We played school last week on Monday and not one of us had fun. I think pulling teeth would have been met with a better attitude. I think my attitude needed to leave the check it off my list attitude to this is fun and making it messy.
We are using My Fathers World – Kindergarten. The first 2 weeks is an introduction that covers creation and alphabet singing and is very light in requirements. At first, I thought lets get through this section and get into the meat and potatoes of the program, because this is soo me to want to get it checked off my list. Well after last weeks misery, I realized the 2 week introduction is really to get them used to what you are doing and to build a routine.
Well, I have pages and pages of explicit routines that I never follow through with every 15 minutes accounted for. 15 minute increments go back to working days, I had to account for every 15 minutes for billing. Well, I got some inspiration at The Girlies at Mt Hope and her 4 girls.
So for the induction phase of homeschooling with my little ones, I am trying to implement a routine that will corral them in and not be too rigid. I am hoping after 2 weeks we will be, for the most part, adapted to it and following it. Here it is:
7:30 am Breakfast with a bible story
8:15 am Get dressed, brush teeth, make beds, put clothes where they belong
8:45 am Circle Time (Prayer, Pledge, in the furture: calendar & 100 day chart)
9:00 am Unit Study (#1 and #2; #3 will probably sit along and I will let her do the craft)
9:45 am Snack then Play (this will be my time to sew and get laundry/household chores done)
11:45 am Start lunch (followed with #1 and #2 clean up play area & living room; #3 goes down for a nap)
12:45 am Activity/Craft for #1 & #2 (this might be finger paint, baking, who knows)
3:15 pm Quick Pick up (#1 & #2) and put laundry away
3:45 pm Quiet Time (Movie time) & snack
5:10 pm Set table for dinner & outside to play
I am not making plans past the time for my husband to come home. I have him to keep a natural order to the evening. Usually we eat like clock work at 6 pm, the moment he is walking in the door, but with the summer days of being light until almost 8:30 pm, I have moved dinner time to 7pm. So the kids are having a later bedtime from 7:15pm to 8:15pm. I wish I could say they make up that sleep in the morning or at nap, but sadly they do not. I think the longer exposure to the sun, gives them an energy boost during the day to keep them going.
I also like that I have not scheduled us to go from one thing to the next. If we get done before our next thing, we just have free time. So I guess I am using it as a schedule versus a routine. The nice part is I know if we are not finished after 45 minutes or the amount of time I had set, then it is too much to do in one day. Yesterday was a great example, I have 5 days worth of laundry to get done. I could have had the kids help me with that for the next 2 weeks, but all we would be doing is making more laundry to do each week and really? Having all the laundry put away, is that the importance of our daily lives? Spoken by a true hater of putting laundry away.
Well, moving through our routine yesterday, I was ready to rush them onto the next activity, until I looked at the clock and realized they 35 minutes before we should start our circle time. See momma was ready to get this show on the move, while they were still coming to grips that it was a beautiful morning and they should investigate the chicks. So I took a step back and realized, I WASN’T EVEN READY TO DO OUR LESSONS FOR THE DAY! Bad MOMMY! Well, that free time was a blessing for me, I was able to make the copies I needed, pull out the paint, and be ready and not rushed.
Let’s see how tomorrow will be! I will be doing my bulk of cooking for my Once A Month Cooking.
~trish
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