, however it became dull for her and me. So we jazzed it up a bit and now we both enjoy it more. With homeschooling, there is a different plan for every child as an individual. My suggestion would be to watch your child the first year and see what the main interests are. Remember nothing is written in stone and you can adjust as you go. Well. Better get going. God bless you all and have a beautiful day. Always remember Jesus is the source of all hope. Patty
Sami is young and doing 1st grade so I try to keep it pretty short. During the school year we began work around 1:30pm or so... I'd try to start earlier, right after lunch but we are pretty relaxed so it didn't usually happen so easily. I covered everything that required teaching from me and then We walked down to the school to pick up another girl (I have a home daycare) then we had "Homework time" from about 3pm-4pm Sami finished whatever she hadn't finished, the preschool girl colored or did a preschool workbook and the older girl did whatever Homework she had from school. In the summer we still HS but we do whatever we feel like as we feel like doing it. This seems to mean we do alot of reading and math and nothing else except outside activities.. HS group, VBS, Missionettes etc.
