I get asked all the time what a typical day looks like at my house. The short answer is that changes from year to year. I have never homeschooled without a toddler and or infant underfoot or on my hip...or both. Year to year, we might start earlier in the day or later, read aloud during naptime or over lunch, or even take turns with a little one, if they are a particularly difficult or distracting little one. More on all of that in the next few posts.
So, it changes, but the routine is basically this. We get up at a set time. My kids do their best work in the mornings, and we typically start at 8. Last year, we started at 7:30 because my then 2 year old was a late sleeper, and we could get a lot done before he woke up for the day. We school during the morning for a few hours. The preschool/kindy kids do Montessori during that time, and the older kids do language, math, and other work on their own. I might stop at their table to do language with them or to answer a question, or they might get up to watch a math DVD. I might stop in with a little to introduce a new lesson or to some group work, but each day looks a little different, with the same kind of flow. We all work together in the same classroom space from high school down to the toddler on the floor playing. Life isn't quiet and uninterrupted and their school environment isn't either-ha!
We usually wrap up around 10-11 and then will head upstairs to eat lunch and play. My high schooler is probably still working at this point or has found somewhere to read quietly or is signed into the computer for an online class. After lunch, my youngest kiddos nap and I do history or science with older kids. My high schooler is on his own. I will have discussions with him as needed, or in the evening, but he rarely needs my assistance. We do have a designated time each week to discuss his history/literature and science work. After naps, we typically head out the door to an activity or the park.
This is our typical Monday-Thursday. Friday is reserved for art and music--mess and play, history projects that are more involved and we didn't get to, science projects that are more involved, or if we are in a unit study, we dig in more with that on Fridays. And my high schooler attends debate and speech on Fridays. With my English as a second first language learners, Fridays usually involves listening exercises and fine motor skill building.
The key to making our school work like this is independence. I know, I know. I can hear you now. Not all kids are independent. My oldest was not at all. And it took years, but that was still our goal with him. He has it now. More on how we got there soon.
I start them early with independence. Montessori is naturally conducive to independent work. In 1st grade, as we transition to more traditional schooling we start workplans. Each week, each child gets a new workplan in his binder with all the copies he might need that week. Each child has his own shelf with all the resources he will need for the year. That child is responsible for going through the workplan and completing that work by the end of the week and placing finished work in the back of the binder. I can not always stop working with one kid to run check and see if another kid has finished his work. If the child has no questions, the work goes in the back when it is finished, and I can check as I come around. This cuts out the multiple kids screaming, "look! I finished it!! Mom!! Look!" that tends to happen otherwise, and which interupts everyone else that is working.
The workplans I write are basically checklists of the work they should complete. I use a form that is basically a series of boxes, and I put one subject in each box with the work to be complete, the book to be read, the memorization work to focus on, etc. If a task should be done each day over the week, I label 1 2 3 4 next to the assignment, and the child can check a number each day. Workplans give them control over which tasks they do when. And it also helps them take ownership of their own work. They are responsible for making decisions about what subjects to do which day. If a child wants to finish the week early, they can. If they want to do all of a subject on Monday, they can. They are learning time management and decision making skills. My 1st graders get a workplan, and I guide them through these skills over the course of the year. By 2nd grade, they are able to get right to work on their own each day.
For those kids that are not as self-motivated and independent, it might be a longer process, but it is a worthy goal. Stick with it.
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