Our New Schedule

I'm a wanna-be scheduler.....there I said it....I want to schedule my days, but my whole being fights against it when I do. But I'm finding that the more children I have and the older my children get....we really need some sort of schedule to be able to get to everything we need to do each day, and while I will never be a minute by minute schedule follower, a general outline of my day anchored by specific times to stick to for meals and sleep/wake/nap times is something I feel I can do.

A couple of months ago, I set out to make just such a schedule, and we began to implement it each day....We started off strong. We were getting up early, going to bed on time, getting stuff done, but after a little more than a week, I started to fizzle out...and finally I just couldn't keep up with it anymore. I thought I was a big failure, and couldn't figure out why we started off so well, but couldn't keep up with it.

Well, we've floundered the last couple months, not really following any schedule or routine, at least not like I had been wanting to, and we've been scraping by, barely getting the minimum done. So I asked myself what did I do wrong with my original schedule. And then I realized, I was not giving myself enough "rest time". I was exhausted. This whole pregnancy has been incredibly exhausting for me...there was no 2nd trimester energy burst like with my other children, though the extreme exhaustion of the first trimester did let up some, I was still so very tired.

So with that in mind, and with the home school curriculum changes we've made, I sat down and made a new schedule for us to follow making sure we have time for all the things we need to do. Here is our new daily schedule:

Before breakfast-starting at 6am-

Wake up, make bed & straighten bedroom, get dressed, fix hair/face & straighten bathroom, wake husband up (if he's not already awake), start kettle, fix his breakfast & pack his lunch, make tea, start laundry (if needed), drink tea, read Bible, pray, & journal, take dog out & do outdoor chores, start breakfast, wake kids, kids do bedroom and bathroom chores.

Breakfast time-

Eat, take supplements, Proverbs and devotional reading, memory work, table chores, food prep for the day

After breakfast-

Kids do extra bedroom cleaning chores on Friday only(dusting, vacuuming, etc), older three do their math, mom works on chores & helps as needed, the little guy(4) does a quiet activity (coloring, playdough, etc), after math is finished, music practice, typing on Tuesday and Thursday, Family learning (Bible, history, foreign language, science, artist/composer/hymn study, etc), Reading lesson with E, older two do copywork, dictation, written narrations, grammar*), read aloud with younger two.

Lunch time-starting at 11am-

Lunch prep and eat, table chores

After lunch-

Outside time, family read aloud

 Quiet/Nap time-

(Another anchor time in the day....I want us to be ready to have quiet/nap time by 1pm, and this is for everybody, including me. The youngest will probably take a nap, the older three can read or play quietly, so long as they aren't bothering anyone....mama gets a nap, or at least gets to lay down and rest for an hour)

After Quiet/Nap time-2pm-

Afternoon chore time-Depending on what day of the week it is will depend on what we're doing. I work on what I can throughout the morning in between doing school stuff, but this is a focused time to all work together to do the day's tasks. I have the kids do their Friday cleaning chores in the morning, so that if my little guy is taking a nap, he won't be disturbed. Around 3pm we will stop and have a quick tea/snack time (something I have been wanting to do for a long time!), and then finish up our afternoon chores, and do a quick pick up throughout the house before daddy gets home, a little after 4pm. If there are no chores for the kids to really do, or they finish early, they can work on handicrafts and other projects. When daddy gets home, we have a little free time, and this is when I'm hoping to start going for a walk every day, at least 15 minutes a day. After which, I will begin meal prep for dinner.

Dinner and devotions followed by table chores-6pm

Then family time-movies, games, handicrafts, etc. Around 8pm, kids will do quick pick up, and start getting ready for bed. Poetry and Psalm reading, and in bed by 9pm. I let them read for about an hour, and lights out by 10pm. I get ready for bed after they are in bed, and usually spend the rest of the time before bed reading or working on a project. I take the dog out one more time about 10pm, and then I go on to bed.

I used to go to bed at 10 and then read for an hour, but that's another one of those things I just really need to change for this season of my life....I NEED more sleep! :o) I'm so exhausted all the time, and I will have time for reading and such later on...right now, I just have to make sure I'm resting when I get the chance, so that when it is time for me to be up and awake, I can do so.

So this is our new schedule....I think it will work because I won't be having to check the clock every 5 minutes, but yet, we can still stick to certain times and make sure that we're getting what we need to do done during that time.

Blessings,
sara