Home School Weekly Schedule

I started the year with a very structured schedule, where I literally had every 15 minutes perfectly scheduled so I would rotate subjects and children efficiently. Then I discovered that I don't like having a tight schedule, it made me feel like I didn't have freedom to spend more time with a particular struggling child, or add something unexpected and new to study. One of my favorite things about home school is the freedom to be flexible in what we learn or do.

I've changed our approach in the last 2 weeks, and now there isn't an hourly schedule for our work. Sometimes we do school in the evening or afternoon. When we do school in the morning, it usually starts around 8 or 9, but sometimes the children wake up at 6:45 and want to start school right away. I only care that the children get their schoolwork done for the day before they play computer games. I should also say that the only computer games we have are educational ones. For this reason I don't mind if they play the game for an hour. If they are enjoying doing math on a game, then more power to them.

The schedule I have outlined below is what our average days tend to look like. 

Monday- We begin with an introduction to our weekly "Hero from the Scriptures" and discuss what we can learn from them. We write this down and use it for copy work. (I'll do a more in-depth article about our weekly hero lessons soon). Each morning the rest of the week we learn more about our hero.

Next we do our Seat work. We happen to use the A Beka workbooks, so I have them do a page from each book. They choose the order in which they do the subjects. We all sit at the table together and I rotate who I spend instruction time with. Our seat work subjects include: Spelling, Math, Copy work, Language/Grammer, and Phonics. My youngest son (age 4) only does two pages of Phonics, then I let him play educational software on the computer or play with blocks and puzzles on the table next to us. The computer has headphones, so he can play games without disturbing others. His favorite game is Starfall - which is such a great free site for preschoolers. It teaches phonics and early reading.

We happen to be blessed with a great home school co-op composed of a couple other home school families. We meet four days each week and class goes from 10:30-2:00.

Monday is Art day, and is taught in my home. We welcome 10 students to our home and begin the co-op with a Pledge of Allegiance and recite a scripture-based theme (I'll do another article on that later- we call it the Knightly Code of Conduct). We learn a quick fact about the US Constitution, then move on to the art lesson. Art lasts an hour, then we break for lunch and recess. After play time, we regroup for 30 minutes of continued Art instruction. The final 30 minutes we read aloud from a classic book- right now it happens to be the Black Stallion.

Tuesday- We do Seat work for an hour, then drive to co-op at 10:00. The co-op teaches Science today. After we come home, we try to have a Tuesday Tea, which happens either in the afternoon or that night after Mr. Kingsley comes home and makes treats. It depends how tired we are. Tuesday Tea is when we teach etiquette, in addition to self-esteem and confidence. 

Wednesday- Morning seat work is followed by co-op, where they have Spanish and Creative Writing instruction.

Thursday- Morning seat work is followed by the co-op, where they have World History. We use Susan Wise Bauer's books for this course, and we love it!

Friday- I feel relaxed Friday, so if we do work- great. If not- I don't stress about it. The children have some 'Gifted and Talented' workbooks that use logic and thinking skills, and they pick whatever they want to work on out of the books. If I am feeling on top of things, we'll do a regular day of school. I like to take them out on day trips on Fridays, so we sometimes do a Plein Air lesson and discover a new green belt for the day. Our area is blessed with an abundance of museums, so we can go do that. Today we happen to be volunteering to help build a nature path in a pecan orchard.

We do reading everyday, but it's very casual. The children bring their readers to me and we cuddle on the couch to read, or I hold them in my lap, or caress their hair. I really feel strongly that they shouldn't be forced to sit at the table to do their daily reading. It's not fun or comfortable, and I really want them to love reading. I try hard to have positive stimulation associated with reading, so I'll rub their back gently or caress their arms while they read. They love it and will read for an hour at a time. This is a big deal for my son, who gets easily frustrated with phonics. It turns our previous battle ground into a positive experience for him.