This post may be better titled: The schedule with which we’ll start or The schedule to which we’ll aspire.  Hopeful also works because I believe in at least having a starting point.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself though, I’m terribly fickle with an at-home schedule.  I think that’s mostly because I like to work on my personal stuff in the morning, which often pushes school work to the afternoon.

Also, life just happens.  There are doctor’s appointments and chicken emergencies and field trips and last-minutes plans and front porch sittin’.  But I know logically that the children are better able to focus and work in the mornings.  And we’ve actually worked from a similar schedule in the past, though not as formal.  So with school days almost upon us, I thought that publishing a hopeful schedule for the new year might hold me a little more accountable to stick to it.  Maybe.  Or maybe not.

We have community days all day on Monday and half-day on Thursdays.  So this schedule will apply specifically for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  We’ll use a modified version on Thursdays that includes an abbreviated version of Morning Time and Academic Work.

8:30am Morning Time – Bible study, read aloud, memory work review, and Chinese review together at the dining room table.  I keep fidgets, legos, playdoh, coloring books, and even slime, etc., readily available to help everyone stay focused.  I also allow Dumpling to play freely on the first floor when he becomes too distracting.

10:00am Academic Work – Math, language arts, history and science reinforcement, typing, presentation preparation.  This is a time when I bounce back and forth between my students as they work on assignments.  While three work independently, I work one-on-one with the fourth.  Then I switch as needed.  Sometimes I simply manage and answer questions as everyone works independently on different subjects.  We work in the school room or I bring work upstairs and we sit at the dining room table together.  I envision that Angel will work more in her bedroom this year, as she grows more independent.

12:30pm Lunch and Read Aloud – This seems pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll add that I do like to read more from our memory work reading list when I can.  It’s a great time to read aloud because everyone is occupied with eating.  Of course that means I either need to eat before or after the kids, but it’s a perfect time to get a few more pages in!

1:00pm Leftover Academic Work, Free Time, Extracurricular Activities – Any leftover work is completed after lunch, and then the children have free time.  If they have academic work they need help to complete and I’m unavailable, they have free time until I’m able to help.  They may ask for screen time if they’ve already read from their assigned reading list for at least 20 minutes, completed their Xtramath and typing assignment, and practiced their musical instrument for 20 minutes.

Afternoons are also when extracurriculars are scheduled, like Chinese, Tae Kwon Do, music lessons, and gymnastics.  It’s also the time for me to run errands, prepare dinner, do household chores, or catch up on emails and blogging.  Or maybe for me to relax.  Just kidding, what’s that anyway?!

Anyway, that’s the plan.  The hopeful homeschool schedule.  It’s pretty simple and much less complicated than what I tried to implement when we first started homeschooling six years ago.  Funny how that works.