Homeschooler Mom

This week (technically, last week…I’m a bit behind) we are talking about homeschool routines. A few years ago I came across FlyLady and she has helped me in so many ways: setting up routines in particular.

It took me a while to figure out that routines actually make everything go smoother. My kids love (& thrive on) them, and that in itself makes my life easier.  If you don’t have some kind of routine in place, I know you must be frustrated. Take it from me, they are worth the trouble of setting them up.

So here’s my homeschool routine:

6:15AM Get out of bed, brush teeth and get “dressed to shoes”

6:30AM - 7:00AM Make Breakfast for kids, Empty Dishwasher

7AM - 7:20AM Eat breakfast

7:20AM - 8AM Take oldest to school

8AM - 8:30AM Kids and I do chores, including laundry

8:30AM Kids play while I catch up on email or do some “zone” housework

9:45AM Put baby to bed

10AM Home School starts with a prayer & a pledge

We pretty much do a hodge podge of stuff starting with a Bible Story, reviewing our weekly Bible verse and doing activities related to that week’s theme. We’ll play alphabet/phonics and numbers games. We’ll do some kind of physical activity and sing some songs, and we’ll do some kind of artwork.

While we don’t always do a craft project or have music time, we always play interactive games, have a story time and practice our letters/sounds & numbers.

12NOON LUNCH (School is over!)

12:30PM Baby gets up from nap & kids watch Caillou.

1PM - 5PM Varies day to day…I really need to come up with more of a routine here so I don’t go batty during this time.

5PM Make dinner

6PM Eat dinner

6:30PM Clean up the kitchen while the kids play

7:30PM Get kids ready for bed

8:00PM - 10:00PM *Me* time

10PM Bedtime (at least this is what I shoot for, but many times this doesn’t happen until 11PM)

Like I said, FlyLady has helped me in so many ways, especially when it comes to gaining more control over my home with routines. While I still need to work on making improvements there, I’m taking “babysteps” and making progress. If you’ve never heard of her, check her out and see how she can help you too.