Schedules and Curriculum

So I finished making the plans and schedules for our first 8 weeks of school this coming year (starting Monday) which will take us right up to the time of Poppy's arrival. So anyway, I just thought I'd share it all here as a record and for anyone who might be interested! I try not to schedule down to the last minute because I've learned very quickly that things don't happen on "my time", so I allow wiggle room for unexpected "learning" (think, spilled milk, cleaning up dog vomit, things of that sort!!) situations or anything else that may come up. And there's always tomorrow or next week if we get behind!! The schedule to me is not what's most important, however, I do feel it is necessary to have a basic schedule in mind or something is bound to be left out and forgotten. So without further ado....the schedule!! (Oh and just for reference, we start around 8:30, snack around 10, lunch around 12)

Monday

• Bible reading and memorization. (We're doing Proverbs this 8 weeks.)
• Pray and praise (a quick prayer for the day and a song of praise)
• Math (The kids are using Horizons math this year and Monday's also have math drills with flashcards)
• English and Handwriting/Copywork (We are using Rod & Staff English this year, Abby is doing A Reason for Handwriting and Noah is doing Bible copywork for his handwriting practice)
• Snack and Read Aloud (They snack while I read aloud)
• Spelling (Both kids are using A Reason for Spelling)
• My Father's World (this is our history, geography, some science, some art and some music curriculum all wrapped into one. I mainly consider it our history/geography lessons with some "added benefits" of science, art and music.)
• Lunch and chores (see chore chart below)
• Finish any earlier lessons
• Ohio Fun Book (we're using these Fun Books to learn a little Ohio history and facts)
• Outside time
• Quiet reading time (this includes Mom!!)
• Free time!! (should be at least 2-3 hours before dinner, so plenty of time to play and explore to their hearts desire!!)

Tuesday

• Bible reading and memorization, pray and praise
• Math (Horizons and Tuesday's have Calculadder also for extra drill)
• English and Handwriting
• Snack and read alouds
• Spelling
• My Fathers World
• Lunch and chores
• Science (we're using Apologia's Exploring Creation series books and we're using the Zoology 3: Land Creatures of the 6th Day book, we're very excited about this one, it looks awesome!! I found Noah reading it by himself yesterday!!)
• Ohio Fun Book
• Outside time
• Reading time
• Free time

Wednesday and Thursday (same schedule)

• Bible reading and memorization, pray and praise
• Math (Horizons and Wed: add flash card drills, Thur: add Calculadder)
• English and Handwriting
• Snack and read alouds
• Writing (we're using Writing Strands this year as our actual "writing curriculum" although there will be tons of other writing done this year in the form of journaling and notebooking)
• My Fathers World
• Lunch and chores
• Finish earlier work
• Science
• Spelling
• Outside time
• Reading time
• Free time

Friday

• Bible reading and memorization, pray and praise
• Math (we play a math game on Fridays along with our regular lesson, usually a math bingo game, they love that!)
• Spelling
• Snack and read alouds
• Nature Study (we're doing the one hour nature study found here, and use the Handbook of Nature Study book along with it)
• Handwriting and copywork
• Lunch and chores
• Art or music (these are switched every other week). (For art we are using Artistic pursuits and for music we're doing the Stories of the Great Composers)
• Logic Book (we're using the Mind Benders series of books for a little fun puzzle solving!!)
• Outside time
• Reading time
• Free time

So that's the basic idea for a how a week will hopefully go. I know I'll throw in a few field trips into the mix as well, for a little more excitement! And most of this curriculum is new to us, so the schedule will undoubtedly go under a few tweaks and changes as we figure out just how long we need for each subject.

Here's the chores we'll be doing as well. The kids lists are made to take only 10 - 15 minutes a day while I'm cooking lunch.

Noah:
Monday-empty small trash cans in bathrooms and laundry room
Tuesday-clean powder room (wipe down mirror, sink and toilet)
Wednesday-clean up playroom and vacuum it
Thursday-wipe down upstairs bathrooms (sinks and toilets using Lysol wipes)
Friday-wipe down kitchen cabinet fronts and appliances

Abby:
Monday-dust downstairs (using swiffer duster)
Tuesday-clean glass doors and windows (not all windows, just the ones in the doors)
Wednesday-clean up playroom
Thursday-dust upstairs
Friday-use Swiffer sweeper downstairs

Mommy: (I do my chores throughout the day!!)
Monday-2 loads of laundry, dishes, sweep and mop floors
Tuesday-2 loads of laundry, dishes, deep clean kitchen (counters, appliances, etc..)
Wednesday-whole house pick-up (go room to room straightening, removing garbage or dirty clothes, putting things where they go), dishes
Thursday-1 load of laundry, 1 load of bed linens, vacuum upstairs, dishes, make beds with clean linens
Friday-dishes, deep clean bathrooms (scrub toilets, floors, sinks, tubs and showers)

The kids are also responsible for keeping their rooms in "good" condition, they pick up their rooms right before bedtime. They also feed and water the doggie in the morning!!!

I also prepare the meals, and on Monday's Noah gets to help with lunch and dinner and on Wednesday's Abby gets to help. They don't consider these chores, they love helping with meal prep!! There's actually a lot they can do with the meal prep and they are both very interested in cooking and serving meals.

So there's that and I can now mark off scheduling from my to do list!!!