school schedule Archives - Growing In Grace

Our 2013 Routine

October 16, 2013Tracy

I love getting a glimpse behind the scenes of someone else’s household, not just for curiosity-sake but for ideas. So, I’m offering up the same privilege. Here’s the behind the scenes look at our schedule for mornings and homeschool. Yours doesn’t need to match mine; but if you’re wondering how to “fit it all in,” here’s my routine for some ideas.

My Morning…

begins at 5:30 a.m. with a cup of coffee and the Lord. This is my hour of power, my time to meet with God for those new mercies He’s promised to give each morning. I spend time studying the Word (I’m in Romans, currently) and praying.

At 6:30, my ipod alarm sounds for me to jump in the shower. I have thirty minutes here to make myself presentable, and another 15 minutes or so to get breakfast for everyone. Then, at 7:15-ish I wake the kids and have them dress and make their beds before coming down for breakfast. Their “chores” are simple: brush their teeth and hair, make bed and put pajamas away, sweep crumbs under the table or wipe the bathroom counters.

Our school “bell” goes off at 8 a.m., and everyone is expected to be on time.

Our School Day…

starts with prayer and our calendar time in our upstairs space. Then, we bring our boxes downstairs to the table for “Memory Period.” This is my time to go over our memory work: Bible, Latin, and History. Most of this is set to music, so in essence, we sing different songs and chants for about 15-20 minutes.

Bible: Teach them the Faith catechism songs and their AWANA work

Latin: Song School Latin songs

History: some flashcard facts (using an ipod app) and our timeline chant (Veritas Press timeline facts from a youtube video)

We end this period with any particular announcements that I need to make to both of them about their work.

8:30

Oldest goes off to do his independent work and his Reflex math game (for math facts review). Middlest begins her time with me. We start with her math and finish with phonics, reading, and cursive. I also assign an art project or motor skills activity for her to complete during my time with Oldest.

9:30

Middlest begins her project/activity while Oldest begins his time with me. (When Middlest finishes, she has the rest of the hour for recess up in her room.) We go over his work pages that he did during his independent time and cover new concepts. Then, we move on to his language arts—phonics, spelling, and grammar on alternating days. We’ll finish with some reading if we have time, if not we save his reading for a break later in the day or after lunch.

10:30 or 11

Sometimes Oldest’s time takes a little longer, so I keep this time a little flexible from day-to-day. During this time, we’re back together. And it’s time for some hot cocoa! We go over some very basic map work (from Story of the World [SOTW]), and I start their SOTW audio lesson. Usually, we’ll do a coloring page or other activity during the story or after it is finished. I’ll also ask some review questions after the story to highlight what I want them to remember (and to make sure they listened).

Following the audio, we’ll do a read-aloud from the Tapestry curriculum. This is either classic literature (i.e. King Arthur) or Church History (biography of Martin Luther). Sometimes I will read, and sometimes Oldest will do some of the reading.

11:30-ish

It’s time for our extras. This alternates on different days of the week. Two days are devoted to science, two days to Latin, and one day to art/music.

Noon

On a good day, we’re done! On other days, we’ll wrap up anything left after a lunch recess. But by noon, it’s definitely time for a break.

And what’s the Littlest been up to all this time? He’s either napping or playing with an activity. I try to find at least one special activity for him daily, either from pinterest or from the Flowering Baby curriculum that I have for him. And Middlest loves to play with him for me; she’s a big helper. He wanders in and out of our lessons, sits in my lap or on my hip, goes off to play, sits in his high chair for a snack or some “coloring”, and then takes a nap.

I also have certain ipod activities or activity pages for the kids to do if I get interrupted. When the phone rings, when Littlest needs a diaper change or has gotten into trouble, the kids can stay busy for the 3-5 minutes that it takes for me to get everyone settled again.

After School…

our schedule varies from day to day. But essentially, the kids play—sometimes with me, sometimes on their own—until about 3 p.m. Then, everyone is down for either naps or quiet time. Most of the time, the older two get quiet time, which is a time to work on projects, play in our art bag, or listen to audio stories. This lasts until 4:30 or 5. It’s my time to get a few things done, or welcome people into our home.

Then, 4:30 begins my dinner prep routine, followed by supper, some family time, and bedtime. That’s my day, roughly. There’s always the unexpected that pops up and throws the day off, but this is our go-to, the ideal we are striving for.

Now, I ask that you pray for us. This is a schedule that works well for us, so please pray that we can maintain it as much as possible, and that I have the wisdom to tweak it when needful.

Thanks! It’s good to have friends on this journey.

The New Groove

September 25, 2012Tracy3 Comments

After the flu and a rough start, we’ve finally got a good groove going. We’re still making adjustments along the way, but I must say I’ve been very encouraged overall.

One of my greatest concerns this year was having three kids going three different directions. Could I coordinate it all? I know there are mothers who homeschool 7 or 8 and all in different grades and accomplish it just fine. But could I? I was a little nervous about it.

Obviously, everything is still pretty new and exciting to everyone, but here are a few things we’ve done that have really helped to pull things together for us.

First, we start together. We begin with prayer, the pledge and national anthem, some fun rhythm and silly song activities, calendar time, and our memory work (a poem and a Scripture verse). Then, we have Bible time together, using our Tapestry of Grace materials.

After about a half hour together, we split ways. Oldest starts the day with his Reflex Math, and Middlest begins with me. (Littlest starts in the floor and usually ends up in my lap.)

Middlest’s favorite subject is math, so we begin there. She’s working on identifying numbers up to 20, counting to 100, skip counting by 10, and some basic addition. We work together through her activities and flashcards before moving on to reading. For reading, we’ve transitioned with a read-aloud; she picks the story. After I read, she “reads” to me.

We’ve been having a lot of fun with the “Funny Words” activity from Confessions of a Homeschooler. It gives her all of the same practice as her blend flashcards, and she works through them much more willingly. She is getting really good at deciphering her three letter words.

I also have her practice reading one of her little readers from A Beka. She’s not very confident yet, and thus, not always very willing to read to me. BUT, she eagerly reads to Littlest, so that’s my tactic. Any time I sense hesitation to read to me, I suggest that she reads to him. The last thing I want is to associate reading with something she dreads. At her age, I definitely want school to be fun; it can be hard work, but I want it to be hard work she enjoys or that is rewarding for her.

All of this takes us roughly 30 to 45 min. Oldest usually finishes his computer math in about 15 to 20 min. and then begins on his worksheets. When I’ve finished with Middlest, I set her to work on a worksheet and then move her to the computer. Littlest grabs a mid-morning snack while Oldest finishes up his independent work. Then, after I put Littlest down for a nap, I do a speed drill with Oldest and finish his math “classwork” with him (using A Beka). Next is his language arts: phonics cards and language arts concepts; reading assignment; and spelling words. This takes us another 30 to 45 min.

By around 11 a.m., we are ready to begin our Tapestry activities: map work, read-alouds, art and crafts, etc. We wrap it up at about noon and break for lunch.

So that’s our new groove! I can’t tell you how relieved I am that everything is meshing together as smoothly as it is right now. I know every day won’t be smooth sailing (I’m bracing myself for the upcoming storms!), but at least this first success has given me the confidence I needed to meet the obstacles we’ll face later this year.

How have your first few weeks been, and what have they taught you?