Sample Schedule

This is from many years ago,2005, in fact. I just came across it.

 Here is our rough routine, with some background Our seven children are 21, 20, 17, 15, 14, 8, and 6. The oldest is away at college two days a week and frantically doing homework on a third, less frantic, but still diligently finishing up homework the other days. The 20 y.o. is working at the local animal shelter four mornings a week and one afternoon. Our 17 y.o. is profoundly retarded and functions approximately at a 2 y.o. level.

Every day somebody gets up and feeds the horses, chickens, and pigs by 8:30 in the morning, and either I or the 21 y.o. drive the 20 y.o. to work (she had a license, we moved, the new licensing office is a pain, longer story not included).

Breakfast is a help yourself meal of bagels and cream cheese and fruit because we found a day old bread store that sells bagels for .39 a bag. The 15, 14, and 8 y.o. take turns getting up the 17 y.o., helping her dress,a nd fixing her a bowl of oatmeal (she is allergic to wheat, eggs, and corn).

Breakfast cleanup is always done by the 15 y.o. While she cleans up the kitchen, the 14 y.o. is supposed to be doing morning chores, which for her are things like get a load of laundry in our washer (there is not any price difference in our area for when you use the utilities, I asked); feed the barn cats, sweep the living room, dressing herself and teeth brushing....

The 6 and 8 y.o. make all the downstairs beds, feed and water the dogs, carry out the bathroom trash, clean the drink dispenser of the fridge, pick up my bedroom floor (this is because the stuff on my bedroom floor is nearly always stuff they put there in the first place), or wipe the kitchen table- oh, and straighten up the boots and things that get piled by the front door. They collect any chicken eggs.

While they do that, I or one of the two older girls (depending on what day it is) get something out of the freezer for supper, and we might even get it in the crockpot. I do computer stuff sometimes at this time, and I get anything ready for school I need to get ready.

School starts, usually by 9:00. The 14 and 15 y.o. are doing year 8 of HEO. They work independently except for two or three subjects. My 17 y.o. sits down at a t.v. tray near me and does puzzles, sorts beads, strings beads, plays with manipulatives, or just sits and stares if she's feeling uncooperative. I sit next to her on the couch. The 8 and 6 y.o. sit at the other end of the couch. I have a bookcase behind the couch with all our AO books on it, and we begin school.

M, W, and F we read an Old Testament story, T and Th we read a NT story. Before we begin we sing the books of the OT or NT song, then we read, one of them narrates, and then we do memory verses (I just say them and they say them back, we don't have a deadline, we move on when they know the verse, and we have frequent review).

M, W, and F they do Spanish on the computer, and then poetry with me. T and Th they do French on the computer and then poetry.

Then we do math, which at the moment is a lot of math games, math reading, and manipulative play.

All of the family come together and we sing our hymns and folk songs.

Then the 8 and 6 y.o. get a read aloud- Monday it's the Little Duke (but we'll finish that this week); Tuesday we are reading Beowulf Tales; Wednesday and Thursday we do Geography, Friday we read from either Tales from Shakespeare or Parables from Nature. We always have a narration after every reading.

Next we have copy work.

Then read alouds: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday is Pilgrim's Progress; Tuesday and Friday is something from the Literature selections at AO

Now we have foreign language again, doing they opposite of what we did in the mornings, so M, W and F we have French, Tues and Thursday Spanish. On Monday and Thursday we have a music lesson next; on Tuesday we do composer studies; on Wednesday picture study, and on Friday we read from a nature book or have a nature walk.

We do history reading next, and narrations (all oral at this point)

Then we have lunch, if it's time, or do phonics and drawing. I usually read aloud during lunch, either a nature book or from the free reading selection, or sometimes we listen to music.

After lunch the 14 y.o. does kitchen clean up while the others do chores- switch laundry, collect any more eggs, straighten the bathroom, vacuum the dog hair, etc.

After lunch we finish up phonics or handicrafts if we haven't.

During the day the 14 and 15 y.o. will come down at least once more for me to read aloud with them from those books I keep for us to do together- Ourselves, Plutarch, How to REad a Book, Whatever Happened to Justice... They also do language studies downstairs on the computer.

The younger kids are let loose to play then, and called back to resume studies when I'm done with their older sibs.

Before bed my aim is to have a last big pickup and vacuum. Living in the country in a tiny house with two large black dogs means we have dog hair everywhere all the time, and ti drives me nuts. There is always dirt being tracked in from outside, too, and I hate it, but it seems to be something we always have with us. My house is never as clean as I would like it to be. I have a list of daily chores the kids are supposed to fit in when they can each day (Monday dust the living room, Tuesday dust the entry-room, Wednesday clean the bathroom, etc), but it never quite works out like I planned.

Thursdays we are at the library in the afternoon, where the 14 and 15 y.o. volunteer and I teach a CM study group.

My husband's days off rotate, too, and we don't do school when he is home (which means we do have school on Saturdays if he's working). He goes to work at noon some days, and we don't start school while he is at home, either, so some days we don't start until after lunch.

I never did do a good job at teaching the children the good habits of putting their things away the moment they are done with them,and it makes for a lot of of clutter.