What is your daily/weekly routine? Your teaching space?

[LinaJ]

Since this will be our first year homeschooling, I would like to hear how to structure teaching day/week, what is your weekly routine? Do you teach all subjects through the year for an hour or so a week, or you concentrate on one thing for couple months, then move onto the next one...? Maybe you can point me to any room organizational tips - I don't want books and papers be all over my kitchen table, so we are setting up a quiet room for that.

 

I was trying to search for such threads, but with no luck. I am sure it's been discussed many times.  I fear that I will not be able to keep it serious enough for kids, I need structure myself more than they do. Because with no structure, I get really goosy loosy and get off track. :)

[wintermom]

It would be helpful if you included the ages and number of children you'll be homeschooling, and perhaps what subjects you are planning to include, so that people in that stage can respond in more detail. There are vast differences depending on the age of the child(ren), number of subjects you want to focus on, number of outside-the-home activities you'll be participating in, etc. There is really no "one schedule fits all" for homeschooling, as far as I know.

[fourisenough]

Welcome! I have been homeschooling someone for the last 9 years (never all of mine at once). I treat homeschooling like a job: I start/stop at about the same time everyday, don't schedule any appointments or plan non-school-related outings during our work time, and plod along daily/hourly toward my goal of creating capable/enthusiastic lifelong learners.

 

We have a family of 6 living in about 2000 s.f. with no dedicated school room. We have one large armoire in our dining room which contains most of our school stuff, plus overflowing bookcases in every room. We do most of our work at the kitchen table, with most reading done on living room couch. I typically teach my 9-year old for about 10-20 minutes, followed by 20-30 minutes of independent work time. Obviously that direct instruction/independent work balance shifts with your student's age and maturity level. I use a student planner to record work as it is completed (rather than to plan future work). This works well with open & go curriculum AFTER I have decided what pace is necessary to complete the curriculum in a defined amount of time. For instance, to finish a grade level of math in one school year, I know we need to do 3-4 pages per day, 4 days per week. I'm not a slave to a schedule and can be flexible, but also know that we're chugging along at a reasonable pace.

 

One of my strategies for success is reviewing all work with my students and requiring corrections be made and the work put away in its proper place by the end of the day. This keeps me and my kids accountable and our house tidy! Another strategy that has proven successful for me is to do my work (cooking/dishes/laundry/bills, etc.) very near my students to keep them on track & show them that work time is work time. I avoid telephone conversations while they're working because it is too distracting.

 

We work at home 3.5 days per week and often do about 2-hours of work on Sunday evenings. Since my older girls are in PS, we abide by their school calendar and daily schedule. During the summer we continue with 1-2 hours of daily work, while my older kids typically take enrichment/elective classes (drivers ed, ACT prep class, algebra review, etc). We try to cultivate a learning atmosphere year-round and regardless of whether we're enrolled in school, homeschooling, or just learning for pleasure.

 

I hope some of that is helpful. Please ask questions if you want to know more.

[EKS]

I am going into my twelfth year of homeschooling and have homeschooled all grades between K and high school. I found that doing all subjects every school day works best. This year I will be experimenting with doing four day weeks instead of five with the fifth day being devoted to field trips and other experiential learning. We'll see how that goes.

[Coco_Clark]

Since this will be our first year homeschooling, I would like to hear how to structure teaching day/week, what is your weekly routine? Do you teach all subjects through the year for an hour or so a week, or you concentrate on one thing for couple months, then move onto the next one...? Maybe you can point me to any room organizational tips - I don't want books and papers be all over my kitchen table, so we are setting up a quiet room for that.

 

I was trying to search for such threads, but with no luck. I am sure it's been discussed many times. I fear that I will not be able to keep it serious enough for kids, I need structure myself more than they do. Because with no structure, I get really goosy loosy and get off track. :)

Daily routine in brief: morning time (see siggy, but keep in mind many of those are on a weekly rotation so not done every day!), independent work with DS6, independent work with DS5, break, lunch, afternoon work (another rotation).

 

We do all subjects all year, except we are switching from anatomy to biology halfway in science. We do not do all subjects everyday. I may do more blocking in the future, but at this age my kids enjoy the continuity.

 

I school in the kitchen and livingroom, no space for a schoolroom. We use two bookshelves.

 

I don't want to be self-promoting but I just put up a blog post yesterday on how I create our year/week schedule that may be useful. Link in my signature.

[momto2Cs]

We school 5 days a week, 36-38 weeks a year, with typical summer and winter vacations.

 

BUT...

 

We school Sunday through Thursday so we can hang out with friends on Friday afternoons. I work part-time outside the home in the mornings, M-F, so we do our lessons in the afternoons. We use this sample schedule (with their Fridays as our Sundays) as a jumping off point -- there are variations in the length of lessons, etc. So on most days, we tackle math, language arts, science, and read-alouds. On Sundays, we tackle geography, philosophy/logic, art, Shakespeare, and music. We do all subjects throughout the year.

 

As for where we school, most often it is the family room, which has a big comfy couch and chair (and the TV for documentaries, computer for that type of work, etc.)! We use clipboards for work there, and we do use the dining table for art projects, science projects, etc. I have a long, low bookcase in the dining room for all our school books, and a small dresser in the same room for art supplies, pencils, etc. Each kid has a basket in which they keep the books and supplies they need day-to-day, and when we are done, these go back on the shelf to reduce clutter.

[LinaJ]

Oh wow, so many ideas! I am away from my computer, so I will read it all in detail when I get back in. My kids are 10 and 11. I am planning to teach them both the same curriculum (even though my son is younger, he is a quicker learner, and absorbs better). So far I am overwhelmed with all choices and decisions, so not quite sure what exactly I'll be teaching :)

[Ellie]

Since this will be our first year homeschooling, I would like to hear how to structure teaching day/week, what is your weekly routine? Do you teach all subjects through the year for an hour or so a week, or you concentrate on one thing for couple months, then move onto the next one...? Maybe you can point me to any room organizational tips - I don't want books and papers be all over my kitchen table, so we are setting up a quiet room for that.

 

I was trying to search for such threads, but with no luck. I am sure it's been discussed many times.  I fear that I will not be able to keep it serious enough for kids, I need structure myself more than they do. Because with no structure, I get really goosy loosy and get off track. :)

 

We started hsing when my dds were almost 7 and almost 4; I withdrew my older dd from a private Christian school at Easter vacation of first grade. Because I was convinced that she was burned out and that we needed to do NOTHING for awhile (and I was happy to be in California where I didn't have to be accountable to anyone!), we pretty much didn't do anything that looked like School for about a year and a half.

 

We were not vegetating in our house, though. :-) With a neighbor and another hs friend, we started a multi-age, co-ed Camp Fire club, and our Camp Fire activities became a major part of our curriculum. Dd was also in Missionettes at church. My homeschooling friends were very much NOT into doing school in a box, and so I learned from them how educational life itself can be.

 

Eventually, we worked into this schedule, which I continued until the dc were, oh, 9ish and 12ish:

 

Monday and Tuesday: Official School Days. No outings, no field trips, no errands, no doctors' appointments; no talking on the phone or crafty things for me; Official School Stuff set out on the kitchen table, for dc to do or not. Since we were staying home, they often chose to do their Official School Stuff because there was nothing else to do. :-)

 

Wednesday: Library, every week. All books returned every week, whether they had been read or not (only way I could avoid over-due fines!). Sometimes afterwards we stopped at a friend's house for lunch, or we just came home and read our books, or dc did their own thing.

 

Thursday: Field trip. Yes, every single week we left the house for a field trip. Sometimes we worked on a Camp Fire badge; sometimes it related to something we had read about at home; sometimes It was something I had read about in the newspaper (such as the swallows returning to Mission San Juan Capistrano...not a California native, lol, so that was news to me); sometimes it was just one of the many random things to do in southern California. :-) Mostly it was just the three of us; sometimes I organized a more formal field trip and invited a few friends. Field trip Thursday was a good way for *me* to get out of the house. :-)

 

Friday: Clean house--all the laundry, dust everything, move the furniture and vacuum, clean the bathroom, everything. Once-a-month park day.

 

We had a small house, and my teaching space for Official School Stuff was the kitchen table. :-)

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I only have two kids who are very close in age and work on the same level, so my planning is fairly simple.

 

We school at home 4 days a week.  We have a full day co-op on the 5th day.  

 

On the home days, we have something called Opening Ceremonies, where we talk about plans, review memory work, etc.  That's what we do first.  Then we talk about the order in which we want to accomplish the days plans. We do LA and Math every day, and science and history most days, too.  We do Latin, French, and other add ons 1-3 times per week, depending on the week and what we are studying.  We do chores and other outside activities before or after schooling, depending on the time of the activity.

[Barbiev]

We try to school 4 full days a week and one partial. Most subjects are schedule 3-4 days a week. Math and Writing are scheduled for 5. I keep 1 day a week very light with things that can be done in the car that way we have 1 day a week available for field trips, park days, or appointments. We are not morning people, but we do try to get up and start school by eight so that we can get everything done before we have to leave for swim. The actual days we school can change depending on my husbands schedule. If he has a day off during the week and has to work Saturday then Saturday becomes a school day as I have learned that not much gets done when he is home.

 

I have a chronic illness and because of this we usually bedschool. I tried having a schoolroom once ( I was feeling good at the time and pretty much in remission), but it didn't work. He likes schooling from my bed. I think he's just used to it. He's 11 and whenever I've asked him where he wants to do school he chooses my room. I bought a small bookshelf to keep in my room and we keep any books and supplies that are used daily on it. Anything not used daily and all of our science supplies are stored either in bins or on shelves in the living room. 

[HeWillSoar]

Oh wow, so many ideas! I am away from my computer, so I will read it all in detail when I get back in. My kids are 10 and 11. I am planning to teach them both the same curriculum (even though my son is younger, he is a quicker learner, and absorbs better). So far I am overwhelmed with all choices and decisions, so not quite sure what exactly I'll be teaching :)

 

I'm just starting this year with my 13 year old and I'm also overwhelmed with all of the choices/decisions.  I've read so many books, blogs, etc.  I find that when I read one thing, it leads to something else and it's never ending!  That really is a good thing but it also makes difficult.  I still have some more books I want to read before we start next week (the Beechick book on homeschooling), and although I have most of the curriculum and sort of a plan, I really don't know how it's all going to work together.  I guess once we get going, it will work itself out (I hope).   Just wanted to say I'm right here with you!

[texasmama]

Starting our seventh year homeschooling here.  We have always followed a four day a week, 36 week schedule for our major subjects.  We do extras and catch up on what didn't get done during the summer.  We attend a co op on Friday mornings and have done this for six years. 

 

We do the major subjects daily (but not on Fridays).  "Extras" like geography, logic, art, and poetry study are done 1-2 days a week.  I combine my two boys like the OP wants to combine her kids, and this has worked well for us.

 

Our homeschool books, curricula, and materials live in our dining room.  There is no dining room table, and we have completely taken it over.  We do not school there, though.  We school on the couch and chairs in the living area.  My little dd does have a small desk that I added this year, and she does some written work at her desk, which she loves. 

[73349]

Don't be afraid to try out a routine or location for, say, a month, with the understanding that you'll change whatever isn't working.

We are doing first grade this year. I prefer short lessons and a short day, but a lot of days total. It should look about like this:

 

Monday: gardening, table time (memory work, logic, math, phonics, science), morning snack, couch time (history, author of the week, Spanish), lunch, life skills/nature/health, quiet time, piano practice. In September, he'll have a late afternoon PE class.

 

Tuesday: table time (memory work, math, phonics, writing), morning snack, couch time (history, reading), project time if we get to it, lunch, field trip, quiet time, piano practice.

 

Wednesday: gardening, table time (memory work, math, phonics, writing), morning snack, couch time (religious education), art, lunch, park day, quiet time, piano practice.

 

Thursday: gardening, table time (memory work, math, phonics, writing), morning snack, couch time (history, reading, Spanish), nature/PE/recess, lunch, piano lesson, quiet time, piano practice.

 

Friday: gardening, table time (memory work, math, phonics, science), morning snack, couch time (history, Spanish), art or music, lunch, library, project time, quiet time, piano practice.

 

He'll probably still be in swimming lessons on Saturday mornings, and playdates can fit in the late weekday afternoons. Church/Sunday school will occupy most of Sunday.

 

HTH.

[Spryte]

We use the kitchen table for projects, the couch for reading, and DS has a roll top desk in our living room for work, too.  He keeps his school books in a basket beside the desk, and I have my books/planners/supplies in a secretary type desk in the same room.  Bulging bookcases.  :)  Bins with science supplies, art supplies in the kitchen.  We know where everything is, but we don't have a dedicated school room.  The one year we tried that ... it was a giant fail.  We just don't do school in a room, we tend to learn all over the house, all the time.  The room was ignored, though it looked nice, and was fun to set up.

 

Our schedule might be too loosey goosey for you.  I don't attach times to anything we do.  We have a routine, but it's not happening at the same time each day.  But once we start our "school day" we do the same subjects every day, in the same order.  I divide up how much work I want done in a week, and often if there's a subject in which DS can work ahead - he does. This week, he's finished all of his grammar assignments.  So technically we won't be doing grammar for the rest of the week, but he still finished everything for the week.  He likes to surprise me by working ahead.  :)  I act surprised every time.

 

We study most subjects every day, but we generally do one official art project each week which corresponds to our history (this year we are doing American History, so we are studying American artists).  We also usually devote only one day to poetry, unless DS asks for more.  Other than that, it's basically every subject every day, but DS is they type to delve deeply into his interests during his non-school hours, so he's still spending months on topics of interest, even if we move on. He tends to fall asleep listening to science audiobooks - right now it is A Short History of Nearly Everything.  Sometimes he does history audiobooks before bed, too.

 

We do school Mon - Thurs, with Fri being a school-light day because he has appts out of the house.  We finish anything he didn't do during the week on the weekend.  And we go on a lot of field trips, because we are in a good area for that.  We do those on the weekends so DH can go, too.

 

 

[Nemom]

This is our second full year of hsing after starting mid year in 5th. Give yourself a lot of grace this year and do not be afraid to change something if it doesn't feel right. We ditched the first math program we tried after three days-it was obvious that it was not going to work. We also tried schooling in three areas of the house before we got it right. I loved the kitchen table but it was too distracting for both of us and I felt like I never left school. We now have a small room devoted just to schooling.

 

Expect a lot of trial and error this year and remember to just smile every time you hear, "that is not the way we did it in public school."

[asmall]

We use this sample schedule

Thanks for linking to the sample schedule. I was looking for something simple, but still gets the basic done. I'm finding that we get more done/learned when we keep it simple.

AL

[prairiegirl]

We are going into our 11th year of homeschooling.  Every year has been different due to number of kids I teach, the ages of the kids and other factors.  One important thing to remember when homeschooling is that flexibility is important.

 

We have our formal learning five days a week.Other than what we do during Morning Time, our subjects are done daily. We do not have a timed schedule but, rather, a rhythm to each day.  We haven't started school yet for this year but I am thinking that our rhythm is going to look like this:  Morning Time (for 2 hrs,  we do Bible reading, poetry, Shakespeare, art study, geography, history, literature--most of this is on a weekly rotation,) I work with ds for math, writing, latin,   have lunch then work with dd for reading, math, writing, Spanish while ds does his independent work.  My oldest works totally on her own but I am hoping to get together with her at the end our learning time (hopefully at 3:00 ?  Hopefully?) to discuss things with her and answer any questions she might have.

 

We do have a school room but we don't use it as a family.  My dd uses it to do her school work but the rest of us use the kitchen, living room and family room.  It feels more comfortable to us to spread out.

[bbcooker]

For us what works is:

*A little of all subjects every day.

*Same schedule every day.

*Hardest subjects for You to teach scheduled for when you are Your best in your day.

*Most critical subjects first in the day, so that if they day falls apart, at least the most important got done.

*Enough sleep for y'all!  (Don't short-cut it in the schedule!!  You/kids can't do well with slightly less sleep and never making it up.)

*A list given to your kids on Sun night of all the independent work you'll want them to get done that week, so they can work on their independent work right away at the beginning of days if they have time.

*3 days of school per week for sure of every daily subject, but 4 solid days usually, and try for 5 days a week so you have margin to fall back on during bad/busy weeks.

*A very thought through chore list for the whole week for each person in the house, so that all the weekly/daily house needs are assigned to someone in the house, with a time.

*Enough time schedule for meal prep, meals, and meal clean-up.  A set time for every meal.

*If I need to wake my kids in mornings, making their very first activity be 30min of book reading, so they are separate, working their brain, and relaxed and quiet, which gives them more time to wake up and adjust to the fact that it's morning, without so much squabbling or grumpiness. 

[....]

Since this will be our first year homeschooling, I would like to hear how to structure teaching day/week, what is your weekly routine?

 

We tend to do different things each year based on how busy we will be and what everyone feels like doing.

 

This year, I work with each kid individually (like tutoring) - the youngest always has the option of going first.  She has a plastic bin with a bunch of different books in them -some school workbooks, some sticker books, animal books, a children's Bible and some literature/poetry books.  I just let her pull whatever she wants out of the bin and we work on it together.  She works for maybe 30-40 minutes.

 

The 9 yro and 11 yro also have plastic bins (covered in Spiderman stickers), but each day they need to do math and language arts with me.  I also let them just pick whatever they want to do each day.  Once a week, they do chemistry together.  They work for about 1-2 hours.  

 

The 12 yro has a schedule on an Excel spreadsheet, so she knows exactly what she's supposed to do each day.  I wouldn't normally do this, but she asked for it.  She works for maybe 2 and a half hours.

 

We do other stuff, too.  We go to the library once a week, we watch documentaries, we go to museums...  When it's cool out, we go hiking, fishing, etc.  My kids all have hobbies.  My son makes models of aircraft and tanks.  My oldest is obsessed with botany and fish.  My 9 yro spends a lot of time on the computer with MIT's Scratch and face timing her cousin and showing him how to enter different Minecraft servers so they can "meet".  LOL.  The 9 yro and 6 yro also like to sew, draw and paint.

 

My kids also do outside classes.  All four of my kids are in martial arts.  The older two help teach classes...my son is on a competition team.  They are usually at the gym 3-4 days a week.  My youngest is starting ballet and my 9 yro is taking art classes at a studio.  Sometimes we take classes at a homeschool enrichment center, but I couldn't get the kids into anything this year.  The classes all filled up right away.

 

That's what our schedule looks like.  Good luck with homeschooling!   

[kristi26]

During the week, we work on school stuff four days a week and the fifth is co-op (so we still count that as a school day, but it's typically away from home). We try to get to the library weekly as well.  During the day, we do Science, History, Geography, and read-alouds together.  Everything else is done independently by the 6th grader, with some help in shifts by the 3rd grader and kindergartner.

[8filltheheart]

My school days do not look the same from yr to yr bc it really depends on my mix of kids and ages/grades. This yr for the first time since 2005 I am not tied to any outsourced class schedule (which is amazingly freeing!) and I only have 3 school agers (haven't had that few since 2001)

 

This yr I am planning something I haven't done since my oldest was in 7th grade; we are going to start our days with an early morning hike. We will be leaving the house around 6 and getting home around 720. Everyone should be showered, breakfast eaten, and ready for school around 8. Love it! We love dusky morning walks!

 

My older kids will work on independent assignments while I work one on one with my 3rd grader. Once my 3rd grader is working on assignments like math, I will work with on of the older kids. I rotate back and forth between children. We work on instructional portions together and then they move off to work independently while I work with another child.

 

We work in the common areas of the house: kitchen, living room, family room. We do every subject every day 5 days/week.

 

For our household to function smoothly, I have to have my own routines. First thing I do when I leave my bedroom is start a load of laundry (8 people live in our home. Laundry and cooking have to be addressed deliberately.). Food is planned. On days with afternoon/evening activities, dinner is in the crockpot. Days we are home, dinner is something I can prepare between kids or while working with kids. Fwiw, I am good at multi-tasking. Not everyone is. Know yourself. I can have deep literary discussions folding laundry. I can call out spelling words while prepping food. I can have great science, history, and political discussions while hiking. So, for our family, school is integrated in our daily functioning. It works for us. For others, sitting focused directly on academics is the only way they can concentrate. BE YOU. Find your own path to a daily rhythm that works.

 

Make sure you find time to find pleasure in learning. :)

[happypamama]

We do the major subjects four days a week, although sometimes we don't get to one of them. On the other day of the week, we have martial arts class in the late morning, and we do grocery shopping and errands afterward, but we do special stuff before we need to leave, things like art, music study, Shakespeare, geography, and picture study. Oh, and we do math on that day too. At breakfast, we go over memory work, read the Bible, and do a bit from various books -- readaloud, vocabulary, hymn study, etc., and those vary.

 

We do happen to have an official schoolroom, where I have a big desk with computer and space to store everything. We have three small tables in that room, pushed together into one large table. Last year, the tables were against the wall, and I felt like I saw the backs of my children's heads too much, so now we all sit around the table more, and I feel like we are all more connected. But we also don't stay there. One child might a book to the comfy rocking chair to read, while another takes a tablet to a different room to do DuoLingo without background noise. The little boys may or may not sit at the table with us, depending on their moods. Or I might go into the kitchen to wash dishes or prep a meal, and a child (or two, or three!) might follow me and sit at our kitchen island to get help with math problems. Being flexible seems to work well for us, but having that home base gives us a spot for our stuff.

[wallingjan]

Some there is a quote floating around about being a classical homeschooler in the fall, Charlotte Mason in the winter, and unschoolers in the spring. We operate a lot like that. We shift with the seasons and fatigue levels. I try to look at the big picture and what we accomplish over the year. I think the most important thing is to recognize what your personal comfort level is. Some people need strict schedules to give them peace. Those same schedules can artificially make other people feel like they are failing when they get off track. I think most people end up with a loose framework.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

BE YOU. Find your own path to a daily rhythm that works.

 

Make sure you find time to find pleasure in learning. :)

 

:001_wub:

 

 

[Clear Creek]

I look at my school materials and see how many lessons I have in each book, then figure out how many lessons I have to do each week in order to finish by the end of my school year. That will give me my weekly schedule. The time it takes to complete that schedule depends on the willingness of my children, though. :tongue_smilie:

 

We start school promptly at 8:00 A.M. when the kids are still fresh and before all ability to do math falls out of their head. If it were up to me, I wouldn't feel like starting school until at least 10:00 A.M., but the year we tried that it was a disaster - the later we start, the longer it takes to do each subject.

 

We have a dedicated school room, but school isn't limited to it - it is just where we have desks and store all our books and materials. Everything that is carried out of the room is brought back and put away at the end of the day, though.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

*Enough sleep for y'all!  (Don't short-cut it in the schedule!!  You/kids can't do well with slightly less sleep and never making it up.)

 

This is so important!! It's been increasingly difficult as my daughter gets older because so many teens skimp on sleep to make room for everything else. We try to make sleep a high priority. Unfortunately, there seems to be a message of bravado when discussing how little one sleeps...

[Mandy in TN]

Since this is your first year, look for threads on detoxing or de-schooling your kids. Moving from a traditional classroom to homeschooling is a transition for everyone- including you. Your children have spent 5-6 years in a classroom. They know what that looks like. You have spent that long not being their primary school-time teacher. Everyone is redefining their role. Sometimes kids need to see the benefits of homeschooling while the family eases into this new journey. Find a local group, local homeschool activities, and/ or local homeschoolers. I have seen things that say to expect the family transition to take one month for every year the child spent in a traditional classroom. I am sure there are families that don't take as long and have a smooth transition and families that have a rough time finding their groove and take an entire year to transition with a child who only spent kindergarten in a classroom. Anyway, cut yourself and your children some slack during this time.

 

I agree with the previous post about getting enough sleep and add food and exercise to that list. Sleepy children are not at their best. Make sure the get enough to eat. Hungry children are not at their best. Make sure they get enough physical exercise. Children who do not move enough have a hard time sitting still and focusing. If one or all of you haven't had enough sleep, food, or/ and exercise, expect the day to be a little rough around the edges.

 

There are families who do unit studies, families who loop schedule, families who do project-based learning for one content subject, families who do project-based learning for all subjects, families who are very relaxed, families who do out-of-a-box school at home, and families who do it other ways and every single way in-between. You have to figure out a way that is going to work for you and your children in your home. It can be quite a task, so, again, cut yourself some slack during this transition. Realize that however you schedule and whatever you use right now probably isn't how you will end the year. This isn't a failure on your part or your children's. It will be a learning experience where you will be discovering what doesn't work and at the same time learning about new products and new ways of utilizing and scheduling those products.

 

It might take some time to find what works, and, just when you do, your kids will grow, their needs will change, and you will need to alter things! So, don't let anyone try to convince you that the way they homeschool is the only/ best way. There are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Dina in Oklahoma]

For us what works is:

*A little of all subjects every day.

*Same schedule every day.

*Hardest subjects for You to teach scheduled for when you are Your best in your day.

*Most critical subjects first in the day, so that if they day falls apart, at least the most important got done.

*Enough sleep for y'all!  (Don't short-cut it in the schedule!!  You/kids can't do well with slightly less sleep and never making it up.)

*A list given to your kids on Sun night of all the independent work you'll want them to get done that week, so they can work on their independent work right away at the beginning of days if they have time.

*3 days of school per week for sure of every daily subject, but 4 solid days usually, and try for 5 days a week so you have margin to fall back on during bad/busy weeks.

*A very thought through chore list for the whole week for each person in the house, so that all the weekly/daily house needs are assigned to someone in the house, with a time.

*Enough time schedule for meal prep, meals, and meal clean-up.  A set time for every meal.

*If I need to wake my kids in mornings, making their very first activity be 30min of book reading, so they are separate, working their brain, and relaxed and quiet, which gives them more time to wake up and adjust to the fact that it's morning, without so much squabbling or grumpiness. 

 

Very helpful!

 

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Love this 8!

My school days do not look the same from yr to yr bc it really depends on my mix of kids and ages/grades. This yr for the first time since 2005 I am not tied to any outsourced class schedule (which is amazingly freeing!) and I only have 3 school agers (haven't had that few since 2001)

This yr I am planning something I haven't done since my oldest was in 7th grade; we are going to start our days with an early morning hike. We will be leaving the house around 6 and getting home around 720. Everyone should be showered, breakfast eaten, and ready for school around 8. Love it! We love dusky morning walks!

My older kids will work on independent assignments while I work one on one with my 3rd grader. Once my 3rd grader is working on assignments like math, I will work with on of the older kids. I rotate back and forth between children. We work on instructional portions together and then they move off to work independently while I work with another child.

We work in the common areas of the house: kitchen, living room, family room. We do every subject every day 5 days/week.

For our household to function smoothly, I have to have my own routines. First thing I do when I leave my bedroom is start a load of laundry (8 people live in our home. Laundry and cooking have to be addressed deliberately.). Food is planned. On days with afternoon/evening activities, dinner is in the crockpot. Days we are home, dinner is something I can prepare between kids or while working with kids. Fwiw, I am good at multi-tasking. Not everyone is. Know yourself. I can have deep literary discussions folding laundry. I can call out spelling words while prepping food. I can have great science, history, and political discussions while hiking. So, for our family, school is integrated in our daily functioning. It works for us. For others, sitting focused directly on academics is the only way they can concentrate. BE YOU. Find your own path to a daily rhythm that works.

Make sure you find time to find pleasure in learning. :)

 

[Mandy in TN]

FWIW- just to go in another direction, and, please, take this with a grain of salt.

 

My 11yo needs to feel more independent. To this end, he has weekly folders. In addition to his weekly folders, we have a monthly calendar where I have listed things like books to be read and science/ social studies topics to study that month. Before I wrote in any school, I wrote in birthdays, holidays, and anything that might take time from our regularly scheduled program. This gives me a clue as to which months might need to be a little lighter.

Here is a video showing how to make a monthly calendar.

 

I don't tell him what or how much should be done when or where to be while he works. I just expect the folder to be finished by the end of the week and the monthly stuff to be finished by the end of the month. I expect him to come to me if he needs help. I have a few things that I want to or find that I consistently need to teach, but mostly I just let him get on with it. I have been homeschooling a long time, but this is our second year schooling this way. It is what is working for this particular child in our home under my supervision at this time.

 

I don't schedule meals by time or what we are going to eat. We eat when we are hungry. At some point in the afternoon, I typically ask Doodle what he feels like for dinner unless dh or I have already voiced an opinion. Then, I will just tell him that his dad requested tacos or something like that.

 

HTH-

Mandy

 

ETA- HOW TO CREATE FOLDERS: This is pretty much how I do it with two exceptions. First, I hole punch our material and use folders with fasteners. Second, I divide our materials into 32 folders instead of 36. This builds in 10 days each semester toward our annual 180 day requirement for field trips and other stuff.

http://www.chaosappreciation.com/blog/2013/07/homeschool-organization-weekly-folders/

[Mandy in TN]

Oh, and we don't school early in the mornings. This is our third week of grade six, and I don't think there is a single day that Doodle started on folder or calendar work before 10:30-11. Of course, I also don't think that there has been a single night that he was asleep before midnight. Our entire schedule is shifted to accommodate my dh's work schedule. :) This is one of the benefits of homeschooling.

 

Find a schedule that works for your family. It certainly doesn't need to match the schedule of the ps down the street.

Mandy

[LinaJ]

I'm just starting this year with my 13 year old and I'm also overwhelmed with all of the choices/decisions. I've read so many books, blogs, etc. I find that when I read one thing, it leads to something else and it's never ending! That really is a good thing but it also makes difficult. I still have some more books I want to read before we start next week (the Beechick book on homeschooling), and although I have most of the curriculum and sort of a plan, I really don't know how it's all going to work together. I guess once we get going, it will work itself out (I hope). Just wanted to say I'm right here with you!

Thanks! I have read and read and read, and the more I read the more overwhelmed I feel. But I also feel more knowledgable and educated to make my decisions. Good luck to you too! (And now I have to check it out beechick book too :) )

[LinaJ]

I don't want to be self-promoting but I just put up a blog post yesterday on how I create our year/week schedule that may be useful. Link in my signature.

That was a great read and gave me ideas on how to work on my schedule. Thank you so much!

[LinaJ]

That was great, thank you! Some really good ideas and suggestions. :)

 

 

 

Since this is your first year, look for threads on detoxing or de-schooling your kids. Moving from a traditional classroom to homeschooling is a transition for everyone- including you. Your children have spent 5-6 years in a classroom. They know what that looks like. You have spent that long not being their primary school-time teacher. Everyone is redefining their role. Sometimes kids need to see the benefits of homeschooling while the family eases into this new journey. Find a local group, local homeschool activities, and/ or local homeschoolers. I have seen things that say to expect the family transition to take one month for every year the child spent in a traditional classroom. I am sure there are families that don't take as long and have a smooth transition and families that have a rough time finding their groove and take an entire year to transition with a child who only spent kindergarten in a classroom. Anyway, cut yourself and your children some slack during this time.

 

I agree with the previous post about getting enough sleep and add food and exercise to that list. Sleepy children are not at their best. Make sure the get enough to eat. Hungry children are not at their best. Make sure they get enough physical exercise. Children who do not move enough have a hard time sitting still and focusing. If one or all of you haven't had enough sleep, food, or/ and exercise, expect the day to be a little rough around the edges.

 

There are families who do unit studies, families who loop schedule, families who do project-based learning for one content subject, families who do project-based learning for all subjects, families who are very relaxed, families who do out-of-a-box school at home, and families who do it other ways and every single way in-between. You have to figure out a way that is going to work for you and your children in your home. It can be quite a task, so, again, cut yourself some slack during this transition. Realize that however you schedule and whatever you use right now probably isn't how you will end the year. This isn't a failure on your part or your children's. It will be a learning experience where you will be discovering what doesn't work and at the same time learning about new products and new ways of utilizing and scheduling those products.

 

It might take some time to find what works, and, just when you do, your kids will grow, their needs will change, and you will need to alter things! So, don't let anyone try to convince you that the way they homeschool is the only/ best way. There are as many different ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[My3girls]

We are doing the 36 folder system this year, and it's working great. The only thing not in there is our literature selections, and dd12's math book. We typically start school around 10:00am and are done by 3:00 with an hour for lunch. Whatever doesn't get done in this time is "homework". We do 5 days a week with Fridays being a light day (mostly catch-up). When I schedule out the year, I did like another poster mentioned. I put all birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc... in first. Next I pencilled in all field trips. Finally, I added in school in a very general way. Our days never go exactly as planned which is fine, but by not being too specific, it's a lot easier to make adjustments. I review the weeks schedule each Sunday to make the necessary adjustments.

 

We are trying block scheduling this year by request from dd12. We're doing a unit on the human body then moving to history and wrapping up with geography. What is neat is even though science is the block we're in dds are choosing books on history and geography to read on their own so really all 3 content subjects are being covered at the same time just not formally.

 

Oh and this is our second year!