Not Back to School Blog Hop: A Day in the Life

I've been participating {mostly just reading} in the Not Back to School Blog Hop at Heart of the Matter Online. After reading a few of the 'Day in the Life' posts, I finally feel inspired to write my own.

Initially, I felt a little embarrassed that we dont wake at 6 am, follow up with an hour of prayers, an hour of exercise, feed the chickens, make breakfast from scratch, put on freshly pressed homemade coordinating clothing and sit down in our spotless classroom for our first subject by 8 am. Now I realize, that is completely impossible since there was absolutely no time left for feeding the chickens or people...but seriously our schedule looks NOTHING like the one above. And, honestly, I kinda think that's a homeschool stereotype. I dont want to live up to it, I have no intentions of living up to it, but if others want to think I live up to it, then I dont want to write an entire post saying differently-know what I mean?

But, really, my point for blogging is to encourage others. And, if you think the about is a Day in my Life, then I'd be surprised if I would encourage you.

So here's the real deal:

9ish am: Roll out of bed. Mustang is often up earlier then this, but she is allowed to watch TV till we wake up. Sometimes the hubby gets up before this. I usually get up with Charger or Mini Cooper or both-which ever gets up first.

And then:
Wake up time lol. Greet others, sit on the couch or outside on the lawn trying to fully wake up. Take shower, get dressed, get kids dressed,feed them breakfast, spend time on computer, chat with hubby etc etc.

Once everyone is dressed we usually hang out a little, let the kids play, start a load of laundry, little more computer time, etc.

Then it's clean up time. This varies on time depending on how dirty things are and how agreeable kids are being.

Then we take a break lol. If its lunch time we eat lunch.

After lunch, we have Bible time. 10 minutes on the couch or on your bed with a Bible-no matter your age. Even Mini Cooper has a few prayer books we give her {she doesnt sit still but we try}.

Then a last ditch pick up any toys that have found their way to the school room floor and start school!

School order is:

-Prayers, Pledge, Calendar time
-Circle time which consists of memory verses, songs, rhymes, & story books
-Bible Lesson
-Read aloud-the kids color while I read a chapter book
-Individual language lessons
-Group Science/Nature, Math and Art lessons

We spend about 2-3 hours total together doing school, sometimes less. We dont always get everything done, but we do what works.

after school:

Free time-play, watch TV, Computer
Outdoor time
Dinner
Free time
Bed

Bed is usually around 10:30 for the kids. Notice there are no naps??? Mini Cooper takes naps through this, but my other two have never been willing to nap. I hope that Mini Cooper doesnt change, but I figure she will. Also, my husband is a farmer. The last month or so has been his down time so he is usually here in the mornings and evenings. This has a lot to do with all our free time slots, as we spend them hanging out with Daddy. Once harvest starts, he will be gone from dawn till dusk so we will likely have school a bit earlier.

And that's our peek. If you would like to know how other families run their ship check out the blog hop at Heart of the Matter. Thanks for stopping by & God bless!

The Schedule: Update #1

We survived the first day! I would actually be so bold as to venture out and say we THRIVED the first day! It really did work.

Now, I will admit that if I were being judged on punctuality we would have been fired. As the day went by, I didnt hold any one's rears to a fire and beat a stick that said: the schedule says we are 5 minutes late! If we werent doing what the schedule said, I assessed the situation and quickly tweeked it for today. I found that my ideas when I wrote the schedule werent always realistic or the most beneficial for my family.

There were also a few wrenches thrown in the mix: The 'Chuck' season finale was TWO HOURS long and I had 'budgeted' for 1 hour. We, however, LOVE Chuck and were please with an extra hour to feed our Chuck love before the summer break. And, my DSL, went down right before my scheduled time to blog last night, which meant I had to spend a little extra time blogging this morning instead. Oh well, we survived, and I ended up with a bit of extra sleep. Hmm, maybe God knew I needed that!

As I type this, we are on day #2. It is also going well, though there have been a few 'misses' in the schedule again. We are all feeling just a tad bit under the weather, it seams, and we arent running at our best.

What the schedule has really helped is to let me know what is next. In other words, when we are done with what we are doing {which has usually been what the schedule said}, I know, and the kids are learning, what comes next. I also know how much time I have budgeted for an activity. So, if I wanted to spend 1 hour on school, I try to stick to that time allowance even if we didnt start right on time.

Another thing I have noticed is that if we aren't 'on task' we are usually doing something that is supposed to come up later on the schedule. For instance, if the kids are deep in meaningful play without arguing, I am hard pressed to break that up. So, I will just take time from a later playtime and use that for the cleaning, school time, etc that we are supposed to be doing. Make sense?

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for all your kind words on my original schedule post! You have no idea how encouraging they were! I also want to throw out there that I have tried other systems and methods before and still use some of their ideas {for example Flylady} in my day. But, I really felt it was time for me to figure out what works best for my family rather then trying to make my family fit a system. I will keep updating you from time to time on how its working out. God Bless!

A Schedule

Yep. I'm there. I've been fighting the idea for a very, very long time. But, it wasnt until the last couple days that I have decided its not just an idea its the Lord tugging at my heart.

You see, it seems that I am a bit bi-polar. Not really, but if you look at the way I keep my house and kids you might think so.

One week I am ALL ABOUT SCHOOL. I'll have a great theme, new trays, fun crafts, great ideas and we will have a lot of fun and learn a lot. And the house will be a DISASTER.

The next week, I will be focused on the house! It will be SO CLEAN. There will be clean sheets on every one's bed, all the laundry will be washed and folded, a cleaned out fridge, great meals, and school will consist of reading a book and singing a song and coloring a picture.

The third week, I will be so tired of giving my all to everyone that I tend to spend about 3 days doing NOTHING, followed up with that terrible guilty feeling that motivates me to go ALL OUT and organize something. But, I usually only end up organizing it half way, and then it just sits.

Okay, so now that you all REALLY know me, I hope you will keep reading my blog lol! As you can see, I need a new plan. Er, wait, I guess I just need a plan, because I havent had one of those before.

I am a product of public schooling and over scheduling. Growing up, my family was always on the go. We didnt have time for a schedule, we were at the mercy of whatever activities we had signed up for, and fit things like eating and sleeping in where we could.

The idea of a schedule actually makes me a bit fearful. I am never on time for anything. 10 minutes late is my idea of early. I try to be on time, I really do. I just have a horrible inability to determine how long getting myself and kids ready to go will take me. I am always waaay off. A schedule means there are many opportunities to be late, and I dont want to spend my day feeling late for everything at my OWN house! I am also afraid of feeling like I run a military academy or something. Shouldnt life at home be fun and layed back?

Yet, with all these objections running around my head, I KNOW that something has to change. I dont want my kids to have to grow up in a home that never has a routine or a rhythm. I grew up going to church camp, which I LOVED. I loved the friends, and the fun, but I also loved the 'freedom.' And you know what? They had a SCHEDULE! Looking back, I loved the routine! I loved having time for all the different things that camp has to offer. I liked knowing what came next. I liked knowing that if I wasnt having fun, that I would be in only 28 minutes and 30 seconds.

I want that kind of routine for my kids. I also want to know where MY time is going. I have a funny feeling that I KNOW where it is going. This schedule may mean you will read less from me. On the other hand, it may mean you will read more meaningful posts as I will have less time to post meaningless things just to have an entry on a day.

The schedule has been written, and I plan to start it on Monday. I promise to keep you posted. In the meantime, please keep me in your prayers. IF this is really the Lord's will for my family, I know it could be met with some challenges. Please pray that this will go smoothly!

God Bless!