I have gotten lots of emails and comments lately asking about my daily school routine/schedule and/or planning routine. I will do my best to give you a Behind the Scenes look into this area of our life, but I must warn you, the answers may surprise you!
I think I tend to *look* rather organized and in control on my blog(s) but in real life I am a bit all over the place. So I will be very transparent here for you all, and you will see I am not the super-mom some of you think I am!
Here are some of the most common questions I have gotten…
What is your daily schedule?
- Honestly…I am a daily schedule drop-out. I tried, even made a lovely schedule to hang up on the wall and we followed it for awhile. Then I realized that it just didn’t jive with us. So we have switched to more of a general routine, with no set schedule. For those of you interested in seeing how we began, and my lovely intentions of having a schedule, here ya go…
So here goes the next question…
What does your general daily routine look like?
Now that I can answer, we do have one of those ;). I will give you the long drawn out details the best I can for a *normal* day at home right now. Keep in mind I am pregnant, my husband works odd hours (we are missionaries), and this is not EVERY day!
- 8:00-8:30 Daddy feeds boys breakfast and I have “me” time (mostly computer, and getting ready)
- 8:30-9:00-no real plans, Daddy leaves at 9, so sometimes this is just transition time.
- 9:00-10:30ish-I focus on Krash and Tot School. During this time Pac-Man will do a few independent school work items, then play with us some. Pac Man will also have some free time during this time frame too (depends on my stress level of handling him being a part of Tot School-sometimes the fighting is just too much for me).
- 10:30ish-11:30ish-I am usually worn out by this time and will put in a movie for Krash, or he will play on his own, depends on how difficult he is being that day.
- 11:30-I begin preparing lunch, the kids just play
- 12:00ish-we eat lunch.
- after lunch: Krash goes down for a nap.
- While I am putting Krash down, Pac-Man does his silent reading time.
- 1:00ish-3:00ish Pac-Man’s focused school time with me. We do not go in any particular subject order, we just get done what we need to get done and tyr our best to enjoy our couple of hours alone together!
I hope that helps. Here’s a bit more info about us…YES my kids do watch tv, yes they play video games, yes they drive me nuts, yes I look like a horrible mom some days, yes I just tell them to leave me alone for awhile sometimes, yes I LOVE THEM DEARLY and wouldn’t want life any other way than this way-homeschooling! Oh and yes we spend some days out of the house. Krash takes a gym class at the Y on Tues and Thurs, and Pac plays soccer for the Y too. Daddy also takes them out a lot when he can. We also go to fun children’s places when I have the energy (which isn’t much lately).
How do you plan for Krash? (Tot School, age 33 mos)
- I didn’t plan much until recently. I kept all of my ideas on a list and my tools/toys in one area and just chose activities. I have now begun to plan more to be a bit more focused. I plan to do an extensive post on this soon.
How do you plan for Pac-Man? (currently ending 1st grade in a few weeks)
- I usually plan weekly for Pac Man, and have used many different planning sheets. I have added them to my site (blanks of course) in case they could be of help to any of you. Currently I use the weekly planning sheet found in the Old School House Planner.
I could make it on my own, and honestly don’t know why I am sticking with this one, but I am, I like it.
- I fill out our weekly plans for the week on Sat or Sunday, and pull all worksheets necessary.
- Each morning, I get out the materials for the day and decide what Pac could do independently. We usually go over this in the morning. So if I say, “go complete something,” he knows what his options are.
As I said above, I have another Behind the Scenes post in the works detailing Tot School planning, and hope to have it done in a few weeks at least! If you have any questions you hope I address in that, leave them below or email me! Any other routine/schedule questions, leave them in the comments so I can answer them directly in the comments section of this post so others can see!