The Schedule

So, I make one (or more) every year. Though I rarely follow it to the letter, it always serves me well, just to see where my time goes, how to fit in all that needs doing, and simply having a plan for the day.
Some explanation:

• The "5 fingers" refers to our 5 Finger Chores, which you can read about here.
• IEW happens Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; Logic, Dictation, and Science are Tuesday and Thursday.
• We have our Music study on Mondays, Latin is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and we finish the week with Art on Friday.

	Mom	Abi	Anna	Noah	Ellie	Dan	Caleb
6 – 6:30	Quiet Time
6:30 – 7	Exercise
7 – 7:30	Get Kids up	5 fingers	5 fingers	5 fingers	5 fingers	5 fingers
7:30 - 8	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
8 – 8:30	Chores	AM Chores	AM Chores	AM Chores	AM Chores	Play	Play
8:30 – 9	Work with Girls	IEW/ Logic	IEW/ Dictation	Handwriting	Play	Play	Pack & Play
9 – 9:30	Work with big 3	IEW/ Science	IEW/ Science	Science/Free	Play	Play	Pack & Play
9:30 – 10	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Color	Color	Color
10 – 10:30	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Music/Latin/Art	Color	Color	Color
10:30 – 11	Work  with Littles	Literature	Literature	Literature	Kindergarten	PreK	Pack & Play
11 – 11:30	Marking	Literature	Literature	Literature	Project box	Project box	Play
11:30 – 12:15	Math	Math	Math	Math	Play	Play	Play
12:15 - 1	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1 – 2	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	Nap	Nap
2 – 2:30	Bible	Bible	Bible	Bible	Bible	Nap	Nap
2:30 - 3	Language Arts/ Marking	Language Arts	Language Arts	Language Arts		Nap	Nap
3 – 4	History	History	History	History		Nap	Nap
4 – 4:30	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud	Read Aloud
4:30 – 5	PM Chores	PM Chores	PM Chores	PM Chores	PM Chores	Play	Play
4:30 – 5	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
5 – 6	Dinner Prep	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
6 – 6:30	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos	Dinner & Devos
6:30 – 7	Clean up	Help out	Help	Help out	Help	Help out
7 – 7:30	Oversee bathtime	Bath/Free	Bath/Free	Bath/Free	Bath/Free	Bath/Free	Bath/Free
7:30 – 8					Bed	Bed	Bed
8 – 8:30		Bed	Bed	Bed

 

So, now you know what we're up to when I'm not answering my phone...:)

 

A Few New Things

I know I shared the overall plan of what we're doing for school this year, I've also started a few new things that have helped this past week or just made our school time a little more fun:

• They have cool subject binder covers.
  

This may not be that popular with high school students, but for elementary and middle school students, having something fun that you can decorate yourself is a big deal.

• We have an "I wonder..." board. You know all those interesting/random questions your kids ask you that deserves an answer but not in the middle of a math lesson? Well, we set up a cork board, provided some slips of paper, and now when there is a question, they write it down and pin it to the board. During some down time, one of the older kids or myself can choose a question, Google it, and voila - one of the perks of homeschooling has been recognized without derailing a whole hour of work.
• The little guys have a duplo challenge. I constructed some fairly simple duplo creations, took pictures of them, printed and laminated them. Then I loaded up some baskets with the photos and the duplos needed to replicate what's in the photos. Dan is getting really good at studying the cards and working to build the exact picture on the card! I know it's teaching him some good skills, but mainly I'm happy that it keeps him constructively occupied for a few minutes.
• I work with them. While the big girls are growing in independence (and it's about time, too!), I'm choosing to work along side them in certain areas. I practice the Latin prayers, read the musical biographies, and try to draw the pictures. Modeling being a learner, I hope, will take some of the fear out of being learners themselves.

What fun things are you doing to make this school year fun?