Ramblings...

Our schedule has been hashed out a million and one times since we officially started homeschooling. It will probably get a facelift every school year until T.B.M. reach a point where all I have to do is present them with a checklist at the start of each day. That is the end goal in my mind; we just have to reach it.

So our schedule for 2011-2012 is as follows *we will still do a four day school week*:

Formal “Regular” School Days: Tuesday - Friday
Off Days “Or Non-Formal “Light”” School Days: Saturday - Monday

Mondays

-Music Lessons *four Mondays a month.*

-Social Time/Field Trips *once a month, unless there is a month with five Mondays*

-Kitchen Chemistry *goal is to tie what we cook into what we are learning in our Chemistry lessons as well*.

-Crafting Hour *this is when we will do art, Kitchen Chemistry and Crafting Hour will alternate so we will do them once a month, which should give me plenty of time to plan out what we are going to do. The craft/art project will tie into our artist of the month.*

-Spiral Scouts *once a month we will do our Spiral Scouts stuff, I think including it during the week instead of trying to do it over the weekend will have better results than what we are getting now*.

-Etiquette Lessons *This is the day I’ll handle those since they don’t seem to be something that will require a lot of time, we can work them into our day while still keeping the day light*.

-Day Of Play *once a month we will have NOTHING *aside from music lessons* on tap for Monday except to go out and play, then enjoy lunch somewhere we all like, followed then by MORE play! Life is too short to not devote a day to just playing around*.

So our Mondays will break down as follows:

Monday #1: Music Lessons, Social Time/Field Trips
Monday #2: Music Lessons, Kitchen Chemistry, Spiral Scouts
Monday #3: Music Lessons, Day Of Play
Monday #4: Music Lessons, Crafting Hour, Etiquette Lessons
Monday #5: Social Time/Field Trips

Tuesdays-Fridays we will have the following on tap:

830am - Morning Meeting/Boards
900am - Outdoor Time *weather and health pending*
930am - Reading/Writing/Language Arts/Japanese *I’m still formulating my plan for teaching Japanese pulling from the various resources at our disposal*
1030am - Playtime/Centers/Discovery Bins
1130am - Lunch
1230pm - Quiet Time
130pm - Math
230pm - Science or History *Science will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, History will take place on Wednesdays and Fridays*

I’ve taken Social Studies off of our schedule all together since it doesn’t seem necessary. T.B.M. will have a far more enriched education by focusing on learning the culture/language/etc. of the country we currently live in. A set of lessons for Social Studies seems pointless when the greatest lesson is right outside our door.

I don’t expect to spend an hour on each subject, but this gives us the time should we need it. Usually, General Disarray can get through two math lessons in less than 30 minutes, at which point he is free to do as he pleases. I’m thinking I won’t do a formal handwriting lesson every day. Instead I will alternate it with Japanese. Tuesdays I will introduce a Japanese phrase that they will need to memorize and be able to write. This will give us Tuesday and Thursday to work on that phrase as well as a formal Japanese lesson, then on Wednesday and Friday they will have some English copy work or formal English handwriting lesson.

I’m hoping that by focusing on just some core subjects *Language (English/Japanese), Math, Science, History* during these early years they will establish a great foundation that will help them as they advance in their schooling. This should also ensure we don’t hit burnout and are able to still enjoy our studies. Versus feeling like we have to do them and that they are a chore. Things like social studies and geography can make their way in unscripted, for instance when we talk about a country during history we will naturally locate it on a globe/map, allowing us to still learn them but minus the pressure of a formal lesson for them.

T.B.M. are only in the Pre-K to Early Elementary block of their schooling. We still have plenty of time to learn the capitals and political leanings of various countries. For now we are going to work on building a solid foundation for them to grow their futures on.