Daily Schedule

I haven't posted in a while. I actually have written a few posts but they got lost in Cyberspace and I just didn't have the energy to rewrite them. A lot has been going on the past couple of months and I hope to blog more about it soon.

But for today I wanted to post a new schedule for our homeschool. We've been struggling this year to find a "groove" and I so hope this one will help. I'm going back to short lessons in varied subjects daily. We do well on these short 15 min timeslots. I know some say they hate to stop in the middle of something and move on, but we find that the short and varied lessons keep us moving and feeling accomplished.

Here is the basic schedule:

MORNING 9:00-12:00
Bible (15 min) together
Poetry (15 min) together
Math - (30 min for DD 15yr) (15 min for DS 8 yr & Reading Lesson 15 min)
Reading from Unit - (15 min) together
Spanish (15 min) together
Grammar (15 min)
Spelling (15 min DS) Vocabulary/Latin (15 min DD)
Copywork (15 min DS) / Writing (Logic on Thursday) (20+min DD)
Art Study/Composer Study (15 min)

LUNCH 12:00-1:00
Literature Read Aloud
Walk

AFTERNOONS: 1:00-4:00
Science/Science Experiments/Nature Study
Notebooking/Lapbooking/Projects
Piano Practice
Silent Reading/More Reading Practice for DS
Shakespeare Club on Thursday at 2:00
Computer Skills/Typing/Desktop Publishing/Blogging/PowerPoint etc.
Health
Living Skills
Cooking
P.E.
Etc.

All of the afternoon activities would not take place every single day. Some will like Biology for DD and piano practice but others like notebooking and Shakespeare Club will only happen when they happen ;o).

I didn't divide things so much into subjects because we cover many subjects in our units, projects, notebooking, lapbooking, silent reading and read alouds. Those will vary.

Right now 8yo DS is doing a unit on Native Americans and so DD will probably just do that with us, adding in her own research and reports at her higher level since we never really got around to this unit when she was younger.

I'm looking forward to a more relaxed learning style. I've prayed a lot over the past summer and into this fall about how our home should "look".
I have also learned (and this was the hardest for me) that each year, semester and even month may look different and call for a different focus or schedule.

Right now we need structured flexibility! LOL

I need the structure of the routine/schedule but the flexibility of what to study during that slot.

I felt in bondage when I followed someone elses list no matter how WONDERFUL that list was. I needed to "own" my own curriculum and schedule and my children did too.