
I just made my schedule for RTR (as well as for Bigger Hearts and LHTH). I based it on last year's schedule I used for CTC, Beyond, and half-speed LHTH, which gave us a very manageable happy year. I did blocks of teaching time, rotating them between dc, and having each child take a turn playing with our sweet (yet very busy) toddler. I tried to keep assignments they needed to finish on their own towards the end of a block of time, so I could still move on to the next thing if they were taking an extra bit to finish. I also put their math/science at the same times, so I can bop between tables to help as needed. While my olders do math, it is a great time for my toddler to be at the table doing his Kumon books. When they are doing science, he's playing right by us because he loves to watch and be a part of it off and on now and then. For seatwork, it's best if my oldest two aren't by each other, as they distract one another. So, my oldest always does his seatwork at the dining room table, and my middle ds at the kitchen table. The rooms are next to each other, so I can go between them easily if they're doing seatwork at the same time. All read-aloud times are done on our living room couch, with blankets of course. Science is in the kitchen.
My oldest ds is an early riser, often reading in his room at 6:30 AM or 7:00 AM. Because I like for our dc to have Bible time first in their day, I asked him if he'd like to do it on his own at 7:00 AM in his room instead of waiting to do it at the start of the official "school day". He was thrilled with this idea! Since his BIble quiet time is independent, this will work well and enable us to finish our day earlier too. I get to do DITHOR with our 2 dc together this year. We'll do it 3 days a week, as this pacing fits well for them both. (Riley did 12 weeks of half-speed Bigger Hearts last year, with daily DITHOR, he's an excellent reader, so I think he'll be fine dropping to 3 times a week.) So, one of the days, that we don't have DITHOR, we'll finish a half an hour early. I pretty much used the maximum times for things when I planned this schedule, using these links for assistance:
BHFHG time it takes:
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RTR time it takes:
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I am not adding anything to our day, as HOD makes it very complete and keeps it balanced already. I am using HOD's recommended LA and math as well. If a family chooses to add things to the day, or substitutes LA and math that takes longer than the recommended time allotments, time will naturally need to be added to the day. But, my experience with HOD is that if I do the guide as it is written and am diligent about our routine (and I'm not answering the phone or on this lovely board during my homeschooling time ), I can always finish by lunch. In fact, when I plan for the normal maximum times, time usually begins to "fall off" our day about 2-4 weeks in as the kids learn what each box requires and get down the routine of the day. The times of the schedule become less important once the routine is established. For example, as time fell off the day last year, I told my older ds if he ever finished anything early, he could start working on his independent science box (since this was one of his last things scheduled in the day). He did this at intervals when he got ahead on things, and usually by the time he got to the time it was actually scheduled at the end, he only had a little left to finish (or none). I'm going to tell him to work on his Rotating History Box if he finishes things early this year. Anyway, I'd love to see others' schedules for RTR too, as this will help everyone schedule the new guide! Here's the link to the schedule (if you click on it, it will enlarge):

In Christ,
Julie