OUR HOMESCHOOL SCHEDULE

“Nowwwww, this is a story all about how our lives got flip turned upside down…”

We’re all feeling a bit wacky right now. Life as we knew it is just so dang different due to quarantining and having nothing else to do except work (if you’re still allowed), go to the grocery store to search for toilet paper (why are we still struggling with that?!) and then back home. And now we have to figure out how to handle our children until August. LORD BE NEAR.

We homeschool our kids during middle school anyways, so we aren’t so wet behind the ears. But all three of mine at the same time? With my daycare kids here? And my husband that is a high school teacher now managing his 109 students from home? Have mercyyyyyy.

OUR SCHEDULE

I’m a scheduler and organizer by nature (enneagram one over here) but some of you could care less. And that’s ok! But for some of you, when the chaos is flying around…just gather your thoughts and place some boundaries and structure. Whew. That feels better!

There is a lot of ideas floating around out there when it comes to making a homeschool schedule so spend some time playing with it and decide what works best for you. Here’s our schedule:

Letting my kids sleep in was not realistic. My husband and I both working from home would not allow us to deal with children waking up at all times of the day. I’m super flexible with how hardcore we follow the schedule, but I am super serious that we have to have a plan to guide us all day. The schedule is like the little gutter rails on a bowling alley. We’re here to enjoy this time together as a family and not be super rigid and rough. But when we get a little off course, the schedule reminds us we do have work to get done.

If you want to try out mine, download it here! I left some spots blank for you to add what you want.

USE ALEXA AS A CLASS BELL

This may be my best moment as a mom. It came to me first thing this morning when I was realizing how many times I was going to have to tell my kids what to do, when to do it, how long to do it, and then repeat myself alllll dayyy longggg. I just can’t….

Set reminders on your Alexa app so your Alexa announces when its time to move onto the next item on your schedule. Like a classroom bell!

When you title your reminder, don’t forget to add the length of time you’re doing the activity so you’re not checking the schedule all day long. Also, your kids won’t ask 200 times a day either because Alexa tells them. It’s like a home-version of a class bell ringing and it’s blowing my mind how amazing it’s working.

REMINDER TITLE EXAMPLE: “Creative Time for an hour”

No more telling your kids over and over what we’re doing and for how long. No more repeating yourself. This may be the smartest thing I’ve ever done as mother.

TIP: Ask “Alexa what volume are you at?” We have ours set to 7. Adjust as needed.

ORGANIZE YOUR WEEK

After a week into our new normal, we decided that picking certain days to do most of our schoolwork (worksheets, assignments, book work, etc) was our preference. And it worked SO GOOD! Here’s what we’re doing:

Monday: specials (art, music, reading)
Tuesday: math, social studies, science, spelling, p.e.
Wednesday: math, social studies, science, spelling, p.e.
Thursday: math, social studies, science, spelling, p.e.
Friday: specials (art, music, reading)

TO SUM UP

Lastly, I know things feel crazy. I feel it too. But maybe we can take this unexpected time and embrace it. We’re always saying we’re so busy and tired and we have so much to do. Our extra curricular activities have been wiped clean and all the sudden our evenings are free.

We can do this friends. We will take it one day at a time and we will see what it’s like to step into a simpler time. You are going to do a great job. Release yourself from stress and expectations. Gather some ideas, then YOU DO YOU MAMA! There is no right way. But there is the way you do it and I have no doubt God is going to equip you!

To anyone reading that are nurses, doctors, first responders, grocery store workers, truck drivers, daycare providers, teachers and everyone in between…THANK YOU.

praying for you all,
Hattie