our family schedule (revised 2013)

I have had a LOT of reader questions over the past few months. I have not posted any directly on the blog in a while for various reasons, but the majority of the questions have revolved around homeschooling. I have been surprised at the number of people that have been interested in this topic, considering I am a first time homeschooling parent with little experience. In other words, take what I say with a grain of salt.

Truly? You should always take what I say with a grain of salt...

So, I thought what would make this the easiest would be to break up the questions into three blog posts: our daily schedule, our curriculum, and our successes and struggles.

Today's post is our revised daily schedule. I posted a daily schedule a few years ago, but a lot has changed since then, so here's the updated one! (You can find the old schedule posts {here} and {here})

[6am: Christie wakes] I get up, read Bible passage for the day, grab some breakfast and coffee, and check in with my {hellomornings} group. (We are still registering if you are interested!). I shower and get ready for the day after that.

[8am: Block 1: breakfast +Bible] Get the kids up, eat breakfast, and Brandon reads from the Daily Light devotional before he heads to work. Blue lights, kisses, then we read our Bible story for the week's homeschool lesson and work on our "verses". We are currently memorizing our 16th verse this month!


[9am: clean+chores+play] The kids "clean" their dishes, and head to do their {chores}, and then they have a small playtime with Titus before his morning nap. Yes, he is 18 months old and still naps in the morning. I know I am blessed! Whew!

[10am: Block 2: Reading and Math/Titus naps] I work on the most important subjects while Titus is sleeping, because when he is awake, it is sometimes a tad harder to concentrate. August will either chime in with what we are doing during this hour, or he colors at the table sitting next to us.

[11am: Block 3: Science+Weather+Social Studies] Titus wakes up from his nap, we watch the weather report online, do our science lesson (we just finished the science text for the year, so we are beginning the history text in its place this week), check on {the bunnies} and dive into social studies, which is where the {50 State Prayer Project} comes into play.

[12pm: lunch/reading time] We break for lunch, and sometimes I will read a few books while they are eating, or catch up on something if we have fallen behind that morning (which happens-- a lot).

[1pm-3pm: Titus naps/Eden and August quiet time] Titus takes a nap, and Eden and August play together in their room, either with toys, reading books, listening to music, etc. On occasion, I will let them watch a movie in the den and rest. I use this time to eat lunch, mop the kitchen, paint my nails, save the world. I will catch up on my blog, read a book, fold towels. The fun stuff.

[3pm: Block 4: Spanish/Home Ec] I use this time to rotate between Spanish and Home Ec. In other words, we speak foreign languages while baking sugar cookies. Good times.

[4pm: snack time]: Titus wakes up, we enjoy a small snack. I usually start preparing for supper around that time. After snack, they play until supper, or on warmer days, we go to the park. Our last homeschool class ends in that "Block 4" above.

[5:30-6pm: supper] Suppertime=a gigantic mess. Enough said.

[6:30-7pm: bathtime] The boys take a bath and Eden takes a shower. Sometimes I will let her play "computer games" while the boys are bathing. More on our fave websites next week!

[7pm: begin bedtime routine] We dry hair, brush teeth, change in to PJs, and gather as Brandon reads scripture to us again before bed, and we take prayer requests and pray as a family. Brandon gives piggy  back rides, kisses and we end the kids' day. Typically this ends around 7:45-8pm. If it ends earlier, I don't argue.

[8pm-11pm: free time] I generally use this time to spend time with Brandon and catch up on any loose ends before bed. Having ladies over for hospitality has also been a goal of mine the past few months.  I am trying to go to bed earlier, but I am both a night owl and an early bird, so it is hard to go to sleep when you are not tired!

We label our Tuesdays as "Community Days", where we get out in the community via library storytime, visit friends, or have friends over for a playdate/homeschool time. This generally takes place in the morning hours of the day, so those "blocks" shift until later in the day, or I double up lessons on another day. Eden also has dance at 4pm on Tuesdays. I found that last "semester" we were overextending ourselves and had something going on almost every day of the week. This "semester" I am streamlining things for us by scheduling things on one day.

So, there you have it. Weekends we spend family time, church, and (sometimes!) Brandon and I go on a date.

What about you? What does your day look like? Don't forget throughout this "schedule" there is a healthy dose of chaos, falls, crying, and whining. But we do the best we can with the time given to us!


(Missed today's daily photo? Click {here})