My turn to ask for scheduling help!

[Sue G in PA]

School started out organized and well-planned. Then Christmas came, we had issues with ds9's behavior which required hospitalization, therapy, lots of appts., etc. and we were out of the "groove" for over a month. Dh has been working from home and I have been, well, lazy. Only way to put it. I've been sleeping in, staying up late, back to my old bad habits. When I say sleeping in...I mean 9am. So, not noon or anything crazy. Dd14 has also been sleeping in (10am) as well as ds12 (same time) and dd5 (9:30 or so). Ds2 and ds11 are my early risers and both are up by 7am. Ds8 and ds9 follow usually by 8am. So, you can see...quite scattered. We have never done breakfast all together...just never worked. Kids get cereal when they get up. Anyhoo...I need some serious help to get back on track. Even dh has said (very gently) that we really need to get back on track with some sort of schedule. We are so behind with the History readings it isn't funny. Some questions:

1. Should I require my children to set an alarm and get up by a certain time? (Thinking 9...it was like this in the beginning of the year).
2. Ds11 gets to work ASAP after he eats and is finished MOST of his Preparing work by 10am. Ds12, also doing Preparing, doesn't get moving these days until after lunch making it difficult for me to schedule the read-alouds, Bible, projects, etc. Ds11 wants to get it all over with, ds12 is a serious procrastinator. How do I make this work?
3. Dd5 and Ds8 are doing LHFHG and I am ashamed to say that by Christmas I had thrown in the towel. Since then, we have only done the basics (3 R's). I want to finish out the year with it...at least with the Storytime, Bible, History and Science (we never really did the Rhymes or math activites, etc.). I'm just so overwhelmed and don't even know HOW to schedule these 2 in!
4. Ds9 is no longer doing Preparing and is also focusing primarily on the basics (b/c of his issues). Should I try and add in anything from Preparing once in a while or just ditch it and re-start next year?

If you have read this far, God bless you! I've looked at others' schedules, prayed and prayed some more. I just need some hand-holding of my own, I guess. Thanks.

[tnahid]

I totally understand the "getting off track" thing. And I totally relate to the going to bed and getting up late too. I do really find it helpful to set an alarm in my sons' room for 8:30 a.m. I try to get up by 8:00, but doesn't always happen.

Does everyone eat lunch about the same time? What about gathering for the HOD readings together right after lunch? That seems to work well for me. Have you combined two of them so that you could do that? Otherwise, an idea would be to schedule an hour block of time for each of them to spend one on one with that child, and work independently with each one on HOD read alouds, etc. You could actually say, from 11:00-12:00 will be ds 9 time, etc... ?

Just some thoughts for you. I only have 3 children, and I am combining my oldest 2 in Beyond and my youngest in LHTH, so I don't have as much to balance as you do. But I also think it might be helpful to schedule a time where you all meet in the morning around the dinner table for prayer with or without breakfast, and start out the day together, even if it is at 10 or 11:00. That way you could come together and then each person go to their work from that point on.

I always think of Suzanna Wesley. A book I read at one time said that she spent an hour each day with each of her children, as well as homeschooled them all. She spent that one on one time teaching them each day. Of course, John and Charles Wesley were two of her offspring. Amazing men of God! So, maybe that would help you. Bless you!

[GinainMD]

I am by no means an expert in scheduling. Here we follow a routine order of things but not a precise time just a general time. The only advice that I have is to maybe take a few days to establish an evening and morning routine and then slowly add in everyones school, beginning with the oldest and working to the youngest, and take a little time to adjust, mom and students, before adding in the next thing. I know that this will take time but hopefully will become an ingrained habit by the time everyones day is full. HTH

[Mumkins]

I do think you should maybe try to get them all up by a certain time. Do they have a specific bedtime? Perhaps if you watch them for a week, you can see how much sleep they average per night and then get them in bed at the right time so that get enough sleep. As for making a schedule, write down everything you MUST get done (meals, laundry, school, etc), SHOULD get done(chores, play time) and would LIKE to get done (hobbies). Write in times that you want consistent, maybe wake time, bed time, meals and anything that always happens at the same time. Then you can either make a block schedule or a timed schedule. Block would be 9-11am 'school' and you may want to put the order of subjects. Timed would be like 9:00am Bible, 9:15 history read, etc. I also make a check list for my kids to complete each day. We have a timed schedule, but often get off of it. That way they can see what they have left to do that day. HTH.

[my3sons]

School started out organized and well-planned. Then Christmas came, we had issues with ds9's behavior which required hospitalization, therapy, lots of appts., etc. and we were out of the "groove" for over a month. Dh has been working from home and I have been, well, lazy. Only way to put it. I've been sleeping in, staying up late, back to my old bad habits. When I say sleeping in...I mean 9am. So, not noon or anything crazy. Dd14 has also been sleeping in (10am) as well as ds12 (same time) and dd5 (9:30 or so). Ds2 and ds11 are my early risers and both are up by 7am. Ds8 and ds9 follow usually by 8am. So, you can see...quite scattered. We have never done breakfast all together...just never worked. Kids get cereal when they get up. Anyhoo...I need some serious help to get back on track. Even dh has said (very gently) that we really need to get back on track with some sort of schedule. We are so behind with the History readings it isn't funny. Some questions:

1. Should I require my children to set an alarm and get up by a certain time? (Thinking 9...it was like this in the beginning of the year).
2. Ds11 gets to work ASAP after he eats and is finished MOST of his Preparing work by 10am. Ds12, also doing Preparing, doesn't get moving these days until after lunch making it difficult for me to schedule the read-alouds, Bible, projects, etc. Ds11 wants to get it all over with, ds12 is a serious procrastinator. How do I make this work?
3. Dd5 and Ds8 are doing LHFHG and I am ashamed to say that by Christmas I had thrown in the towel. Since then, we have only done the basics (3 R's). I want to finish out the year with it...at least with the Storytime, Bible, History and Science (we never really did the Rhymes or math activites, etc.). I'm just so overwhelmed and don't even know HOW to schedule these 2 in!
4. Ds9 is no longer doing Preparing and is also focusing primarily on the basics (b/c of his issues). Should I try and add in anything from Preparing once in a while or just ditch it and re-start next year?

If you have read this far, God bless you! I've looked at others' schedules, prayed and prayed some more. I just need some hand-holding of my own, I guess. Thanks.

I have found it helpful to have 2 "start" times set, a time to get up and a time to start school. The time to "get up" can be different for different family members (within reason ). It is probably a good idea to take into account who is a morning person, and who is a night person. My oldest gets up at 6 AM and does his science and Bible quiet time. I get up at 7 AM to do my Bible devotions. My middle ds gets up at 7:15 AM, and my youngest somewhere between 7 AM and 7:30 AM. We get ready, do chores, and eat breakfast. Our official school start time is between 8:15 and 8:30 AM.

If your Ds 11 yo likes to get up and do his work, I'd let him do that as early as he wants (within reason). We have a rule that if you get up early you must not wake the others. Your 11 yo can probably do a LOT of PHFHG independently because of his age. If he can read the read alouds on his own, I'd let him, and just do the Storytime follow-ups with him. He can also do the History Project on his own, as well as the Research. You will just need to be sure to do the follow-up questions/checking work for him on a daily basis, but this is short.

I'd have a time to get up and a time to start school set for your 12 yo. Perhaps you can talk this over and come to an agreement, as well as consequences that your dh can be involved in if what is decided upon is not followed. I think 9 AM is a realistic getting up time, and 10 AM is a realistic start time, but you will know best here. Whatever 'start time" you set for him, I'd begin with your teacher parts with him and the 11 yo. This will accomplish 2 things - it will get your 12 yo going as you will be by his side directing the learning, and it will help your 11 yo finish (which he deserves to be able to do after getting up early and using his time well so he can finish on time). I'd do the Reading about History box, poetry, and Bible study with the 2 of them (or with the 3 of them if you want to have 9 yo join in). Then, I'd have your 12 work on the rest of his left side of plans (that your 11 yo has finished), and I'd finish out your 11 yo's LA and math (unless the 2 are together for this, in which case, I'd do the teaching of the lessons and then leave the independent work to be completed alone). At this point, your olders would just be finishing everything out independently, and you would just need to set a time to go over their handed-in work to have them make corrections. I am not sure if your 9 yo is able to work independently on his 3R's now, but if so I'd have him doing that during that first morning time. You may want to have them work at separate tables, I know my dc distract each other too much otherwise. While your older dc are finishing their independent work in PHFHG, I'd do your 5 and 8 yo's LHFHG. I'd clip along with it, and perhaps in the middle of it have a checkpoint for olders.

Obviously the later the start time, the later the end time of school, but I realize that is very worth it to people who count themselves more as "night owls" than "morning risers". I hope something here helps!

In Christ,
Julie