Getting a Homeschool Schedule That Works

We are entering into our 21st week of school. Yay!!!

It has been a journey as we get this to work for everyone. One of the biggest factors in a successful day has been finding a well balanced schedule.

 At the beginning of the year, I would try to push my girls to try to get school completed by noon. Why? I am not sure. Maybe it came from other homeschool mom's I have talked to, and had said they could get done by noon. Maybe it came from ME wanting to get done by lunch and just be done. Looking back though, both those attitudes were wrong. How silly of me to, first off, compare my homeschool day to someone else's. Secondly, what did I have to get done by noon that couldn't wait till 3:30?! The worst thing is that I would get frustrated. And guess what? That frustration filtered to the girls and it ended up being a bad day.

Another brilliant (insert sarcasm!) idea I had was to save the more challenging subjects for the end of the day. Nope.  Really, really bad idea ! My girls are much more attentive in the a.m. hours. (I am too!)

 So I came up with the following schedule:

• Bible
• Language Arts
• Math
• Break
• History/Geography
• Science
• Break/Lunch
• Mom's Read-Aloud
• Extra work, fixes on papers, anything that needs to get done

This set-up has been working nicely. One thing I had to add was a morning break. This took me awhile to really understand the reasoning behind. And since I moved math to an earlier time, a break was needed. Math is a challenge for one of my students, and a break afterward is required. :) This break is for a quick snack and a lap around the house! :) After they get the jumping beans off them, (that's what I call it!), they are ready to dive into history. We have a very in depth world history curriculum so I need their full attention. After that, science is a little less demanding and then we have lunch.
Before, I would try to push read-aloud time in with language arts and it just didn't work. I moved it to the afternoon and they can do some type of quiet work while I read.
I posted our schedule so they know what is coming next. No surprises, no "I thought we were done!" remarks.  I also wrote down everything we could possibly do during every subject. Most days we do everything on the schedule, but there are exceptions on some days.

FYI, my camera broke, so I am using my phone. Which really doesn't help my limited camera skills!

I know the schedule says we start at 9 o'clock, but most days my girls are ready by 8 or 8:30. Just depends on how the week is going or if anyone is not feeling well. You know what I'm talking about. ;)

I am by no means, an expert on homeschooling. I do, however, have a good understanding of how my children learn. Remember, every child is different. What works for my children may no work for anyone else. That's OK. Find out more about your kids and do your best. I am still, and will always be learning more about my little ones. Which is one of the benefits of homeschooling. I am learning so much about them. And on the flip side, they are finding out quite a bit about their momma!