Since this is going to be my first year home with the kids in the morning, What time do you start schooling??? I was thinking getting up at 7 and beginning by 8 on our days home. I use to work in the morning and just start schooling when I got home but God has different plans for this year. So, since this will be new to me, talk to me about your morning routine. Oh, I almost forget.... My kids are use to being lazy in the morning because of my work schedule. Last year they got up around 8:30 or 9 then some TV then mom got home around 9:30. So, this is going to be a change, especially since mom is a early bird....
I let the kids sleep in till 8 and we start at 9 at the latest. My younger two are usually up earlier so I might start with them on a subject or two and then work with my oldest later after she wakes up. She has hypothyroidism, so extra sleep can be important for her. She's also a night person and sometimes does her work in the evening becuase she is more awake. We tend to be pretty flexible.
As long as my kids are going to sleep easily in the evening, I let them sleep until they wake in the morning (different for each). We have breakfast together (finally!), usually listening to an audio recording of a Bible passage, literature selection, or history chapter. If I've already eaten, then I will do the reading. (Some days, audio books are the only way I get a peaceful chance to eat.) There are exceptions, of course. For example, the heat wave we've had this summer in TX has been keeping the kids stuck inside. We're luck to get below 80 overnight, highs between 104 and 108 in the afternoon. So, I've been waking them at sunup and kicking, erm, sending them outside to play until 8 AM or so. Then they come in, have breakfast and we start. Next week, I'll have to work Wed, Thurs, and Fri mornings. I think I may just move school into the kitchen or adjoining laundry room. Things just don't happen if I'm not keeping an eye on them, and I'm unwilling to blow off our schedule for that many days in a row.
We usually wake up when the baby wakes up, which is usually around 7. Then DS does chores, which takes about an hour, while the baby watches Dora, and I take a shower. We eat breakfast at around 8, which takes about 30-40 minutes to complete and get all cleaned up, so I'm guessing that we'll be starting school by 9. We start on Monday, so we'll see how it goes.
My sons are 7 and 6. I have always let them wake on their own unless we had somewhere to be at a certain time. We usually start around 9:30 or 10. This year may be different as I'm keeping an 8 month old little girl during the week which will be taking time away from our schooling unless I stay busy and mindful. We start this week so I'm sure I'll find out soon if we need to make some changes.
If my kids wake late in the morning or are allowed to wake slowly, they dawdle all day. I find that they thrive on routine and (unfortunately for their night owl mom) on being an early bird. Also, mine wet their beds (genetic issue) EVERY night and they get up and deal with sheets, clothes, shower, etc... So, our mornings are usually this.. Up around 6:30... make breakfast while hubby wakes himself and kids... Throwing all wet sheets/clothes in wash (kids do this) Pray before breakfast... then breakfast... AM chore (each kid has one small chore) Dad goes to work... kids do "self check"... that's a list of things they do to clean/prepare selves for day... School... usually started before 8. We start school with a morning meeting, where we help the preschooler learn her ABC's (big kids do them in sign language)... we do pledges to bible and american flag... we have announcements, prayer, and some type of warm up excercise.... Then comes math... math HAS to be put here because any other time of day and it is HORRIBLE to get my eldest to accomplish it. Then we do all other subjects for the day... stopping for lunch, short "recess" and after lunch chore (another small chore)... Then we finish any extra project, work we are behind on... or kids just finish up their assignments from the day independently. Then we are done.
oh... and I'm interviewing for a job third shift on Monday... it will be full time, but only seasonal. Not sure what season.. but it's supposed to be seasonal. If I get that job, I will be setting up dinner and making it so hubby only has to reheat. (he's not the cooking type.. if he had to do dinner every day, my kids would get mac n cheese every day..) Then I'll wake up around seven thirty... kids will spend an hour with me... they will go to bed... I'll have an hour to do dishes/clean kitchen if hubby didn't have time and then I'll be headed to work. Good gravy, I sure hope I can do it!
We started out getting up at 7 and doing school at 8. However we were being done by 10:30 so I felt that was not necessary. Now I have been letting the girls sleep in until they naturally wake up (normally around 8:30) and starting school around 9 or 9:30. My goal is to be done by lunch each day but there have been days where there is still work to do in the afternoon. As we get further into the year there is more work and it takes a little more time than it did the first week. (my girls are almost 2, 4, and 6)
I get the kids up at 7 and we go jogging. We are usually back around 7:45. We then eat breakfast and then start school. Sometimes it's 8:00 sometimes it's 8:30. My kids are 15 & 17 so I need to get them up and going, teenagers would sleep all day if you let them.
Last year we started at 10 on Mondays and 9 the rest of the week. That allowed me an extra cleaning hour on Mondays. We were often extending our day past lunch and I hated that. This year we've been starting at 8 every day and it's so much nicer for us. We are almost always done by lunch time, and if I know we're going over I try to keep the last subject(s) things they can do independently. I feel like I need at least a couple hours between school and dinner prep to stay sane.
7:30 wake up, wash up, dressed, make bed, eat breakfast (no tv or computers 'til after school) 8:30 Bible, announcements, workplans handed out 9:00 Everybody gets started on their schoolwork. I work with youngest first 11:30 LUNCH and break (short walk, walk the dog, something outside) 12:30 Back to schoolwork (usually this is the time the older two get my attention. Younger one does printing work, puzzles, Magic Schoolbus DVD's or books on tape for a little while longer, then has free time.) 3:00 Assigned schoolwork should be done by this time. 4:00 Anywork that was assigned for the day but not completed is to be finished between 4-5p along with chores.
We've made changes this year! I learned very quickly that my school day works best when we get up with Daddy (6 AM). The idea was breakfast and devotions as a family, but that never did work out. We'd get started with school between 7 and 7:30. That would help us for the days where we had to be somewhere in the AMs, which was most days. I'd get a good two hours of going over work with the kids, and then they knew what they had to do while we were out and about (ie: they had a list to do while at Staff Meeting or piano lessons, etc.). This year, we only have one "travel day", and Faythe is SUCH a pain to work with earlyl. We are now getting up at 7:30, and I want to start school between 8 and 8:30. We'll see how it works, but the first week went OK.
Well, I still have young ones and our days don't take us too long. So I let them get up when they are ready (usually 7:30-8), they have breakfast, do their morning chores, and then they play outside for a bit (it's summer and we live in the desert so morning is the best time to play outside). They come in and we have lunch around 11:30, then the 2yo goes for nap and we start our day. Generally they are done by the time he wakes up, so we spend about 3 hours a day working. Sometimes we work during outside playtime doing fun school stuff, and sometimes they will start their work early if they want to. I never start teaching before the baby goes to bed though. If they need more time after he wakes up then I entertain the baby with his "school toys" while they finish up.
We never start at the same time, just whenever we get up. Also, we don't take Saturday or Sunday off and we have never taken summer off. We take a day or two here and there, we school all day, we stay up late, we school even on the road. We used to take spring off because of baseball, but they haven't played in about 5 years, so we just school all the time. BUT, we don't stick to specific curriculums (except Math - Life of Fred!!!!!), so most of our work is research-based. We have curriculum and they do work out of it, but it's never limited to that.
We are pretty flexible, but almost all of our 'school-days' have to be one on one with each child. I tried doing them both at the same time and they fought like CRAZY. So ds is a morning person, we start between 9 and 10. Then after lunch (about 1) I start with dd. With ds, I HAVE to be sitting with him, so during his school time, I am there waiting (a bit frustrating but hopefully temporary). For dd, she doesn't care where I am, and honestly my presence is VERY distracting, so I have a chance to get cleaning done while she's finishing up a subject.
We wake at 6, 6:15 if I hit the snooze. 2 Teenagers prepare for public school and one preteen for home school. Everyone walks out the door at 7:30 , the teens for the bus and the preteen and I are off for our brisk 30 minute walk. We (if all timing goes right) are walking back in our driveway when the bugle begins to play "To the Colors" at 8 am sharp. DS starts with 30 minutes of reading, while I shower and get ready, so we usually start his "lessons" at 8:30. So far this has been working for us. Not sure what will happen when the snow falls lol! I have found with my new rule ( new rule is no tv is turned on until after 3 pm...no matter what) that I am so much more in control of our time!
Wow, you all are so organized. Now, let me ask this question. What are the chores you have to do in the morning?? Is more than making beds and brushing teeth etc...
We had always started by 730 or 8, and this year it was later due to band. That is out this fall semester so we are doing 730 or so again, then we can fit it all in since we are doing High School courses.
The past 4 years of our homeschooling has been where I let the kids sleep in. Sometimes school didn't get started until 1pm. This year, with Ds15 back in school, I'm up at 6, wake DS15 up at 6:15 and he's out the door by 7.. So my plan is to have a little bit of quiet time and then get the other kiddos up and going on their school work by 8. We'll see how that goes. I would LOVE for them to be finished by 12 pm. That way we have the rest of the day to do whatever we want to do.. I plan on having a FUN year with them. School may not be "fun" but what we do after we get it all done will be and hopefully give them something to look forward to and work hard towards.. But this is just my "plan". And you know how thoses "plans" go when it comes to homeschooling. LOL...
