by Brea

For three nights last week, I had no children. John’s mom had our two older kids, and my mom had the little one. I had all these projects I was going to do, all this wonderful stuff I was going to accomplish. Notsomuch. I watched a lot of Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. I played on the internet. I talked to friends on the phone. I went to the Farmers’ Market with my husband. It was actually pretty great.

One thing we did accomplish, though, was planning the upcoming school year. Yay!! This is something we’ve been trying to get done for quite a while, but never managed to carve out the time. My dear friend Kristie came over a few months ago, and brought most of her school stuff with her. I love this woman. She’s the one who introduced me to Charlotte Mason and Elisabeth Elliot. Anyway, Kristie had made a list of things that she’s used, things she wished she had used, and things she used but didn’t like.

By the way, have I ever mentioned how valuable a resource your homeschooling friends with older children can be?

So. If you want to see our schedule for what we’re doing in the upcoming year, here it goes. We’ll be doing school four days a week (my older ones will be 5 and 6 by the time we start in September), with a slightly different schedule on different days.

Days 1 and 3
8-8:30: read aloud during breakfast
8:30-9: brush teeth, get dressed, make beds, clean kitchen, get table ready for school
9-9:15 Grapevine Studies (a chronological Bible course)
9:15-9:30: copy work and writing (using the Grapevine lesson as the writing lesson)
9:30-10: math (I love the Kumon workbooks!)
10-11: break (chores, plan evening’s supper, play outside, etc)
11-11:30: science (Eagle’s Wings Considering God’s Creation, using Nature Journals we’ve made)
11:30-1: break (lunch, cleanup, free time)
1-1:30: music
1:30-2:30: break (work outside, laundry, older kids spend time with David, etc)
2:30-3: sign language (Signs for His Glory); David takes his nap

Days 2 and 4
8-8:30: read aloud during breakfast
8:30-9: brush teeth, get dressed, make beds, clean kitchen, get table ready for school
9-9:15: Pictures from Proverbs
9:15-9:30: copy work and writing (using the Proverbs lesson as the writing lesson)
9:30-10: math (I love the Kumon workbooks!)
10-11: break (chores, plan evening’s supper, play outside, etc)
11-11:30: The Mystery of History*
11:30-1: break (lunch, cleanup, free time)
1-1:30: art
1:30-2:30: break (work outside, laundry, older kids spend time with David, etc)
2:30-3: geography (complimenting the history lesson); David takes his nap