I struggle. There, I admit it!! I struggle greatly with getting it all done and most days, it doesn't all get done. I try to teach, cook and clean too much in one day. It gets hectic. I get discouraged. We get behind. I make plans; I mark the calendar; we have setbacks. Sickness, visits from Lauren and the grandchildren, home projects long left unheeded which now demand attention. And now we throw in a filming schedule for Jeff's latest project which doesn't just involve Jeff, but the older boys and maybe even some assistance from the girls and I. Time away from home and our plans are shattered.
We plug on and see success in some areas. History and geography are going well. Kaelan is keeping up with her Teaching Textbooks. Jordan is knocking out some courses to finish up his last semester of his official homeschooling career. I am staying on track with Jackson's math, phonics and Bible study. Menus are made and followed through. Laundry is taken care of regularly and the great clothing swap has been completed. Lots of books on history topics and missionary biographies are being read. Lots of Bible study going on: personal and family. Children taking over more and more of the cooking responsibilities and doing them well. Daily reading of Psalms and Proverbs with the children at the beginning of our school day. All good. (And is it any surprise that the things that are going well are the subjects and activities that we enjoy?
Struggling with finding the perfect science and math for Aaron. Is there really such a thing? He has expressed an interest in the medical mission field. A good background in math and science is extremely important for this. Ordering something new; something "out of the box". Re-thinking our language arts....again! Not getting to the hands-on science unit that I had planned on doing with Kaelan and Jackson. Too much internet for me. Too many videos for the little guys. A house that needs some major decluttering, but I don't even know where to start. Bedrooms that never get completely cleaned. Neglected scripture memory. Not good.
I was up very early this morning re-organizing our memorization card file and writing up a schedule--again. Using a schedule really makes me nervous. I am more of a routine person and, if we are enjoying our learning time, I hate to bring it to an end in order to stick to a schedule. But, in order to get it all done I am afraid we will have to keep to a schedule. I will try to finish up my schedule this weekend and put it to use starting on Monday. But I am already seeing some interruptions. We'll have two weeks on our schedule and then two weeks of filming with twelve hour days and then each day's work times being different. We'll do the best we can and look forward to getting back in gear when the film dust settles.
So, how does your homeschool run? Do you work best on a schedule or a routine? I would love to hear from you and if you have a blog post about your schedule, please link to it in the comments. I hope to post mine next week.
7 comments:
Our family of 11 accomplishes much more on a schedule than without one. I didn't make a summer schedule this year, and now everyone is really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things the day after Labor Day (when our school year begins). I've posted our 2011-12 family schedule here:
http://treasuresfromashoebox.blogspot.com/2011/08/our-2011-2012-family-schedule.html
I look forward to seeing how you plan your day!
The aged-old struggle. I am a schedule person. One of mine is. The other is not. He is a routine person .. wants to do what grabs him at the moment. Sooooo, I have a very detailed schedule. We use it as a guide to keep us on track, but we tend to do what makes sense at the time and adjust as we go. But, the schedule is there in case we get off track. We can just grab it and decide to use it until we are back where we need to be.
I tend to do this on everything. Although I just use the principles behind Weight Watchers in my every day life, if I get off track I get back onto it full force. On housecleaning I follow my general schedule, but if I get off track I go back to my strict schedule.
I think schedules are best used as a fallback so they don't become legalistic and so they don't control us.
I can so relate to your post. We do great at getting the things done that we enjoy, but not so much for the rest of it. We are starting school back up in a week or so and need to get back to our schedule. We do better and get more accomplished when we stick to a schedule, but it is very hard for us to follow one consistently. Here is a link to the system that has worked best for us so far- http://awomanswalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/picture-of-our-new-schedule.html
Blessings,
Rashel
I am a routine/schedule person, but every once in a while it all has to fly out the window and we must go into "survival mode". Times for this are: when the garden needs lots of attention, when the garden produce is coming in, when canning/freezing needs done, when I'm working on something that has a deadline (usually baking related, for someone else)... Those are the times that "as long as we have clean clothes and something to eat" is how we roll for a bit until the dust settles. Of course is only my husband, myself and our 1 y.o. right now :) I *am* eager to be getting back into routines now that I'm pretty much finished canning and freezing.
Oh Anita, this post might as well have been written by me! I struggle as well, and never do 'get it all done!' And my wise husband is always there saying, "Make a schedule!" and "Get away from the computer!"
Glad to see that some of you are on the right track and others are in the same rut that I am in! Maybe we should start an accountability team!
I think a schedule is good to have even if you don't always follow it. It gives you something to shoot for, and makes you feel better to have it all written down.
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