Daily Schedule

Several people have asked what an average day of homeschooling is like for us. Of course, no two days are exactly alike. It's part of the beauty and also the challenge of homeschooling. But I have found that an organized day makes me a happier mom and better teacher, so we lean toward the more scheduled way of doing this.

In the mornings, after we eat breakfast and the children feed the animals, I send them downstairs to start writing in their journals. This includes writing down the day's date and then writing and/or drawing about a topic (Autumn draws with a little writing, Micah does about half-and-half, and Jonah almost exclusively writes). I've started assigning topics to give them ideas, but sometimes they have other things to record. I love it when that happens! This is when I clear the breakfast mess and look over the day's lesson plans, plus take just a minute or two to get myself mentally ready to begin (i.e., eat a piece of chocolate, look at a blog, check my email; you get the idea.)

Next comes our morning devotional. This is basically a song, prayer, often a recitation of something we're memorizing, then reading scriptures. We end the devotional with a read-aloud. Currently, we're working through the Little House series. And I've learned to let the kids (this is particularly important for my boys) take out toys to build with... it helps them be better listeners!

After our devotional, we jump into our academic subjects. The exact scheduling took a couple months to work out, but our typical morning looks like this:

	Jonah	Micah	Autumn
9ish	Math	Handwriting/Silent Reading/Phonics	Phonics/ Handwriting
10ish	Handwriting/Grammar Workbooks/Spelling/Poetry Memorization (on alternate days, writing workshop)/silent reading	Math	Math/Silent Reading
11 or so	---Language Arts with Everybody---

I'm nearly always working with one child (usually on the couch) while the others are doing independent work (normally at our school table). That was truly my biggest challenge in the beginning. I felt so overwhelmed trying to teach kindergarten, first grade & third grade math lessons simultaneously!! Our schedule has saved my poor brain!

By the time we're finished with this, it's time for recess & lunch. Also, someone always finishes before it's time to move on to the next subject. During that "down-time," they either play with little brother or choose between certain independent activities. Gabe needs that time to be played with; and we need him to be happy!! Today, he was especially grumpy. On days like this, an empty room apart from where we homeschool provides the perfect sanctuary (for playing toys or, like we resorted to this morning, watching a favorite DVD.)

By now, you're probably sorry you (or someone else!) asked. And, because this post seems WAY too long already, I'll share our afternoon schedule tomorrow.