I am very anxious to get back to a routine so we've been gradually working our way into our new schedule. We'll start our year of homeschooling at the end of May while most people are finishing up with school. But with a baby due in October, I'm planning on taking a big break so we'll need to start early to get everything in.
While I was lying on the couch for months with this ridiculous all day nausea, I did have an opportunity to re-read Charlotte Mason's first volume on Home Education. I can't even express how amazing this woman is and how much of a mentor she has been for me. SimplyCharlotteMason.com has been a great resource for putting together an individualized CM-type education. I used their free curriculum planner and ordered all our supplies for the year.
While we're waiting for our materials to arrive, we'll use these next few weeks to continue to settle into our routine. It was a job to fit everything in on paper Nora's needs are great. Everything has to be accounted for - where she will be at any given time and how she will be positioned so that she can be engaged in whatever is going on. We need to make sure that she is getting the stretching, bracing, physical therapy and walking practice in daily. And then there is her education to fit in.
So here's our routine in case you're curious:
| 5:30 | Quiet Time | ||||
| Run | |||||
| Dress | |||||
| Breakfast Prep | |||||
7:00 |
Wake and Potty Time
|
||||
Nora
Dress/PJ's Away
Stretch & Braces on (@
4.5 hrs)
Cruising & Balance Walk*
Washing & Hair at Table
* omit; leave at 7:30 on TP days
|
Claire
Dress/PJ's Away
Washing & Hair
Tidy Room
Set Table
Free Play
|
Lucy
Dress/PJ's Away
Washing & Hair
Tidy Room
Get Water for Nora to
Wash
Free Play
|
|||
| 7:45 | Family Breakfast | ||||
| 8:00 |
Clean Up
|
Nora Works
Independently
|
Claire & Lucy
Clear Dishes
|
||
| 8:15 | Food Prep | Nora in Fun Pod | Claire & Lucy Free Play | ||
| 8:30 | Nora's Therapy Exercises | Claire & Lucy play outside if possible
or watch exercise video |
|||
| 9:00 | Potty Break | ||||
| 9:15 | Transition Downstairs | ||||
| 9:30-11:30 | Morning School - Outside | ||||
| 9:30 | Family School Block 1 - Art/Drawing - at backyard picnic table | ||||
| 9:50 | Family School Block 2 - Gardening | ||||
| 10:10 | Bikes | ||||
| 10:30 | Nora School Block A - Reading Lesson - at backyard picnic table | ||||
| 10:50 | Family School Block 3 - Literature or Nature Study - pretzel sitting on blanket to read |
||||
| 11:10 | Lunch - Scripture Memorization & Language Practice | ||||
| 11:30 | Transition Upstairs - braces off for reciprocal crawl to potty | ||||
| 11:45 | Potty Break | ||||
| 12:00 | Story Time | ||||
| 12:30-2:15 | Naptime | ||||
| 12:30 | Coffee Break & Prep Tea Time/Nora quiet time - clean mirror & toilet | ||||
| 12:50 | Nora School Block B - Handwriting - at kitchen table | ||||
| 1:10 | Nora School Block C - Reading Practice - straddle sitting on floor | ||||
| 1:30-2:10 | Exercise/Nora quiet time | ||||
| 2:15 | Potty Break | ||||
| 2:30 | Tea Time - Poetry/Music/Picture Study | ||||
| 3:00-4:15 | Afternoon School - Living Room | ||||
| 3:00 | Family School Block 4 - Math | ||||
| 3:20 | Family School Block 5 - Bible/History/Geography | ||||
| 3:40 | Family School Block 6 - Guided Imaginative Play | ||||
| 4:00 | Daily Chore & Tidy All - reciprocal crawl to potty | ||||
| 4:30 | Potty Break - braces on (@ 1.5 hrs) | ||||
| 4:45 | Dinner Prep | Nora in Fun Pod | Claire & Lucy Set the Table
then Free Play |
||
| 5:15 | Family Dinner - braces off - Clean Up | ||||
| 6:00 | Family Time or Bath - Hymn Study/Devotions/Game/Bathtub Science | ||||
| 6:45 | Bedtime Routine | ||||
| Potty & Wash PJ's Stretch & Read - night braces on Circle Prayers Goodnights |
|||||
| 7:15 | Prep for Next Day | ||||
I need a nap just looking at it all! :) It's nice to have a goal to work toward even if we don't always get to everything. Charlotte Mason says in Home Education:
"I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them." (Vol.,1 p.44)(Please, Lord, give me what I need to do this. My capacity for wonder-working is awfully low!)
See you next week...hopefully with some pictures.
