Our Schedule
Here’s a peak at our spring schedule, an ever-morphing work in progress. But perhaps it will give you some ideas. (or, check out our current summer schedule)
5:30 Pour my first cup of coffee and start devotions.
6:00-7-ish Check email, blog, read other blogs, and complete any other computer related tasks until children wake up.
7:00-7:30 Breakfast
7:30-8:00 Oversee the kids’ morning chores (i.e. put their clothes on, make beds, feed the dog, put jammies away)
8:00-8:30 Call my Mom or put finishing touches on the school day.
8:30-9:00 Shower, dress, do hair and make-up (hubby likes to see me looking beautiful, even if no one else sees me)
9:00 Start School! I close the school room door on all household chores and do not answer the phone (unless it’s hubby) until school is done.
9:00-9:20 “Good morning!” hugs and kisses. We pray to start the day: some days I will pray, some days I will ask one of them to pray. We say the pledge and sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Then, we got to our calendar, talk about the month, count up to the day of the month, go over days of the week (yesterday, today, tomorrow), discuss the season and the weather. Next–the kids’ favorite part of the morning–we sing “This is the Day” while they dance around the room. We recite a poem we are working on, go over Bible verses they are memorizing and sing a few more songs. Somewhere between 9:15 and 9:20, I dismiss them to their seats, make any announcements for the day, and then announce “You may begin!” They are always excited to start peaking into their pockets to see what we’ll be doing that day.
9:20-9:50 We work through pockets at about 10 minutes each, and I do try to stay pretty strictly to that schedule. Any unfinished work goes into a folder at the top to be worked on during extra time (i.e. if they finish another pocket in less than 10 min.).
9:50-10:00 Phonics Poster Center–we sing our review songs, go over charts and flashcards and blend ladders, and play a game that reinforces the new concept for the day.
10:00-10:30 Work through some more pockets and have snack.
10:30-10:40 Numbers Poster Center–we sing “1 little, 2 little, 3 little _____” and choose something that starts with the letter we are learning; review flashcards; count to 100; and play games reinforcing math concepts (place value, money, time, basic addition)
10:40-11:10-ish Finish our pockets and any left-over projects that didn’t get wrapped up from earlier pockets. School is dismissed.
11:15-noon I try to put the school room back in order while the kids play. Ideally, I like to have the pockets refilled with the activities for the next day before I leave the school room. Then, start lunch prep–and try to remember to take out frozen items for supper (the items I forgot to take out at breakfast).
Noon–Lunch time. A couple days a week I try to read aloud during lunch periods, choosing stories I know they will like and that I will want them to read as they get older. I figure if we make happy memories with those books now, they’ll be more likely to pick them up and read them later on (At Poohs’ Corner; Charlotte’s Web; and this summer, Around the World in 80 Days, abridged children’s version).
1:00-2:30 Clean kitchen, play in the garden, etc.
2:30-4:30 Naptime and quiet time. Peace and QUIET! I try to work on school prep for next week and next term during this time, and of course, housework. (This time is obviously approximate–sometimes I get much less than two hours.)
4:30- Begin supper prep and the evening routine. Kids are in bed by around 8:30, and hubby-time after that. I try to be in bed by 10:30, with coffee prepped and set on delay for the next morning’s ritual.
