How important is a schedule, anyway? We stuck exactly to our 2010-2011 homeschool schedule on Monday. Then on Tuesday Monk wanted to do his science experiments right after breakfast, so I gave an inch. Now today Twinkle Toes is doing art BEFORE math. Have I lost all control of this school in just three days!?
Here's where we are sticking to the schedule- where I absolutely refuse to budge.
1. The kids will be awakened before 7 am each morning, no matter what time they get to bed the night before.
2. We will have our morning devotions from 7-7:30 and breakfast from 7:30-8 with Greek.
3. We will have our Sonlight read-aloud time, map and timeline work, and LAs from 9:30-11 each morning with lunch to follow.
Here's where I'm going to allow some leniency:
I will let the kids choose which individual subject to complete during each independent study block as long as they continue to get them all done and continue to do them well.
My goal is for my children to become independent learners, so it's probably best to allow them some flexibility in their schedule. What do you think? Are you a strict scheduler or do you incorporate some flex?
I have found that I do the same things that you mentioned here. Especially as they get older and something grabs their attention from our studies. Structure with flexibility-LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been loving your posts on homeschooling and now seeing how you schedule your day! I'm a little more "relaxed" like you and between you and Amy (raisingarrows) I'm starting to think Sonlight might be the next step for me too! :)
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing...some things are non-negotiable, and in some areas I allow flexibility.
ReplyDeleteI don't mandate the wake-up time, but they have to be ready to begin Bible lesson at 8:00--with chores all done, and their Bible read. My girls set their alarms earlier than my 11yo son. Also, once a week, I allow them to sleep later (like start at 9:00) if we have a race on the weekend or Jimmy is not off any during the week. So, if we do school every day, and they have to get up at 5:00 to run on Saturday, then I may let them sleep one hour later on Friday. If Jimmy has a day off during the week, they can sleep later on that day.
I do let my children choose the order that they complete their independent school work.
Our Bible, read aloud, and lunch times are all set pretty much in stone!
I think having the benchmarks throughout the day along with allowing flexibility during independent work, is a combination that works well.
I am finding that some days of Sonlight read aloud are longer than others. Are you?
Glad you beat me up on the first day!! And you went shopping before school!
One more thing!
ReplyDeleteDo you mind emailing me your bread machine recipe again? I am ready to try it. I am ashamed to admit that I haven't before now! :)
Blah, I am having a horrible time with my schedule! I am not a morning person. I think I would like school in the evening, but that seems crazy! I need to buckle down, we have been doing school since July BTW. Maybe we didn't have enough of a break and the year-round idea was a bad one.
ReplyDeleteSCHEDULE?? Such things exist?? I thought they were urban myths! Oh wait, that's just in my house :P
ReplyDeleteDoes that 9:30-11:00 block include the read alouds too?
ReplyDeleteRoan- Our read alouds are taking from 9:30-10:15 or so. Then we move to the table for map and timeline work (around 10 minutes) and LAs (30-40 minutes).
ReplyDeleteWe read the Bible portion and work on Scripture memory earlier in the morning so that 9:30 read-aloud is just the history/lit.