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Hi ladies! I thought I'd share my schedule for these guides, as it is super easy to use, and we are now in a good rhythm with it. The boys decide their wake-up times and can change them at any time, though I do expect them to get up at 7:30 AM at the latest, or they can get up at 6 AM at the earliest. This schedule is a little different from the ones I have used in the past. As I find I am needing a stopping point for ME rather than my dc, I follow the clock this year. When the blocks of time are done, wherever we are, I move on to the next child. Then, I pick up where I left off with my teaching part in the next teaching block I have with them. I don't have specific times for each box though (i.e. 9 AM Reading about History). This has been great for this stage of my life and for the guides I am teaching! By stopping with one child after a certain time, and moving on to another child and then stopping at a certain time, I find my time is well-balanced among my dc. Putting a definite stopping point for lunch and then having a break in the middle of the day after it has been good for ME. Coming back to finish a few things after the break, I am a refreshed happier mama, and the dc are more ready to finish out a thing or two after running off some energy outside and having some free time. It's too easy for me to do "just one more thing" and then suddenly one child didn't have me like they needed to, or I am still schooling past the time I want to. This semi-schedule, more of a routine, has been a good fit for this year.

So, in case it would help someone else, I'll put it here and on the schedules' thread. If any of you have a schedule that is really working well now that you are into the school year a bit, please feel free to share it here and on the schedules' thread too!


In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thanks for sharing your routine. What time do your boys settle down to sleep at night? I can't imagine my crew up and at 'em so early (though I'd love it). Also, what videos do your kids watch? Finding something worthwhile for my middle kids, ages 6 and 8, is tough, especially if it's something they're enjoying a few mornings or afternoons a week. We usually don't put a show on but I'm finding that I need some blocks where kids are less inclined to bicker because they're preoccupied .

Lovely schedule Julie and thanks for sharing. Some of my children are early risers too. At times I wake up and they are quietly sitting at the dining room table eating and doing school, I love it. Then there are some of my children who I have a hard time waking

One thing that makes school hard is our postage stamp size house. I miss having formal living and dining rooms, game room and such. It gave us so much more space to school. Right now it gets so loud in the kitchen with Ethan doing TT on the computer, someone getting a glass of water with ice , me trying to teach, well you get the picture. Sorry I don't mean to complain but I do miss that space.

abrightmom wrote:Julie,

Thanks for sharing your routine. What time do your boys settle down to sleep at night? I can't imagine my crew up and at 'em so early (though I'd love it). Also, what videos do your kids watch? Finding something worthwhile for my middle kids, ages 6 and 8, is tough, especially if it's something they're enjoying a few mornings or afternoons a week. We usually don't put a show on but I'm finding that I need some blocks where kids are less inclined to bicker because they're preoccupied .

Good questions! I will try to answer them. We all make our way upstairs for the kids' bedtime routine around 7:30 PM. Everyone picks up downstairs, brushes teeth, and puts on pj's, and then we all meet in one of the bedrooms (usually Wyatt and Riley's bedroom as we all fit sitting on their two twin beds). We each take a turn praying out loud. Then, I cuddle with Emmett (our 5 yo) a little while, and he goes to sleep after that - usually this ends up to be around 8 PM. Sometimes we let him look at / read books on the weekends, or if we finished the prayer time before 8 PM, but usually during the school year, he just goes to sleep. For our older 2 sons (13 yo and 9 yo), they share a room, so they often play a board game together, work on building projects (i.e. erector sets, KNex projects, latch-hooks, etc.), or read. They usually stay up until 9:30 PM. They love this time. Riley, my 9 yo who is sometimes more a night owl than a morning bird, will occasionally do the work I'd allow him to do in his room in the morning for school the night before instead, and then sleep later the next morning. Lately though, he just gets up the same time Wyatt does (probably because he shares a room with him - well that, and he adores him - wants to be just like him.)

As far as videos, they have all enjoyed Liberty's Kids, Be the Creature, Reading Rainbow, and Magic School Bus DVD's. Our little one still loves Wonder Pets, Tom and Jerry, and Rocket Phonics. Our older boys have enjoyed for fun Hogan's Heroes, Little House on the Prairie, and Dogfights (which is for the older dc only, as it interviews actual veteran war pilots and shows their missions, and they do occasionally have some questionable language). Another thing that gives an independent block of time is audio books, especially for dc just reading on up. So, that is one more idea to consider! HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Julie,

Thank-you. Very helpful ideas for "shows" (some of which we own but I haven't put them into play during the week).

I love the evening routine for your boys.

Homeschooling6 wrote:Lovely schedule Julie and thanks for sharing. Some of my children are early risers too. At times I wake up and they are quietly sitting at the dining room table eating and doing school, I love it. Then there are some of my children who I have a hard time waking

One thing that makes school hard is our postage stamp size house. I miss having formal living and dining rooms, game room and such. It gave us so much more space to school. Right now it gets so loud in the kitchen with Ethan doing TT on the computer, someone getting a glass of water with ice , me trying to teach, well you get the picture. Sorry I don't mean to complain but I do miss that space.

Thank you for your thoughts here! I think that sounds like a neat way to wake up - seeing dc quietly eating and doing their school. That comes from good training by the mother, of course, so kuddos really goes to YOU for that. Our house is 100+ years old, so I hear ya about interesting space issues (ours would be in the form of practically no closets - even in the bedrooms, little cupboard space, and c-c-c-c-old drafty rooms in the winters). We converted are entryway to a play area with a TV/VCR in the top section of the closet (the only closet on the main floor), and added some baseboard heat. It has been worth it. We also have 2 of our sons room together to free up one extra little room upstairs as a playroom. This has cut down on some noise when I am working with one child and others are playing. I don't know if there is any way to get creative with the space in your home - I am certain you have given that some thought already. But, maybe having more dc room together so another room is freed up for school or play time could work? Or even using a space like an entry in a small way as another space by adding a small desk or something could work? Maybe they could do some of their work in their rooms? I can understand your frustration with small space. Those are just a few thoughts I had, but I do realize, that sometimes, no matter what - it's just going to be a small space. Wish I could help some other way, but I did want to say that I always think reading your posts that you have such a neat, close-knit family!!! Perhaps it is due in part to you learning to work together in smaller amounts of space, maybe a blessing in disguise though I know it sure doesn't seem like it. You do a good job of still having a cheerful home and a productive homeschooling experience.

In Christ,
Julie

abrightmom wrote:Julie,

Thank-you. Very helpful ideas for "shows" (some of which we own but I haven't put them into play during the week).

I love the evening routine for your boys.

Thanks! We enjoy our evening routine too. It is a good wind-down to the day, and one I can pull off the many nights my dh is gone. Have a good afternoon!

In Christ,
Julie

my3sons wrote: We enjoy our evening routine too. It is a good wind-down to the day, and one I can pull off the many nights my dh is gone.

Julie, I have a question about your evening routine. Do you ever have any nights when you are not home? We go to church on Wed night, so we don't get home until 8:00. I also work in the evening, so my dh is on his own with the kiddos. We are desperately needing a new schedule, and we're planning to implement one in January. Something has to be done in our house so that everything starts getting done, so I'm trying to watch everyone's schedules and get some ideas.

We are typically home at night. We live out in the country, my dh travels often, and when he is home he does outdoor things with the boys - often on our own acreage or surrounding area. We are not necessarily BOTH home at night on a regular basis, as my dh is gone many nights, but we both do try to follow the same nightly routine. Our dc play with each other on our acreage, do a sporting type outing with their uncle on Tues. afternoons (i.e. play basketball, go bowling, play at the park, play baseball, play football, etc.), play with their cousins on Fri. afternoons, and usually on the weekends my dh tries to do something with them that is a more special outing (i.e. prairie dog hunting, deer hunting, fishing in the boat, fishing offshore, 3-wheeler-riding, planting trees or pulling fence for pay for a farmer that is our friend, sledding, etc.). Sunday we all go to church, and every other week we try to eat out for lunch after church somewhere inexpensive. These are our outings, and they are pretty routine.

I wonder if you and your dh could discuss a simple routine he would be willing and able to follow on the evenings you are working? The reason I bring up 'simple' is I have found in years' past that I tended to really draw out bedtime by adding this or that to the evening routine, and this in retrospect did not work out well. Either I was exhausted from my dh being gone many days and nights in a row, or my dh was home exhausted having traveled those many days and nights in a row, and someone was always tense about bedtime going on and on. I think I used bedtime as a time to add extras. Not that this is a bad thing to do, but in our case, it just made our evening routines stressful and long - and certainly the person who was home doing the routine solo didn't feel like adhering to the long routine on their own. So, we have a very simple bedtime routine now. Pick up the house. Go up at 7:30 PM. Brush teeth and pj's. Pray together, each taking a turn. To bed for the little guy, and quiet time doing sit down things in room for the olders til 9:30 PM (any noise, and I just go upstairs and tell them lights out and to bed then, so they are careful to stick to the rules). This simple routine is one my dh sticks to as well, and we can keep it uniform between the two of us.

Perhaps something like this may work for you, but maybe the time would need to fluctuate based on the evening's activities for the dc? Maybe on nights the dc are home, it could be set at 7:30 PM (or whatever time you like), and then you could have a routine that follows that. Trying to keep your part as a parent in the routine to 15-30 minutes is helpful, I think. Our part as parents as typically been to go up with them at the set time to make sure they pick up, brush teeth/pj's on, and then we have a short together time to kind of draw it to a close (we have done this with prayer, by reading a short devotional, or by reading a short Bible story from a Bible story book). Your older dc that are 9 yo and 6 yo could have a set time to look at books quietly or play a quiet board game together after your part of the bedtime routine, with the understanding that by 8:30 PM (or whatever time you like), they must turn out the lights and go to bed. The 9 yo could be responsible for watching the time. The other littles could just go to sleep right after your short routine. The key thing (at least in our home) has been to have OUR responsibility be done at a certain point, so we have more of a chance to refresh as parents before we start the day all over again tomorrow, especially when one of us has been gone. (Of course, the baby stage is different than this, but working toward carving out some time to get our energy back as parents at night is a worthy goal at any stage. ) On the nights that your dc are gone, if they are getting home later than your typical lights out time, I think you could just immediately do your bedtime routine and have them go straight to bed on those nights. If your days offer more chances for routine than your evenings do, that may be the place that you can get into a better rhythm. As far as school is concerned, that is better anyway. Hope something here helps, but I think this is an area we all struggle with and have to be willing to rework and go back to the drawing board some years! Good goals to work through this with dh and make a change by Jan.!

In Christ,
Julie

Mommamo wrote:

my3sons wrote: We enjoy our evening routine too. It is a good wind-down to the day, and one I can pull off the many nights my dh is gone.

Julie, I have a question about your evening routine. Do you ever have any nights when you are not home? We go to church on Wed night, so we don't get home until 8:00. I also work in the evening, so my dh is on his own with the kiddos. We are desperately needing a new schedule, and we're planning to implement one in January. Something has to be done in our house so that everything starts getting done, so I'm trying to watch everyone's schedules and get some ideas.

I wanted to pop in a tell you that a bedtime routine can still be done. We also go to church on Wed nights & Sun nights as well. I usually pack a snack ( we live 20 minutes away, right outside town) that they eat on the way home. When we arrive they get in pj's, brush teeth, & then we do a modified version of our bedtime routine. It is later on those nights, but we don't want to totally skip it. In turn they get another 15-20 minutes in bed the next morning.

Another thing. As long as you and your husband share the basic mechanics the same in the routine, it does not have to be identical. For instance, our children bathe, and the eldest reads a Bible Story, (that we he gets practice, and it remains the same no matter who is in charge), but as far as prayer and a story/cuddle time my husband & I are different. Our children LOVE it that way! So if your husband has a routine he can do, it doesn't matter if it is the exact same as yours. It will still be a routine to the children.

my3sons wrote:

Homeschooling6 wrote:Lovely schedule Julie and thanks for sharing. Some of my children are early risers too. At times I wake up and they are quietly sitting at the dining room table eating and doing school, I love it. Then there are some of my children who I have a hard time waking

One thing that makes school hard is our postage stamp size house. I miss having formal living and dining rooms, game room and such. It gave us so much more space to school. Right now it gets so loud in the kitchen with Ethan doing TT on the computer, someone getting a glass of water with ice , me trying to teach, well you get the picture. Sorry I don't mean to complain but I do miss that space.

Thank you for your thoughts here! I think that sounds like a neat way to wake up - seeing dc quietly eating and doing their school. That comes from good training by the mother, of course, so kuddos really goes to YOU for that. Our house is 100+ years old, so I hear ya about interesting space issues (ours would be in the form of practically no closets - even in the bedrooms, little cupboard space, and c-c-c-c-old drafty rooms in the winters). We converted are entryway to a play area with a TV/VCR in the top section of the closet (the only closet on the main floor), and added some baseboard heat. It has been worth it. We also have 2 of our sons room together to free up one extra little room upstairs as a playroom. This has cut down on some noise when I am working with one child and others are playing. I don't know if there is any way to get creative with the space in your home - I am certain you have given that some thought already. But, maybe having more dc room together so another room is freed up for school or play time could work? Or even using a space like an entry in a small way as another space by adding a small desk or something could work? Maybe they could do some of their work in their rooms? I can understand your frustration with small space. Those are just a few thoughts I had, but I do realize, that sometimes, no matter what - it's just going to be a small space. Wish I could help some other way, but I did want to say that I always think reading your posts that you have such a neat, close-knit family!!! Perhaps it is due in part to you learning to work together in smaller amounts of space, maybe a blessing in disguise though I know it sure doesn't seem like it. You do a good job of still having a cheerful home and a productive homeschooling experience.

In Christ,
Julie

Julie, you are so kind and I thank you for your caring heart. Every single inch of our house space is taken. I actually did buy one of those old fashioned cubby hole desk at a thrift store. It had to be placed in the middle of the living room It ended up on the front porch and eventually gave it away. I am thankful that we are no longer in the two bedroom house, now that was small

We have three bedrooms with 7 children, I watch my nephew as well. Joshua, Brent and Lance share a room that use to be part of the kitchen. The previous owner put a wall to make a 3rd bedroom, so their room also has the back door so my poor Joshua has traffic going through his room all the time. I did offer my room for him to study but he wants to be in his room. Annette at times will use my room but I think she likes to be with us in the kitchen. It's a challenge but I know God has us here for a reason. If we still lived in our beautiful more spacious house we wouldn't be attending the church we do. Our church family, they are a lovely bunch. Almost all the families homeschool too. I just love them all so much. When I had my oral surgery they provided dinners for two weeks and continue to lift me up in prayer.

Thanks again Julie for your kind words, offering help and just caring.