Sunday, August 23, 2009

Not Back to School Blog-Hop: Day-in-the-Life Week

This week is "A Day in the Life" over at Life With My 3 Boybarians.

Last year was pretty chaotic. My husband was in Iraq (he'll be coming home next month!!) and I was single parenting. We didn't have a lot of structure to our days. It was mostly just working until we got things done (in various different orders) and then driving around to dance and gymnastics and art and other classes.

This year will be a bit different. I have another student (Lexie is now 5 and doing full-time work) and my baby turned into a very active toddler. Andy will be home and we will have more of a "normal" schedule.

We have just finished 3 weeks of school. It has taken me this long to assess what we need to do as far as a schedule.

There are some subjects that we do together (history, art, read-alouds). There are some that the kids do independently (the older two do their math on the computer, Ellie does most of her writing assignments on her own, literature reading to themselves, etc.). And there are some that need to be one-on-one (spelling, language arts, math with Lexie, science with the younger two).

I have also had to figure out about how much time we need to spend on each subject. And what to do with the younger kids during school time.

This is a lot to consider. I think that I have finally come up with our schedule. Nothing is set in stone of course, because we have yet to actually try it out. We'll see if it works out by the end of this week!!!

I have decided to lump the one-on-one mom time into "meetings" with me. Each kid gets one individual meeting with me where I can give their spelling test, discuss things we're studying, give instructions for writing assignments, and help with whatever subject they can't do on their own. I am hoping that this will work out.

Before, I was jumping from kid to kid all at once - different subjects and different levels. It was pretty distracting. Kate has a very hard time concentrating if other people are talking and couldn't handle the noise of other people asking questions and making noise. I am hoping that this helps her out a bit too.

This is what our schedule will look like:


Ok, so I obviously haven't actually come up with a plan to keep Nick and Tori busy yet. :)

I'm hoping to just rotate toys, puzzles, and manipulatives with Nick to keep him actively doing something.

Tori is another story. She wants to move around A LOT now, but she still needs to be watched every second. She is pretty happy to be in the playroom, which adjoins our school area, so she will probably have to play in there for a good part of the morning.

I sure hope this works!!

P.S. The greatest thing that I have done this year is moved all of our extra-curricular activities to the afternoons. No more missing out on dinner at home - together!!

9 comments:

michelle said...

Thank you so much for sharing your routine with your five precious ones! We have four, the same ages as your youngest 4. It made me smile when I read your schedule for your 3 year old - getting into trouble, messes, hide, etc. =) I am amazed that you are basically done by lunch time - I would love that!

Trina said...

Jennifer~ Your Ellie & my Scottlyn could just about be twins. Loves to read, poor thing when she gets in trouble her reading before bed gets taken away LOL. Scottlyn has dance for the past 7 years, she is taking a break and putting it all into her piano. Thanks do much for sharing your day with me. So excited about your hubby coming home next month. Will continue to keep him in my prayers. Have a blessed week.

Nicki said...

Good post! I definitely like the extra-curricular activities in the afternoon. I'm trying to streamline all of that, as well!

Sisterlisa said...

Thanks for sharing your day with us. My daughter and I just prayed for your husband and his fellow soldiers, safety.

Shannon said...

Wow! You have the most awesome blog! And look at that schedule - how amazing. I think I'm just doing the chaotic running from one child to the other ... no wonder I'm so frazzled!

Alice said...

hi - thanks for checking out my blog :). thankfully, for you, the alligators are mostly contained in florida. never heard of any up around savannah, but i'd make sure when i moved there - if i was you :). have a good week :O)

Meg said...

You have a full day:) I am trying to figure out what to do w/ my little guy during school time too.

Amber @ Classic Housewife said...

Haha! Love your schedule for Nick. Sounds like my Little Prince. Busy, busy, busy!
I really like the idea of meeting with mom. I may try to take that and add a little something like that to our day. Thanks and hoping this week goes well for you!

Michelle said...

First time visitor to your blog. Enjoyed looking over your schedule. We're going to be adjusting to a new baby this year (child #5) and I enjoyed seeing how you will be operating.
God Bless until your hubby comes home. My hubby is active duty Navy and is currently on shore duty, which means home every night, which is wonderful. First time in six years. I'll be praying for you and your family.
I also see you enjoy genealogy, so do I!! Unfortunately, I lost everything when my computer crashed last year, but thankfully had it all on paper, so I just have to reinput everything.
Take care adn have a wonderful year!
Michelle