2009-2010 school year
7:30 - wake everyone up, get ready for school, drop everyone off at 8:45.... of course, that was only on the days that we actually got up on time. We tried using "Children's Miracle Music" and that helped for a little while. But I found out it was easy for the girls, who could quickly do everything the CD said, and difficult for the boys, who are slower than molasses, therefore I was yelling at the boys all morning. Mornings were usually frantic, I was constantly telling the kids to "HURRY UP!"
9:00 - come home, do a few things around the house, get myself dressed, put Tessa down for a nap, computer/reading time for a little bit, wake Tessa up.
11:45 - go pick up Kindergartners
12:00 - feed younger children
1:00 - do homework with Kindergartners, including my own version of reading practice - I used a book called "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." I love it. :)
2:00 - put Tessa down for a nap again, computer/reading/tv time for me and kids - or make dinner if I was feeling productive
3:30 - Start teaching
4:15 - Big kids get home, start asking for snacks, telling me about their day, asking if they can play with friends.... all while I'm in the middle of a lesson.
Almost constant interruption during lessons for one thing or another.
6:00 - done teaching, frantically make dinner cause we're all starving. Rob tried to keep the kids occupied.
6:30 - 6:45 - eat dinner
7:00 - 8:00 (or later) homework with big kids, try to deal with little kids wanting attention
8:00 - read scriptures, if we were on the ball, which didn't happen very often
8:15 - CMM - Nightly Routine CD
8:30 - kids go to bed, except Tessa who refused to go to bed before 10:00, so we'd usually stick her in front of a movie so Rob and I could play on the computer
10:00 - 12:00 - grown-up time. We'd stay up super late because we had a hard time unwinding from the day
2010-2011 school year
7:30 - wake up, get kids up, read out of Children's scripture book and have a prayer (I need to get back into this habit again, but I did pretty good until Christmas!)
7:45 - eat breakfast, Rob gets ready for work, I make Rob breakfast/lunch
8:00 - kids clean up table, get dressed
8:15 - quick bedroom pickup
8:30 - any other chores that have to get done or I will lose my mind - I just delegate these out as I feel like it. Little things that didn't get done the night before, like Dishes, picking up the floor, or laundry. Most things get done at night time. If they get chores done fast, they can start school.
8:45 - start school. Kids each have a list of things they need to be working on. They can choose what they want to work on during school time, as long as it is a learning activity. I usually try to take one-on-one time with the kids. Some days I only get to one child. Other days I work with 2-3 of them. We may work on Faith in God booklet, a History lesson, an Art lesson, Music, Math, or whatever they need help with at the time.
A lot of this time is self-directed learning, and they're all doing so well that I don't "have" to help them with much. I can spend time with Tessa, or read a book, or write on my blog. Most of the time mornings go really well.
If I have to take someone to the doctor, I usually take Tessa and whichever child needs to go and I leave either Kaleb or Elise in charge. Our doctor is only a mile away from home, so I feel comfortable leaving them for a short time. Sometimes if I need to run to the grocery store (also a mile away) I take Tessa with me and do that. It's nice having kids that are older that I can trust to hold down the fort for a little bit.
Other than that, I try not to schedule anything in the morning. It's just better if mornings can be devoted to school time. Most of the time on Wed. mornings we go to the library. I take Tessa to Story Time, and the older kids wander around and choose books they'd like to read, then they sit quietly and read until storytime is over.
12:00 - Lunch
12:30 - Tessa's nap time
1:00 - Quiet time. Kids may read, listen to a book on CD, play quietly, draw, paint, craft, practice music. Once in a while I might let them watch PBS kids, but not very often. They don't really ask to watch TV anymore. I have been lazy recently about practicing with my girls, but they are doing really well reviewing things on their own. And when I do teach them a new song, they learn it so fast that I don't have to practice it with them every time. I know I need to be a little more attentive with them in practicing.
Again, some days if I'm feeling like it, I'll make dinner or at least start prepping it so it goes faster when I'm ready to cook.
3:30 - Teaching time (usually, some days I start at 4:00). Some days Macy goes with her dad for the evening. The other kids can play downstairs or in their bedrooms or outside if it's nice, but they may NOT run back and forth through the living room or interrupt me during teaching unless someone is hurt.
5:30 or 6:00 - Make dinner
7:00 - Family time. Rob may teach us about something he heard on the radio that day, or a scientific principle that he's been thinking about. He may tell us stories of spiritual experiences he has had, or childhood memories. Sometimes I pitch in too, but mostly this is his time with the kids. This doesn't always happen. Sometimes we have meetings, orchestra practices, choir practices at night. I might have a home party to do. I might go grocery shopping all my myself. We try to have at least ONE night per week where we are all together, doing something TOGETHER. Friday nights we try to have date night, but sometimes funds are low so we just rent a movie with the kids, or all of us play video games. We hardly ever watch TV anymore, and rarely watch movies.
8:00 - Scripture time (in an ideal world. we need to work on this.) Followed by Night time chores and bed routine.
8:30 - kids go to bed, even Tessa! (sometimes she doesn't stay in bed, and it takes until 9:00 or 9:30 to get her to bed, but that depends on how late her nap went.)
9:00 - Parent Time
11:00 - bed time (again, we need to work on this!)
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