Getting Back to Full-Time School

This weekend, Chris took the children away for a bit so I could roll up my sleeves and do some thoughtful school-planning. Each weekend I plan the week's goals, but sometimes I have to do more thoughtful planning at times such as this when we are transitioning from half-time school during Shakespeare and Latin choir season to full-time school.

I am making some shifts to routine and hope they work well.

First, I'm re-introducing Morning Time (aka Circle Time) to start our day.

• This helps the Little Ones (mainly Margaret, 3-1/2) feel included instead of ignored.
• This ensures we don't do just the three Rs, but that we appreciate the finer things in life. Making and having the time to teach fine culture and wonderful traditions is one of the reasons we homeschool our children, yet it is so easy "not to have time" for those things.
• The author of "Teaching from a State of Rest"* did a series of radio interviews, one of which is with Cindy Rollins, mother of 9, who makes it her focus to talk about the high value of doing Morning Time with all the children, something she has continued to maintain for nearly two decades of homeschooling. (Interestingly, I searched Google  for Cindy's name and found her blog whose whole focus is Morning Time: her latest Morning Time routine is listed most recently. See how lengthy it is? Click here.)

*I find I can't recommend enough the purchase and reading of "Teaching from a State of Rest"! I want every homeschooling mother I know to have it. Therefore, I hope to write my own series of posts, one per chapter, in order to inspire everyone to go buy this gem (which costs about ten dollars).

Second, I'm waving the white flag and increasing our school hours. If I were schooling only a compliant Kindergartener and Second Grader, I could be done with it by lunch time. But doing so while meeting the needs of a three- and one-year-old is proving very difficult for this mama-teacher. So, my plan is to do schoolwork from 9:30-11:30, take a lunch and play break, then put the little ones down for nap or Quiet Time so we can do school from 1:00-3:00. That looks so reasonable in black-and-white but it represents a big change for us, so I pray it goes well.

This should be our routine Monday through Thursday with Fridays set aside as our Going-Out Day with homeschoolers' swim lessons at the YMCA and Homeschool Afternoon Co-op at our parish.

I'm hoping this will be a restful schedule for us, with four days when we don't intend to leave the house. Fridays I have to leave with all the kids by myself. Then Saturday and Sunday we have outings, but I have my husband's help as well. One more thing I enjoy about this routine is that only Friday and Saturday mornings are rushed, so we have five mornings per week when I can cook a hot breakfast for the family, which I think starts the day on nice footing.

Morning Time topics (to be rotated, not done all in one morning)

• Reading picture books (as poor Margaret doesn't get read age-appropriate books to her nearly as often as did the older ones! I don't even know if Joseph at 19 months knows what to do with a board book . . .)
• Memorizing poetry (trying to get back to this worthwhile practice!
• Art appreciation (e.g., Child-Sized Masterpieces)
• Composer studies
• Reading about science (e.g., nature stories, as we probably won't start formal science till third grade)

John's Weekly Log Book

Remaining Morning Schoolwork (to be rotated)

Then I envision that John and Mary will alternate their piano practice in the den while the other sits with me at the kitchen table. Studies I envision would be acceptable in the morning when two tiny tots are running riot are:

• Penmanship (together)
• Grammar (John only)
• Phonics (same curriculum but different levels)
• Spelling (same curriculum but different levels)
• Catechism (John's and Mary's separately)

Mary's Weekly Log Book

Afternoon Schoolwork (to be rotated)

While I pray that the baby naps and the preschooler stays in her room for Quiet Time (still working on learning that one), I intend to supervise Mary's violin practice (which requires my total focus). Studies I envision are best for this focused time are:

• History (John only)
• Literature (Mama reads aloud different books to John and Mary)
• Math (same curriculum but different levels)
• Geography (together)
• Latin (John's and Mary's separately)

Lastly, I have just been introduced to the concept of looping one's to-do list, whether that be school curricula or housework. The concept is that one intends to do schoolwork each morning. Instead of listing precisely the 12 topics one will teach each day, one lists them in a looping order, then proceeds along the list. If one gets through Item 6 today, one resumes with Item 7 tomorrow. If studying Phonics is twice as important as studying Geography, Phonics gets listed twice in the list and Geography once. If one's day is spent caring for a sick baby, one isn't "behind," one hasn't "failed" at teaching school that day: one is living life. And when schoolwork can resume, the mama-teacher just gets right back to her loop.

You can read a wonderful description of looping here and here. I'm that Type A mama she's talking about, so I hope looping will help me feel productive without adding the stress of performance to myself and the children.