It's time for another installment for Homeschool Memoirs at The Homeschool Post (formerly known as The Homeschool Blog Awards). This theme (which is last week's) is Routines.This could get interesting. You're talking about a woman who has a hard time with routines. Just the word itself conjures up images of consistency and habits. I've found that the only consistency in life I have is being inconsistent. Well, that and Dr Pepper, but I doubt that second one counts for much. Unless you work at the Dr Pepper plant and then you likely appreciate me. But I digress.
Anyway, we actually DO have a routine and we've been known to follow it. On occasion. So when we are on track, it looks something like this:
Disclaimer: Add the suffix -ish to all times listed below.
6:45 - Have breakfast, Bible study, and quiet time. Hopefully early enough to join Hubby. Do a quick check of email, twitter, and blogosphere.
8:30 - Get the boys up, utilizing the loud, meowing feline alarm clock. They eat breakfast while I shower, get dressed, and get laundry going.
9:00 - Begin school with Bible reading & discussion and prayer
9:45 - Take a walk (usually).
10:30 - Get home (depends upon where we walk). Snack time. Boys work on English & Math. I help as needed. I also load the dishwasher, tidy up the kitchen, and take the next step with laundry.
Noon - Have lunch. Sometimes I prepare lunch. Other days, they come fix their own.
By 1:00 - Back to school. 3+ days we do Science. Also KONOS unit study. Boys wrap up anything undone in Math or English. On Thursdays, the Comedian has bowling league.
They're usually done anywhere from 3:00-4:00. Art and computer usually happen in the afternoon. We still need to add foreign language into our days. I also include Practical Living Skills throughout our week, be it cooking, laundry, or other useful training. It seems that we might do something else (or maybe we should), but I can't figure out what I'm missing here.
The things that make the biggest difference for me are:
- Quiet time with the Lord first thing - before the boys wake up
- School plans the weekend/night before
- Having meals planned and dinner started before 10:00 a.m.
- Ignoring the phone during school hours
- Staying home
When I follow the routine, things really go quite well. It's those FBTSOMP (Fly By The Seat Of My Pants) days that don't. Been there, done that too many times. Usually results in attendance at Slacker School. No thank you.
Homeschool Light 101 - This is the modified version of our routine which has been implemented during the "Mom has to pack the house, because we might move one of these days" mode. In this case, we have Bible & prayer and the boys do their English, Math, and reading. Sometimes we still get other subjects in, but not often.
2 comments:
I don't enjoy Slacker School much either. :)
I am in complete agreement with your list of things that make the most difference. And I have the added bonus that my phone doesn't even work. ;)
Wish I could come help you pack! I love organizing stuff.
Hello Mrs. G -
I wanted to come by and say thank you for your lovely comment you left on my Too Hard? post. I was very much encouraged by it, as I hope my post was to you.
I tried to be nice and encouraging in my post where I talked about everything having to be comfortable for Christians these days, but it really angers me that most Christians today have to have be THAT way or they don't act as Christians. We do need comfort, but not worldly comfort. We need the comfort that comes from His loving arms, and that will stay with us everyday. As it says in the New Testament, "All the former things will pass away." I don't think Christians today understand that. Everything in this earth will pass away, nothing will remain. There will be a New Heaven and a New Earth. I wish Christians would realize that. All of their earthly stuff will have no place in the Kingdom of God. We NEED to realize that. I am going to do a post about having things, and I hope you will read it.
We are all guilty of that I think. But that is our nature. Yes, God gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us and help to serve Him better. The Holy Spirit makes me think about if what I am doing is sinning or if what I am helping someone else d is sinning. (Another post about that coming soon.) I must agree, it's a matter of what the individual Christian believes, what he chooses to do. It is a good thing to think about. Man, Mrs. G, you are giving me tons of post ideas! lol Thank you for your comment. I was so encouraged by it. :)
I am very glad I could be an encouragement to you. I do hope that I can be to all who read my blog. :)
Love and blessings to you,
Rachel
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