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Our School Day

Written by Jody Davids on Sunday,January 08, 2012. Posted in The School Room

My family needs routine. It's the one thing we all agree on! Schedules are a must. Rules are written down. Checklists get made. And chore lists...well, they are non-existent at the moment, but I have been secretly contemplating bringing them back....

I love making checklists—I have a hunch my kids don't appreciate them as much as I do, but I'm okay with that—and whenever I make a checklist, it gets laminated. If you don't have one of these laminators, I highly recommend getting one. They are easy enough for kids to use, are fairly inexpensive, and save resources. Simply print once, laminate, mark off as you go with a wax crayon, wipe off, and reuse.

As for our school routine, it changes a couple of times each year. When my kids were younger, we had schedules (printed and laminated, of course) where each and every subject had a specific start and end time. You know, forty-five minutes for this subject, thirty minutes for that one. That probably sounds a lot like public school (with the exception of needing a bathroom pass), but it worked for us. Of course, the time given to complete a subject was far more than what was ever actually needed, but if I didn't put a time limit on an assignment, a certain child of mine would sit daydreaming all day instead of getting any work done.

But as my kids are getting older and are more able to effectively manage their own time, I find I can relax a bit on the daily schedule. They now get their assignments a week's worth at a time—4 to 5 days—with no set time blocks and in no specific order in which to be completed. My kids love this since it allows them to work ahead of schedule if they choose to, and it lets them know what to expect throughout the week.

So, here is what our homeschool day currently looks like:

Up at 8:00
Start school at 9:00
Lunch at 12:00
You're done when you're done.
(Usually between 2:00 and 3:00)

With the exception of a couple of breaks here and there, that's it. Simple. I still need to go over most of the assignments before they can be done, but I love that my kids can do most of their work independently, and I love that my kids can better manage their time. Not having schedules where each subject is in a specific time block allows my kids to choose what order they want to do things in, and makes them more independent and responsible for their work.

As for the subjects are my kids studying, my 5th grader does math, language arts, social studies, science, spelling, reading, and geography; my 8th grader does vocabulary, math, grammar, history, science, literature, and an elective of his choice. I will do another post with details about the curriculum we use, if there is any interest.

What is your homeschool day like?

Tags: schedules

About the Author

Jody is the founder of iamhomeschooling.com. She has a passion for homeschooling and enjoys sharing her experiences with other homeschoolers.

Comments (1)

Danielle

10 January 2012 at 14:59 | #

Thank you for sharing your day, I enjoy hearing how others homeschool. There are so many curriculum choices, I do find it helpful to learn what works for other families.

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