Scheduling

I am a scheduled person by nature.  I have been called *ahem* uptight.  I don't think I am actually uptight; I am simply a lover of routine.  My observation has been that both my children and myself thrive on predictability and a plan for the day.

One of the troubles that I have had is actually getting started in the morning.  All through high school and college, I enjoyed getting up early, and in college, I actually scheduled early classes every day so that I would be done not long after lunch.  In fact, I managed to schedule in such a way that I had Fridays off!  Now, however, some of that love of getting up has been lost.  I believe it probably has something to do with sleep deprivation and a little boy who believes that his own bed is not nearly as comfortable as the one in our room.  This school year, though, I knew things had to change.  We weren't finishing school until it was almost time for Joel to be home during the last year, and that is ridiculous.  Compounding that, we always seemed to be doing math in the afternoon, which did not work well for anyone.  So I buckled down, made a schedule, and implemented it the first week of our school year.  It has been fabulous.

I get up every day at six now (I know, not even that early!) and exercise.  (One of the offshoots of this schedule is that I am actually consistently exercising...not one of my favorite activities!)  I make breakfast for everyone if it is not something I already prepared the previous afternoon and then go for my shower if it is in the oven.  Some have claimed craziness because I am making breakfast for everyone, but there is a reason behind that.  Our children love breakfast, and they believe that it should consist of at least three different selections, usually to be eaten in the slowest way possible.  All three of their choices are usually relatively unhealthy and don't keep them full past 9:00.  So, now I make a healthier breakfast that keeps us full until 12:00 and there are no choices so breakfast is finished in a timely manner.

The children are also doing daily chores now.  Dishes, laundry, sweeping and vacuuming, as well as several other things are helping them learn to do simple housecleaning, and it's helping me do some basic prep before everyone is ready to sit down to work.  We try to finish all chores by 8:30 and head to the playground for an hour.  Everyone focuses better when energy is burned first!  And when we return, math is done first.  Pnut goes first as she usually has a worksheet to do after her lesson, and then Pilly goes.  Once that is done, Morning Time is done together and then everyone goes their own way to complete the rest of their book work, and we are consistently finishing before lunch.  The Little Boy is getting some time to learn some letters in the sand, and he has been great at then going to play on his own or listen to Pill's stories until she is done.  He has his favorites too!

Scheduling seems on the face of it to fly against the freedom of homeschooling, but in reality, it has given us greater freedom because we have more extra time.  It also gives me the motivation to get up in the morning because I know what happens on the days that I don't, and it is giving me a more consistent Quiet Time in the afternoon as all of our "musts" are finished!  We are in week six, and this year has been the most enjoyable yet!