last year i attempted to make a schedule for school + home, and it sort of worked. but i felt frazzled most of the time, heckled by the thought that i really needed to be doing something but i wasn't quite sure what, and staring into the fridge and pantry at 5:00 p.m. wondering what i was going to make for dinner. honestly, i have not always been the most organized person on the planet, & time-management has not been one of my strengths. i have always hoped to have a smooth-running and peaceful household, but it felt hopeless, given my particular (ahem, "artistic") personality. so i knew i needed help in order to make this homeschool thing work. 

the number one thing that has helped has been PRAYER. over the years the Lord has been convicting me about homeschooling our children, and when i finally said "yes" to that stirring last summer, i told Him i'd need His help to make it happen. He and i both knew the ways where i felt (and maybe actually was) naturally inadequate for the task. but when He asks (or tells) you to do something, He is standing there ready to hand over the tools for the job. it has been amazing to watch the ways He's grown & suited me for this task over the past year! 

while i still have much to learn, some tools He gave me this past summer that have already been put to good use, and proven their indispensable worth to me, are the books managers of their homes : a practical guide to daily scheduling for christian homeschooling families and managers of their chores, both by steven and teri maxwell. when i first received these books and swallowed them up, i knew i'd need some time to put what i'd learned into practice. so josh & his parents gave me two full days + two full nights alone at home to plan out my homeschool year + our family schedule. both books came with kits to help map everything out. so i filled up our 8-foot farmhouse table with papers, charts, calendars & sticky notes and got to work! here's what our (monday through thursday) days look like currently...

this is definitely an idealized version of our daily schedule, though having it as a guide keeps us accountable to accomplishing what we've set out to do each week. sometimes we will take our studies outside, so the order + structure may change while still completing our daily work; other days we scratch our formal lessons altogether, though i do try to avoid that. if, however, we get a little off-track, intentionally or not, i will refer to my weekly lesson plans to ensure that we at least complete the week's lessons by friday, however out-of-order they are by that point. one sidenote here is to first recognize the natural schedule, patterns & life-giving routines your family has already developed naturally. i tried to observe this, & then enforce much of what was already happening, rather than re-creating & imposing something entirely foreign & new. take note of when everyone naturally wakes up, when they're most alert, when they're most likely to need food, time outside, or a little quiet time away from each other, & work the studies around those pillars. these patterns & needs may shift with time. for example, lately my kids have needed outside time before we begin our studies, so already we have shifted the following schedule around to accommodate a walk to the park at 8:30 before we begin our school session at 9:30.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

5:30-6:30 / michelle--quiet time

6:30-7:00 / michelle--laundry, breakfast prep; josh--quiet time

7:00-7:30 / kids--morning chores; michelle--shower, get ready

7:30-8:15 / breakfast, hymn, character, memory passage

8:15-8:30 / breakfast clean-up

8:30-9:00 / preschool time for per (calendar + weather + tea + books)

9:00-9:30 / math w/ heron (while shepherd + per play)

9:30-10:00 / math w/ shepherd + per (while heron preps morning snack)

10:00-10:30 / history

10:30-11:00 / reading w/ shepherd (while heron does art + crafts with per)

11:00-12:00 / copywork + drill + lunch prep + lunch

12:00-12:30 / kids outside (mama M : order groceries*; T : text+email; W : home maintenance; Th : order groceries*; F : shabbat dinner prep)

12:30-1:15 / rest or read time

1:15-1:45 / teatime (M : poetry+literature; T : composers+artists; W : geography; Th : natural history/science; F : nature journals (watercolor) til 2:15

1:45-4:30 / outside play, and/or : M (1st & 3rd) 4:00-5:30 w/ josh while michelle checks in on household bills + paperwork / (2nd & 4th) 4:00-5:30 drawing w/josh while per runs errands w/mama (josh dinner those nights); T 3:00-4:00 handicrafts with heron while sheppy plays with per; W 2:30-4:30 playdate with finn or maggie; Th with grandma marti, outside play, or catch-up on school if morning field trip with nature group; F outside play

4:00-4:30 / mama folds + puts away laundry

4:30-5:00 / afternoon clean-up

5:00-5:30 / dinner prep; per helps

5:30-6:30 / dinner + clean-up

6:30-7:00 / time with dad or bath (while mom & heron prep meals for next day)

7:00-8:00 / bedtime + stories

8:00-10:00/10:30 / josh + mitchy time

*we have free grocery delivery from whole foods through instacart here, & i place the order online! it is saving my life! it is currently the only reason i don't want to move to the country...

 

FRIDAY SCHEDULE we celebrate sabbath/shabbat beginning with dinner on friday, so part of every friday is spent in preparation for a special friday night family mealtime + our saturday day of rest. we've found we need to schedule in REST along with work and school, or rest never happens. i've written more about this tradition here. friday is also a good day to sprinkle in some different school activities, since we are able to fit the core of our academic work into monday-thursday.

the schedule is the same as other days until 9:00.

9:00-9:30 / mail day (kids receive mail in mailboxes from pen pals then write a return letter; mama writes a hand-written letter, too!)

9:30-10:00 / journals (kids write in journals, a memory from the week, with pictures, with mama's help if needed)

10:00-11:30 / mama lesson planning + meal planning; kids have Lego or outside time; heron plans next week's snacks. (this is the only time during the school week that the kids have Lego time, so it is a real treat for them, & they totally let me have an hour and a half to work!)

11:00-1:15 / same as other days

1:15-2:15 / nature journals (watercolor) 

2:15-4:30 / outside time

4:30-5:00 / sabbath chores (extra "to-do's" to get ready for the evening + guests, listed on chore charts)

5:00-5:30 / kids bathe

5:30-6:00 / kids help ready house for shabbat (heron sets table)

6:00-7:00 / dinner

7:00 / mama does dinner clean-up while kids hang out with guests

8:00 / bedtime prep + stories

8:30-late / josh + mitchy time

 

SATURDAY this is our rest + family day. josh & i set out cereal bowls for the kids + a little pitcher of milk in the fridge so we can sleep in and they can feed themselves right when they wake. when we wake up we make challah bread french toast with the previous night's challah/communion bread. josh & i give each other a little bit of quiet time, then we head out for our weekly nature day. we usually end the day with pizza + a movie (the kids' only screen time for the week, except for when they're with grandma & grandpa!) or a family audiobook.

SUNDAY this is our day to go to church + get ready for the week ahead. josh & i usually break the afternoon up so that we each give each other three kid-free hours. i usually use my time for school prep or run out to favorite shops, just for fun! while josh takes time, i run errands with the kids, clean out the car, clean out the fridge, get the house in order for the following week, embroider, do household projects (drill holes in the wall to hang stuff, find something to spray paint), or whatever, really! 

 

HERON daily to-do list

  • morning : before +  after breakfast / get dressed, put away jammies, make bed, clean room, brush teeth, tidy bathroom, tidy classroom
  • prepare mid-morning snack (9:30-10:00) / M : rice cakes + peanut butter + apples; T : rolls w/ honey or jam; W : graham crackers + honey cream cheese; Th : popcorn, apples + peanut butter; F : granola bars + berries
  • crafts w/ per (10:30-11:00) / M : cut, color, paste (using these workbooks + magazines + paper); T : crayons on colored paper; W : watercolor; Th : coloring pages
  • afternoon (4:30) / quiet time pick-up; dining room + art area; clean room; F : clean daddy's studio kitchen (+ regular daily chores); Sun : clean out car with Sheppy
  • evening / (M-Th, Sat, Sun) supper clean-up with mama + meal prep for following day; F : set table for shabbat

SHEPHERD daily to-do list

  • morning : before +  after breakfast / get dressed, put away jammies, make bed, clean room, brush teeth, playroom check
  • play with per (9:00-9:30) / M : cars + play mat; T : beans + animals; W : marble run; Th : blocks + jimmies (playmobil figures)
  • thursday afternoons (3:00-4:00) : duplos with per
  • afternoon (4:30) / quiet time pick-up; shoes + coats in entryway; clean room; F : change bathroom hand towels, sweep entryway (+ regular daily chores); Sun : clean out car with heron
  • evening / (M-Th, Sat, Sun) set table, sweep after dinner

PEREGRIN daily to-do list

  • morning : before +  after breakfast / get dressed, put away jammies, make bed, clean room, brush teeth
  • play with shepherd (9:00-9:30) / M : cars + play mat; T : beans + animals; W : marble run; Th : blocks + jimmies (playmobil figures)
  • thursday afternoons (3:00-4:00) : duplos with shepherd
  • afternoon (4:30) / quiet time pick-up; clean room; F : wipe sinks (+ regular daily chores)
  • evening / (M-Th) help mama make dinner; bring own dishes to sink; (Sat-Sun) set table with sheppy; bring own dishes to sink 

WEEKLY MEALS : i'm sure all of you can't possible be as meal-planning-challenged as i am, but in case you are... this is for you! this is what i do to avoid re-inventing the wheel every week when i plan

  • Breakfast / M : 8-grain cereal / T : homemade granola parfait / W : waffles / Th : kasha + eggs + smoothies / F : steel-cut oats / Sat : challah bread french toast / Sun : cold cereal, cold french toast on the way to church (church starts at 8:00!)
  • Morning Snack / M : rice cakes + peanut butter / T : homemade rolls w/ honey or jam / W : graham crackers + honey cream cheese / Th : popcorn, apples + peanut butter / F : granola bars + berries
  • Lunch / M : grilled cheese + tomato soup / T : green salad w. chicken, quinoa, veggies for me & josh; chicken salad sandwiches for kids / W : soup / Th : quesadillas / F : leftover soup (from thursday night) / Sat : picnic / Sun : out to eat
  • Afternoon snack / baked goods (if we bake that day)
  • Dinner / M : bean + rice bowls w. chicken + veggies + yumm sauce / T : pasta or quinoa / W : Mexican / Th : soup / F : Shabbat (something fancy + meaty) / Sat : pizza / Sun : crockpot