How do you plan your day?

[AnniePoo]

I'm especially curious how larger families handle this.

 

Do you make a set schedule and have the kids follow it (i.e. spelling at 9:30, break, math at 10...) or do you let them decide when to complete each task?  If you do the latter, at about what age have you found that works well?

 

I'm not enjoying being taskmaster.  I wonder if I gave my kids a list of their daily work and told them to have at it if the quality of the work/speed might improve.  I'm mostly hoping it'll help my spacey 8yo/3rd.  

[Momto4inSoCal]

We have a set schedule. I guess we are more of a medium size family (4 kids). My girls do independent work in the morning (silent reading, online bible class, cursive, xtra math) and I work with my 3yo twins while my girls are doing that. We take a break for snacks then one girl takes my twins outside to play while I do math with the other. Then we switch. After that is lunch then I put my twins down for a nap. After nap we do language arts then science or history (we do different days for science and history). I have set times but the biggest thing for me is following the routine not the time. I made a schedule for the year during the summer and made one for each of my daughters and one for myself. One of my daughters is a box checker and enjoys knowing what's next and crossing off as she goes. The other daughter doesn't care about the list but does good with a set routine. I do set time limits on how long I will sit with them for each subject. They know they get me for a set amount of time. The time limit doesn't mean they can go super slow and not do all their work (we had an issue with this last year). It means I will only sit with them for a set amount of time after that they will have to finish up on their own. 

[Momto6inIN]

We have more of a routine than a schedule.  For my olders I give them a list of all independent work at the beginning of the week.  They have to do math every morning right after our morning meeting/history time that we all do together.  Other than that, they are free to do it whenever they want, as long as it's all complete at the end of the week.  My 2 boys enjoy doing more of a block schedule, but my 5th grade daughter prefers the variety of doing a little bit of each subject every day.

 

For the stuff they do one on one with me, they know they have to be ready and available whenever it fits best into my schedule, since I also have the 2 younger ones to work in.  I do have a "schedule" of sorts for myself to follow with the stuff I directly teach and do one on one with each of them, but it's pretty flexible.  Along the lines of " between 10-11:  watch geometry video with DS14, and do math and reading with DD6".

 

I started giving assignments weekly when my daughter was in 4th grade, so it's likely your 3rd grader could handle a list of daily work.

[FO4UR]

I'm not super happy with the way we are doing things schedule-wise right now, so large grain of salt.

 

But, one thing that is a positive is giving a child a short (!) list.  (Do this page in your math book, read that, etc...no more than 3 things.)  Then make an appointment to meet with that child at a specific time.  (Meet back with me at the table at 10:30.) When we meet, I expect to see your list complete unless you had a problem.  I will then help with any problems, work through things they need me for, and give them a break before I give their next list.

 

 

If my particular child(ren) were more cooperative, this would be working well.  2 out of 3 do awesome with this set up.  

[Mom22ns]

We are not a large family and how our days work has changed through the years. We started out with a very strict schedule. They were either working with me, or I told them what to work on. Then, we went to set times that they worked with me, either individually or together, and they had a to-do list to work on the rest of the time in whatever order they wanted. At this point, they do very little with me, and mostly work from a to-do list. Although the few things we do together are still scheduled for my sanity.

[Donna]

Wait. Am I supposed to plan?  We are more free-form but then I don't think I qualify as large family.

[KAM]

I make everyone a list, from the 6 y.o. to the 14 y.o. Over the summer I decide what their list will include each day, and then each week I just update it with new page numbers and lessons as needed. I don't add page numbers for everything, spelling for example just says "do a page", but for math I like to know what lesson they are working on. I keep a spreadsheet for the lists, so they are very quick to make up. The kids have been able to follow their lists pretty well from about age 8, but it took a lot of work on my part in the beginning to get them used to it.  Now it is great!  The 6 y.o. doesn't read much yet so her list is more for me than her. During the day they can choose to do their list in any order as long as it gets done. I rotate among them throughout the day.

[TracyP]

We have a pretty set schedule. 11yo dd wakes up early (5:45) to do math with me while the house is quiet.

 

We start breakfast at 6:30, then from there have a clean up, get dressed, morning chore routine.

 

By about 8:00 my two oldest (11 and 9) are working independently from their planners, although my oldest prefers to finish most of her work the night before. I work 1 on 1 with the youngest 3 (7, 6, and 4) from 8-9:30.

 

9:30-10:30 I work out and shower. At 10:30 we do memory work and our read aloud until 11:15 - lunch time.

 

My 3 youngest have quiet time after lunch, and I use that time to work 1 on 1 with the 11yo and 9yo. We are usually done by 2, although we have been known to go much later...

 

I need a good routine to stay sane. I am not a slave to the clock by any means, but when I started trying to make a routine, I needed the times to keep me on track. Now this is more of a flow than time dependent, but it tends to look the same most days.

[SeaConquest]

We only school 3 days/week and my son has a fairly long attention span for his age (6). I only school one child at present. Our day is approximately as follows:

 

Math and Logic -- 45-60 minutes

Read Aloud (Me) and Reading Practice (him) -- 60 minutes

Writing and Spelling -- 30 minutes

Latin or Hebrew -- 15 minutes

History or Science -- 30-45 minutes

 

Total school time: 3-3.5 hours (all before lunch)

 

We don't actually watch the clock. This is just how things have naturally evolved for us this year.

[blondeviolin]

We start around 9:30. The first hour my oldest does independent (or mostly so) work. I work with my first grader. Second hour my oldest does a few mom-dependent subjects while I work with Ker (LOE and math). After lunch I do mom-intensive subjects with my oldest and finish up whatever my first grader didn't get to. We're done by 2 or so with a significant break for lunch (11:30-1 or so).

[Goldilocks]

Until my children are working on subjects more independently -about 12 years old - they are on a schedule set by me. I will sometimes give a choice to the younger ones, like "grammar or spelling first?" The older kids have a choice in the order they do their work, but must be ready at specific times during the day to work with me. For example, at 9 on Wednesday we meet for history so your prep work needs to be done.

[Gentlemommy]

I have blocks of time for independent work and working with mom. Before I did this, I used to try to have the girls do math at the same time and I'd go from kid to kid to help. It felt disorganized and chaotic. Add in a bored toddler/preschooler, and it was crazy making. I felt flustered switching from one to the next, they kept getting distracted by each other...it didn't work for us. I have three kids, ages 4, 7 (second grade), and 9 (fourth grade). Now our schedule looks like this-

9-9:30-mom works with preK dd while the two big girls do independent work. Dd7 does cursive copywork, etc, Awana verse, and reads. Dd9 does studied dictation, geography/history reading, and Awana.

9:30-11-little two dd's play together, I work one on one with dd9. We do math, spelling, and writing/grammar.

11-everyone takes a break for a snack, I do geography with them all, building on what dd9 read that morning.

11:15-12-dd7 and I work one on one. We do math, grammar, and phonics. Dd9 and dd4 play.

12-12:30-all of us do Spanish

12:30-1big girls do typing and little dd does the HWOT app, when they finish (only takes about ten minutes) they do their chores and walk the dogs.

1-2-lunch while I read Mr. Q's science and then a chapter from our current read aloud

 

They all go to coop, which is where the big two girls do history projects, science experiments, and art instruction.

[Coco_Clark]

I'm another medium family, we have between 3-5 at any given time and only 2 of those are homeschooled.

 

MY time is scheduled (ish), but the boys independent work isn't.

 

We have Morning Time after breakfast. That sounds simple but we all eat breakfast at different times, some of the kids with my husband at 5:30 or 6 and some with me closer to 7:30. So how it actually works out is while I'm getting dressed/making coffee ect I set a timer for an alarm for when I think I'll be ready and remind everyone that when the timer goes off its Morning Time and they better be full/dressed/ready. It keeps us ALL accountable not to squander the morning.

 

DS7 has about an hour of one-on-one with me directly after morning time. Usually it's between 9 and 10. After we're done I give him a handwritten checklist of things I want him to do independently that day: finish your math worksheet, read this book, do that line of copywork, make a nature book entry, what-have-you. I'll throw in a chore too. We go over it together, and then he's released. I love the idea of having the list pre-printed but I never really know what I want him to further practice/learn until the day-of, and I like the ability to cater list length (and chores) to our plans that day. Plus, every once in a while he just rocks it during our lesson and I give him a short or really open list as a treat.

 

Same with DS5; he gets an hour with me one-on-one usually between 10-11, and then a short checklist. I try to keep his list to 3 items. Nothing more than: read for 10 minutes, trace this line of p's, fold the towels. But it's habit forming.

 

No one is allowed any screen time until 3 o clock AND their checklists are completed. Which means that 75% of the time they are finishing up checklists at 2:50, lol. And that the 25% that they are lazy about it are screen-free. Win-win. At 5 o'clock screens are off for the day and everyone cleans up, starts dinner, and finishes checklists if they haven't already.

[MomOfABunch]

Following. I need ideas for this too

[FloridaLisa]

I'm not schooling a large family anymore, but I did for oh so many years!  We always had a routine, not a schedule tied to time. A routine worked very, very well for us. I made charts for those 4th/5th up so that they knew what to do in which order. They each had spots at the the table or a desk in their room where they worked. Sometimes I needed to lay out work for the day, other times, they had their set of books and could turn to and complete the correct pages. 

 

The kids rotated through a one-on-one time with me. Even the littles had a certain amount of independent seat work so that they were busy working while I was meeting with another child. I usually met with each child for 30 - 45 minutes each day to teach the math, spelling, grammar at their level. Then I would combine later in the morning/day to teach history or science or Latin. After lunch was ALWAYS quiet time/reading time. The littles napped, the olders read for 1 hour without talking to each other or me or getting up for snack. This was my time to regain some sanity, read, get online, do my own Bible time. 

 

It looked a bit different every year, depending on the ages of the kids, what we were studying, what if anything was outsourced. The routine helped keep all of us on task and set an orderly rhythm to our days. 

 

Lisa

[My3girls]

The only thing that is set in stone is that we start at 10am. The girls each have a list they work from each day which included school work, chores, and appointments. They choose the order for the most part. There are a few things that we do together so they do those whenever I am ready. Once everything is marked off their list then they are free.

 

Last year when we started homeschooling, I was VERY regimented with schedule. At the beginning of this year, I loosened up somewhat but still had a schedule. We have evolved into the list over the year, and I think it's working really well. I intend to stay with it. Next year, my oldest will probably get a weekly list to help get her to be more independent and practice time management.

[Holly]

We are pretty unstructured.  At some point in the day we have a "together" school time.  We do subjects like Bible, memory work, science, history, art, nature study, etc.  We have a 2nd "session" of school where I meet with them one-on-one.  We don't do as much curriculum as others, so I don't feel like they need a written out list.  I go through some things individually with them, and then we go through what they need to do on their own.  They then work on their own or help watch/entertain the toddler when I'm working with the others.    Sometimes we do all our work in one big block and sometimes we split it up into two sessions (usually one in the morning and one after lunch).  Some days we finish up in the evenings.  

 

I spend the rest of the day on chores and cooking...I have a list of what I'd like to do each day and they help with some of it. They also spend free time reading, drawing, writing, playing outside, building with legos, etc.  I spend a bit of time reading or knitting.   I'd love to be more structured, but it seems we have too many interruptions for this to work.  I do best with a "routine" for each day instead of a set schedule.   

 

As far as planning, I have a weekly plan for what I'd like accomplished in each subject.  The 2nd half of the page has a grid to record what each child does each day for their individual work.  It serves both as a record of what we did and also an easy way of keep track where they are in their lessons.  

[AnniePoo]

It seems like most of you schedule your younger kids.  I always have and I am questioning why.  Most of what I have picked out for my oldest is independent, so I might see if giving her freedom to choose would be helpful.

[Tawlas]

I schedule. I like to be done by 1200 or 1230 at the latest so the kids have lots of time to play outside and do there own thing - and so I can as well! Plus that puts us doing school work while we're all at our best. I have an early rise here, so math starts at 6 am for him, then breakfast and chores from 630 to 730 for us all, then a break at 8 so I can have coffee and organize.

 

I'm work one-on-one with one of the three older children while the others work on independent work (ETC, copywork, piano practice, Ecoutez Parlez French listening, RAZkids and reflex math on the iPad). The have a checklist clipped to their papers each day. I have all the papers set up in a filing system for the year. If they don't finish this during their independent work block, they can finish it during quiet time. I work on math, reading and spelling individually. Four days a week, we have an hour long block where we do memory work, FLL, WWE, science and Ecoutez Parlez discussion together. On two other days we do history and geography instead. Yes. We school 6 days. That's how we get afternoons off all year :)

[TheAttachedMama]

I change it up every so often.  

 

Right now, I have been getting up a little bit earlier and penciling in our day on a notepad.   I go down the notepads margin and write times in half hour increments.  8AM, 8:30AM, 9AM, etc. etc.  

Then, I pencil in our meals times (8AM breakfast, 10AM Snack, 12PM Lunch, 2PM Snack, 4PM Snack, 6PM Dinner)   

Then I pencil in any field trips we are taking that day.   With time to pack up the car and drive time.   

THEN, I pencil in our subjects with slack time added in.   I usually start with our highest priority subject for the year.   OR, if there is a particular subject we haven't been getting to, I start the day with that so that I can be sure to fit it in.   This helps me to see what is a REASONABLE amount of stuff to expect to get in.

 

We don't stick to this schedule verbatim.   BUT, it does help me to be more prioritized with my day.    I can be sure we get to the most important subjects first in case life gets in the way and we don't get to finish afternoon school.   I also know when I have a hard stopping point.   Let's say that I need to start packing up the car/getting baby dressed around 1PM to be out the door by 1:30PM.   I might set an alarm on my phone so that I don't miss that time.

 

ETA:  We are a smallish family.  (At least compared to most homeschooling families!  lol)   We have three kids---two being homeschooled.  One is a toddler causing distractions.    My kids are young 8 & 6 (nearly 7) and not really doing too much independently.  For that reason, I schedule their day to best fit ME.   When I work one-on-one with one child, the other is usually in charge of keeping an eye on their little brother.