Homeschool Scheduling Help & Hacks

In the beginning of 2018 I started to realize our homeschool schedule was not working very well for my preschooler, he lacked independent playing skills and needed a great deal of attention.

I would plan our day and rarely would we get to it all. It wasn’t because I was planning a whole lot in the day, but every time I mentioned what we were going to do next it would be met with groaning (with the exception of outside playtime or baking, which was always met with cheering and hard to rein the kids back in from) and they older kiddos were having lots of questions that would consistently interrupt our time, as minimal as it was. Don’t get me wrong, I am an advocate for learning through play and the more outside time the better, but I was getting frustrated and discouraged about my dreams of homeschooling being complete with rainbows and unicorns was shifting, and I was losing time with my preschooler.

I hated that he was hating it so it was time to switch things up. side note: if you contain the slightest bit of flexibility homeschooling will be more enjoyable, but if you don’t try to take time to LEARN to be flexible, for everyone's sake!

 At this point in our homeschooling journey, I have all 4 children learning different things and at different depths. Up until now I could combine subjects and scale to the age AND nap time was a key schooling time, so scheduling needed to be switched. We were currently in a co-op which took an entire day (the pros and cons of full day coops will need to be a different post)

Previously we had a bit of a daily routine: Math, Memory work, reading, grammar, hands on science or art depending on the day, geography and history (depending on the day)

 It was very much the schedule of a school, and not a schedule for my preschooler/kindergartener. And since he played so well it was easier to let him and work with the older kids.

Fall 2018 we decided to start our new weekly schedule and we all just loved it, the older kids would work on their independent work (things they could do without me) while I filled my little one's heart.

Using the idea I had learned years ago when we started schooling, but got lost in the shuffle I decided to revise the concept to see if it would be a good fit.

The “head” is usually the academic part, the “heart” is something Bible related; memory verse or character development and the “hands” include art, handiwork and music.

We are still moving things around a little bit but right now our week looks like this:

MONDAY

main lesson: Phonics/ Copywork ( don’t think I am crazy fancy he is learning to write his letters and numbers)
heart: scripture writing and memory verse
handiwork: art journal

Outloud reading
* bread making in the morning with older sibling

TUESDAY

main lesson: math always hands on and usually involves matchbox cars.
heart: memory verse
handiwork: our choice

Outloud reading

WEDNESDAY

main lesson: Phonics/ Copywork
heart: memory verse & character study
handiwork: our choice
Library

THURSDAY

main lesson: Math
heart: memory verse
handiwork: our choice

Outloud reading

FRIDAY

Main lesson:  science (basically sitting in on the kids experience or dissection for the week)

Most days our handiwork is whatever we feel like doing that day. Monday’s will generally be art journals as we begin our new memory verse for the week we will usually write it down and paint around it.

Other handiwork we will be working on:

·        Music...... we have several instruments, drums are a favorite and his sister’s hammered dulcimer is off limits

·        Felting (with older sibling)

·        card making

·        Playdoh/ clay

·        Painting (this is a favorite and might need to be limited)

·        jewelry making

·        Games

·        Pastels/chalk

·        Craft bin

With our previous schedule our last subject of the day always ended up getting cut short but now, since we are pretty much only doing one subject a day there is always time for it! He also, gets to sit in on extra history lessons, and draws maps as he opts.

I am sure this kind of schedule won’t work for everyone and it might not even work for us in the future but right now it is working extremely well.