Our homeschool week

I blogged a few weeks ago about us starting to use a routine/schedule this year to try and help things happen. It's been several weeks of trying it out so now is a good time to talk about how it's been going.

I think I followed the "ideal" schedule exactly for one day. And then made some effort the rest of the week. I knew it was more of a guide than a schedule, so I was okay with this. But it was clearly in need of some major adjustments, so I did that. It helped some.

What I can't figure out is why I do better at checking things off when they are in that schedule format instead of just a list format. I just procrastinate things on a list indefinitely while the schedule format (which I use more as a loose routine guide) keeps me more on task. Not sure why.

The past week has been very loose and yet we've still done our things each day happily. Just spread out. The most important thing is getting cleaning chores and violin practice done in the morning. Then the rest of the stuff happens as the kids request it (they reference the schedule as a list of ideas I think) or as I suggest it.

Typical day: Wake up, breakfast, cleaning jobs for boys, violin practice, laundry, dishes. Lunch, put Munchkin down for nap. Then we did read aloud time, language arts with Dinoguy, handwriting practice, science, history, math, phonics, etc. Late afternoon brings dinner prep if its not in the crockpot, tutoring several days a week for me during which the kids can play computer or video games. Dinner time, family time, scripture time, bed time, (online tutoring for me).


Repeat. 

Mondays' focus is cleaning the house and FHE in the evening, Tuesday we have violin lessons and group lessons every other week, Wednesday we have clubs and classes with the homeschool group and Dinoguy has cubscouts, Thursdays' are park day (for 2-3 hours midday) and Friday is library day. Friday night is family movie night which we pick out at the library usually.

We're busy but not rushed and busy feeling. Plenty of down time, plenty of time for games and reading and outdoor playtime.

I haven't figured out the best day for errands/groceries though. It used to be Tuesday before Violin lessons started again, but that isn't going to work.

Routines and Schedules

What role should routines and schedules play in the lives of my children? How are they helpful? How do they hinder? I have been known to vocally reject the arbitrary schedules imposed by traditional schools for when children should learn certain topics. I strongly believe in letting a child grow into wanting to learn, not arbitrarily imposing it based on age.

And yet, I think people crave structure in their lives and create it spontaneously - even without realizing sometimes. We have routines and schedules in life and to ignore them or pretend they don't exist is akin to sticking your head in the sand.

Furthermore, my children ask for routines. They want to understand time and the schedules that exist around them. What do we do on this day? When are we going to visit Grandma? How long until lunch? What day of the week is it? How many days until Sunday? How many hours until my baseball game?

But really, aren't strict schedules one of the big weaknesses of mass schooling? Right when you were really getting into thinking in French and learning a great deal, the bell rang and you had to stop thinking in French and start thinking in mathematics. Then as soon as you get in a good groove with math, it is time to stop again and focus on history. Schedules don't care if you'd like to spend the entire day doing science experiments or baking. The bell and the clock are merciless.

Homeschooling means not being held to a strict schedule (unless you choose it). I love that by homeschooling, we can spend our time following our interests and we have more time because time is not lost in administrative tasks or in as much getting the kids to settle down. What takes seven hours in an elementary school classroom of twenty can take less than two hours when you are working with just one or two kids.

And yet.

Without a schedule or routine, how do you remember all the things you want to pursue? How do you make sure that music practice happens before baby takes a nap? When I've told my son we will build bridges and realize I've been putting him off for a week because I forget and then he only asks when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner, we both feel frustrated. I am a easily distracted person. Sitting down at the computer to look up a phone number can result in me spending an hour doing all sorts of interesting internet things but I forget to look up that phone number. Cleaning the kitchen can result in me deciding to reorganize the cabinets and two hours later the kitchen is a bigger wreck than it was when I started and I'm sitting in the middle of it, reading a cookbook and planning to bake brownies. (Sidetracked Home Executive anyone?) Making plans and following routines can help make sure things happen.

So this year I created a school schedule just to see if it would help. After one day of feeling rushed, I realized I would let it be more of a guide and a routine than a strict schedule. The past three days it has guided us, but we have not followed it strictly. I think that it has been serving us well.

Having routines helps make sure that the house doesn't become a giant trash pit. We already have many such routines in place. Adding a school routine of spending about an hour in the morning on music, than about an hour in the morning and another one in the afternoon on "school-y" pursuits helps make sure that all we want to do in a day happens. It isn't set in stone and it is flexible. But having it posted helps us remember what our goals are for the day. And happily, it seems to lead to extra time spent learning and investigating and really communicating about what our desires for learning are.

So as the year goes on, I hope that having a schedule/routine continues to help us and not hinder us. If it is hindering us from loving learning, it's got to go. But if it is helping us pursue our goals then it is a good thing!

How do you feel about routines and schedules?

Tuesday...

Walk dog
Have breakfast
Practice violins
Sing Arabic songs
Put Munchkin down for nap
Do cleaning jobs (we use chorebuster to assign different jobs around the house each day.)
Read books (Today - No place like Space, Growing crystals & Jimmy's Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash)
Play board game (Battleship today)
Do science experiment (growing rock candy today)
Lunch & scripture study squeezed in for me (usually during breakfast but whenever can be squeezed in right?)
Explore websites (today - Cosmeo they do geography puzzles, programming botz, number dojo, and Egyptian sticker pages)
Craft project (painting something built at Home Depot)
Munchkin needs another nap
Cook dinner & eat (hamburgers)
I go to the Family History center for my volunteer shift on Tuesday nights and kids play with Fixitman
More books & Scripture stories before kids bed
I log in to tutor online for an hour before bed.

Peaceful and lovely.