How We Do Homeschool: Our Schedule

Today, I just wanted to take time to share a bit about our schedule and what we do every day. I think that might be helpful to see how it all comes together before I get into the details of what we’re doing for each subject.

I actually don’t stick to a strict schedule so much as just having blocks to place each subject in. That way, I don’t get bogged down looking at the clock, and a block can shrink or stretch to fit whatever we are doing on a given day. Does that even make sense? We don’t always do things in the exact same order, either. I mix it up, and sometimes it just depends on which books are on the top of the pile as to what we do next. I do, however, try to intermingle the lighter tasks in with the harder ones that require a bit more effort.

On a typical day, we generally begin around 9:00 and finish up with everything by 11:00. You can see that some boxes are smaller than others, and we do spend less time on some things than others. You could probably consider the larger boxes to be around 15-20 minutes, but it really varies according to what we’re doing. The English grammar rarely takes more than 5-10 minutes, and the seatwork probably should be equivalent to one big box when they are all combined together.

I wanted to make this visual, so that you can see it doesn’t take a lot of time. When I begin to describe what we do, I think it can sound overwhelming. When you look at the big picture and see it all in a daily schedule, it doesn’t seem as intimidating.

Other posts in this series:
Introduction

How We Do Homeschool

I’ve had several people ask questions about what we do in our homeschool, how I do my planning and other things about the curricula we use. Because of that I wanted to take some time to write a series of posts all about our homeschool. It will probably be way more than most of you would like to know.

The idea of putting together a Classical curriculum was very overwhelming to me in the beginning. It was only through much reading, contemplating, and stressing myself out that we ended up where we are today. But I can see now that I made the process much harder than it needed to be.

I don’t want anyone to think that I have it all together and know exactly what I’m doing all the time. That’s so far from the truth that it isn’t funny. I spent a lot of time poring over books, looking at lists, asking questions of other homeschool moms, scouring the internet, and making my own lists to arrive at this point. I can tell you where we are now, and how we got to this point. I only hope I can help someone else along the way.

I mentioned before that we use the Classical approach with our homeschool. We came to that decision early on, and everything since then has been focused on figuring out exactly what that would look like in our home. This summer I spent a lot of time thinking about how to put together our curriculum to work around two main things: the recommendations given in The Well Trained Mind and the Foundations program for Classical Conversations. After some struggles during the first part of this year, I decided to add part of the Ambleside Online reading schedule. Most everything we do now comes from one of these sources.

Our list will look similar to what I posted at the beginning of the school year, but I definitely have a better grasp of how it all works out now, and we are in a pretty good routine. . I’ll also be including some general pricing information where I can because I know it’s an issue for us, and others have asked questions about that part.

Other posts in this series:
Our Schedule

How about a freebie?

I've been playing around in Photoshop, and I'm offering a free Valentine photo card to anyone who wants it!

Check it out!

There are a few others for sale, and I may have more up soon.

Too much Calvin and Hobbes

Too much Calvin and Hobbes will lead to all sorts of craziness when snow happens to fall. The big boys spent most of their time outside concocting a snowman and giving him all sorts of personas. I kept being dragged out to record the silliness.





And I got a few photos of the little guy uploaded as well.

More Wintry fun

The big boys were having nothing of the outdoors this morning, so Benjamin and I ventured out for a while on our own. He really likes the snow even though it is a bit crunchy.







The other boys were finally lured outside and away from the Wii game they rented, so I'm sure we'll be sharing some of their antics in the near future.

Late night excitement

Justin and I returned home from date night along snowy streets last night. The boys hadn't even noticed that it was snowing already, but everybody quickly made their way outside for a bit of late night fun.



Through the night and all day today it's been mostly a wintry mix. I hate that we haven't been able to watch pretty snow outside, but it's been fun for the kids to play in anyway. I hope to update with photos or video of today's adventures soon!

IKEA Awesomeness

I have to admit that I have never actually been to an IKEA, but I've always wanted to go. It makes me sad that the nearest ones are both around 4 hours away. But I do like to look at their funky furniture and storage items. One day...

I recently read about these bibs on Lindsay's blog, and I immediately fell in love. Do you see those sleeves? Those are wonderful. We had some friends from church who were headed to IKEA a few weeks ago to pick up some things for the nursery they are preparing for their son's arrival. I was talking with them beforehand, and they were so kind to surprise me by bringing some of these Barnslig bibs back!

I was a bit surprised with how thin they are, but they really are waterproof and it makes them less stiff. The tag does say you may need to iron them after washing to renew the waterproofiness (so not a word). The sleeves are perfect, and I am definitely in love. Now somebody just needs to convince IKEA that they should offer better shipping services so that one doesn't have to drive 4 hours away to purchase $3.99 bibs (for 2). But if you happen to have a friend who is headed to IKEA, then you should definitely beg them to pick some up for you. Not that I did that. I just have really sweet and generous friends.

And I have one more photo just because Jonathan insists every proper photo must include him.

Sanctity of Human Life

You may have seen information posted around the web today about the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Or you may have received information from your church or another group this week about how many unwanted children are aborted every year. It's all true, and we hear about it frequently.

I don't feel the need to reiterate all of that today, but I wanted to address the side of things that we don't hear about nearly as often. Some babies are dearly wanted, but their lives are still ended prematurely. I wanted to address the exception that so many make to the pro-life stance and challenge the thought process behind it to simply say that life is precious. Every person has been perfectly created in his mother's womb by God.

Just over 3 years ago when we received our baby's diagnosis via ultrasound, one of the first things we were told was that we had the option to be assisted in leaving the state to have an abortion performed in another state. I was hit full in the face with that option, and I was appalled by it. In other situations, families are offered the option of inducing early. It may sound more humane because in that situation you aren't having a procedure that will physically end the life inside of you, but the baby will be delivered before there is any chance of him surviving on his own.

I recognize that this is NEVER an easy choice. I am not here to condemn anyone. There is always pain involved--no matter what choice is made. But I do believe that our God is sovereign, and that He is willing to bring blessing and reveal Himself through the life He has created...no matter how long or short it may be. It is a difficult trial to face, but there can be healing in the midst of the difficulty. God will be glorified when we choose to accept even the tiniest of lives as His handiwork and consider them sacred.

I came across this video that chronicles that process in the life of one family. Let's weep with them, and feel their joy. Let's choose to see beauty in every life that God has made.

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

source: Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
- Psalm 139:13-16 ESV