An Ambitious Schedule

A few months ago, I got tired of feeling that important tasks were going undone and that our family would be so much happier off if we could make better use of our time during the workday. I made a daily schedule for the five weekdays and then outlined when each task needed to be worked on.

I started by plugging in the times that we have regular appointments-- music class, Cub Scouts, etc. Then I inserted a time to complete essentials based on each day's appointments-- preparing 3 meals, school, and Bible study/ prayer. Finally, I added things that it would be really great if we could accomplish each day-- exercise, play time with mama, rest time.

Here is how the Monday schedule looks:

7:30-Prayer and Bible Study for Mama/ Boys have breakfast

8am- Boys work on daily chores/ Mama unloads dishwasher and starts laundry

8:30- Boys report back/ Play time/ Mama works on Zone 1 cleaning

9:30- Family learning

10:45- Snack time

11am- Exercise 

11:15- Play time outside with Mama

12pm- Lunch time

1pm- Rest time for Baby/ Turtle works on school independently/ Diego Kindergarten

1:30- Rest time for Diego/ School time for Turtle      

3pm- Play time/ Mama folds laundry

4pm- Boys pick up living room floor and put laundry away/ Mama makes dinner

4:30- Eat, clear away dishes, run dishwasher

5:15- Leave for Kindermusik

We never complete everything that we have planned. There are even some days when I don't get the scheduled dinner cooked and we have a quick meal of tacos or spaghetti (again!) But my goal is to get better at doing the things that must get done for our home to run efficiently and to get the boys to help me in those tasks.

Rollercoaster Kids

I have never been able to say, "Oh, he's my compliant one," or "He's a strong willed child." All of my kids go through phases where they are very sweet and obedient, then they turn rude and obstinate. Just when I am adjusting to one behavior pattern, the child changes drastically.

Sometimes I take their bad moods personally, feeling that if I did a better job of entertaining them they would always act happy. When they are happy, I often pat myself on the back for providing a loving environment where my children can act their best. Both responses are wrong, expressing a belief in the myth that perfect parenting creates perfect children.

Turtle and I have been studying the Old Testament in depth this semester with My Father's World 1st grade. Over and over, we see righteous leaders raised from families steeped in deception and malice. Rebekah encouraged Jacob to steal his brother's livelyhood; Jacob favored Joseph to the exclusion of his other children; some of Jacob's sons disposed of their brother because of envy; and as a child of God, I often disappoint my heavenly parent.

In the Bible, God lays out his expectations for parents, to bring up children "in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4) and to impress on them the commands of the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:7). As my children grow and struggle with sin that causes them to behave in a disrespectful way, it is my job to teach them how to accept God's amazing grace constantly, not relying on our own ability to do what is right but to accept God's gift of grace and to boast only in that.

Back to school-- again!

After a week of vacation and then a week of caring for sick children, we are back to school. Both boys were excited to pull out their books and learn more. What a blessing!

I have a light school schedule planned for the Christmas season, with reading and math every day along with just one or two other subjects and lots of field trips and holiday activities.

My six year old son, we often call him "Turtle", is taking a break from My Father's World 1st grade. It has taught him all of the basics of reading but he needs more practice, so we are switching to Delightful Reading by Simply Charlotte Mason. It meets his needs perfectly-- he knows most of the words very well but it helps him apply some of the new concepts from MFW 1st (like -ight and -tion words).

We also got an excellent deal on La Clase Divertida Levels 2 and 3. We are almost finished with level 1 now and the kids just L-O-V-E it! It is one of two subjects that I never need to fuss/cajole/threaten them to work on. Even my one year old has learned a lot of Spanish by watching most episodes with his big brothers.

The other subject my oldest son can not get enough of is history. We use The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times. We started with the text book and eventually purchased the MP3 version as well. I read him the chapter once and then he listens to current and past chapters as he likes, learning more each time. Next year we will use My Father's World 2nd grade which includes American History, so The Story of the World will be for fun reading, whenever he wants to pull out his CDs and activity book.