Our Homeschool Schedule...Part 3

For those of you who have soldiered on through the deep (and somewhat boring) last two posts...the end is in sight!  Today I will share with you our homeschool schedule.  But first - I want to talk a little bit about schedules.

 

As I have mentioned before, I appreciate the sage advice of those homeschoolers who have been working at their craft for years  - long before homeschooling became the "in" thing to do.  (If it is, in fact, now the "in" thing!  At least now it is more widely accepted.)  The most important piece of advice I have learned is that each family must make homeschooling "their own".  Whatever you choose to do, it must "work" for your family. 

 

 



Part of our decision to homeschool was based on scheduling.  We choose to live way out in the country, which means it takes us anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour to get to church and school.  Where we live is our decision and we take full ownership of it!  That being said, travel each day was becoming more and more inconvenient, and we decided we were more comfortable with changing our schooling situation than changing where we live.  Since our children are growing up and are becoming more involved in various activities, we decided reclaiming two plus hours of travel time each day was a good first step.   Add that to the hour (or more) of time we had spent on homework each day, and our day was becoming less and less cluttered, allowing us to refocus that time on things we all wanted to do but felt we didn't have time for.

 

As a new homeschooler, I read a lot of books and blogs and studied the way other people structured their home schools.  I quickly learned there was no one or right way to schedule.  That both scared and excited me!  I am a list maker.  I am a planner.  I love the idea of ruminating on something for a while to figure out the best and most efficient way to get it done.  So I got to work.

 

I took the list of what we wanted to study and a list of what we wanted to do outside of school and started to plot it on a spreadsheet.  I knew that a fixed schedule was what we needed.  My kids have experienced traditional school, so they are used to regularity.  I also wanted to make sure that we were done early enough each day to accommodate sports and dance schedules.  Finally, I wanted our evenings and weekends free to spend time with Gerald.  Our schedule began to take shape.

As I have mentioned before, it was revised MANY times over prior to starting school, and has even changed shape since we began.  I'm sure it will change again in the near future.  But it is our homeschool schedule.  It is what works for us.

 

Now - for the big reveal... Bus driver, move that bus!

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Field Trip Friday	Fun Friday
6:30- 7:00am	Family breakfast	Family breakfast	Family breakfast	Family breakfast	Family breakfast	Family breakfast
7:00- 7:30am	Free time	Free time	Free time	Free time	Free time	Free time
7:30- 8:00am	Get dressed Make up bed	Get dressed Make up bed	Get dressed Make up bed	Get dressed Make up bed	Get dressed Make up bed	Get dressed Make up bed
8:00- 8:30am	Pledge/Prayer Weekly planning Bible GBS	Pledge/Prayer Virtues Bible GBS	Pledge/Prayer Virtues Bible GBS	Pledge/Prayer Virtues Bible GBS	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
8:30- 9:05am	Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements/ Review Spanish	8:30-8:50 Grammar/ Creat. Writing/ Literature	Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements Review Spanish	Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements Review Spanish	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
9:05- 9:45am	Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements/ Review Spanish Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards	8:50-9:15 Literature Grammar/ Creat. Writing	Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements/ Review Spanish Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards	Penmanship/ Literature/ Lit elements/ Review Spanish Grammar/180 Creat. Writing/ Latin Cards	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
9:45- 10:00am	Snack	9:15-9:30 Snack	Snack	Snack	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
10:00- 10:35am	Math/Logic Spelling/Typing/ Greek Cards	9:30-9:50 Math/Logic Spelling/Typing	Math/Logic Spelling/Typing/ Greek Cards	Math/Logic Spelling/Typing/ Greek Cards	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
10:35- 11:15am	Spelling/Legos/ Greek Cards Math/Logic	9:50-10:15 Spelling/Legos Math/Logic	Spelling/Legos/ Greek Cards Math/Logic	Spelling/Legos/ Greek Cards Math/Logic	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
11:15-1 1:45am	Science	10:15-10:45 Nature	Science	Technology	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
11:45-1 2:00pm	Current Events	10:45-11:00 Current Events	Current Events	Current Events	Friday Field Trip	Fun Friday
12:00- 12:30pm	Lunch Manners Life of Fred	11:00-11:30 Lunch Manners Minute Mystery	Lunch Manners Life of Fred	Lunch Manners Music Composer	Lunch	Lunch
12:30- 1:15pm	History Geo Trails	11:30-12:00 History Geo Trails	History Geo Trails	Geography Geo Trails	Lunch	Lunch
1:15- 1:45pm	Art	12:00-12:15 Latin	Spanish	Greek	Library	Library
1:45- 2:00pm	Civics		Financial Peace Junior	Friday Prep

Jewell's work is in pink.  Brack is scheduled in green.  Things we do together are in blue.

 Well - there it is!  In all it's (ahem...) glory.  Some days it is 2:00 when we finish, and some days we are done as early as 11:30.  It all depends on what we are doing that day and how diligent we are about keeping our nose to the grindstone.  

 I have to admit I am a little nervous publishing this.  What if non-homeschoolers think we're slackers?  What if seasoned homeschoolers think I'm crazy for having a "rigid" schedule?  But you know what?  It's ok.  This schedule was developed for my family after much study, planning and prayer.  And I'm not afraid to admit that if and when (and I really mean when) it doesn't work, I'll change it again.  Therein lies the beauty.

Just a couple of quick facts before we go.  You'll notice that we have a modified schedule on Tuesday.  The kids take part in a homeschool gymnastics class on Tuesdays at 1:30 which they absolutely LOVE.  This allows us to accommodate the travel time to the gym.  They also take tumbling on Wednesday afternoons and Jewell has dance and gymnastics on Thursdays.  They both play AYSO soccer in the fall and spring, and both are on the local swim team during the summer.  (Go Tallassee Tiger Sharks!)  So we are definitely getting in our P.E.!

Also - you will notice we have two Friday schedules.  We participate in a co-op on the first and third Fridays, so I was hesitant to schedule "classes" on the second and fourth Fridays.  Instead we have claimed these as "Field Trip Fridays".  So far we have visited the Alabama Cattleman's Mooseum which you can read about here.  We also had a way fun time at the Hyundai plant.  (Which we lovingly refer to as the Mothership, since we drive a Veracruz!) 

 

Upcoming trips include the Coca-Cola bottling plant and the Blue Bell factory.  (I know!  Amazing, huh?)  And one more.  Let's see, where was it?  Oh yeah... Washington. D.C.!

So that's it!  That's how we roll!  Well - gotta run.  It's 7:55 and the bell's about to ring.  However you choose to school today, I hope you and yours have a great day!