Organising our schooling schedule

I've usually been pretty diligent about writing up our daily schedules every year. It usually gets a make-over every term as new activities come along or we find something isn't working well.

Our best schedule was last term. We focused on getting a bulk of the bookwork done in the morning, after a good breakfast and regular chores. After lunch, we then focused on either Science, Social Studies or Art. It worked well for me, also, as I had sewing for dance costumes in full swing, and the children had their dance classes in the afternoons.

One problem I'm currently facing is trying to squeeze in MORE as the children enjoyed Story of the World so much, and Spanish with these books, that they want to do more of it again this year.

So, what's our schedule shaping up to look like in 2009?

Every day:

• Handwriting (10 mins)
• Spelling (10 mins) - write out list words and a few activity questions from book.
• English (30 mins) - their books alternate between Grammar, Comprehension and Creative Writing, all within the same book now.
• Maths (30 mins)
• Music theory and practice (at least 15 mins. / day) The theory part will only be once a week.

Monday to Thursdays:

• Spanish or SOTW (15 mins) - I'll alternate the days we do these, and with Story of the World the focus will be on the story and then a quick activity.
• Science or Social Studies (30-45 mins) - again alternating the days we do these, also expecting the activity side of these subjects to take us beyond the time set.

Last year we did Art with another homeschooling family every Friday. I'm hoping that this can continue. The curriculum guide my friend has suggested is Artist Pursuits.

Dance classes will be in the 'after-school' hours. Maestro has his classes Monday and Tuesday, Mariposa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Also, private violin lessons for Maestro are scheduled for Tuesday, but as this is right after his dance lesson I'm going to need to check if we can change the time.

Mariposa will have a piano lesson scheduled with me at least once a week, possibly Maestro too if he's keen, but I don't want to add to much pressure to his schedule. At his age, mastering one instrument is a great achievement.

Now, let's see, is that everything? Probably not, but even though what I've written looks pretty rigid, we're actually pretty flexible and the children get through their work quite quickly for the most part. We'll also have days where we'll organise outings, excursions, days out swimming ... just like other schools do. :)

I should make note that I realise there a many, many ways to go about organising your homeschool. We have days where the children do get very involved in a particular subject / activity and I let them run with it. In the most part, though, this routine has slowly been developing and working well for us. It takes time to watch how children grow through their learning cycles and latching onto their current learning mode so that they can gain the best understanding.

Just as children have physical growth spurts, they likewise have intellectual growth spurts. What they didn't 'get' for some time can suddenly become an 'ahhhh' moment. I had one of these moments with Mariposa last year. I knew she loved manipulatives, therefore made sure I had lots of bottle tops on hand, coloured pegs, a counting frame and cuisenaire rods. After stuggling with word problems for addition and subtraction, we pulled out the manipulatives. She then proceeded to tell me the answers before she'd even 'proven it' with her manipulatives. I learnt that she could visualise the answer ... a talent I didn't know she had! Yes, 'ahhhhh' to me!!