Running a successful school day..

Recently while I was talking to another mom friend (yes, they do exist), she was curious as to how our days were structured since we home school and I work from home. I am not going to lie, there are days where I feel as though crawling back into bed and restarting the day would be the easiest thing to do, but we manage. It really all comes down to time management. You HAVE to have a plan. Winging it just does not work in the adult world most of the time, and kids thrive off of having structured days, so we planned everything out.. and I truly mean EVERYTHING. I have a book that I keep a log of what we do, so I can note the date, and how many days we have been in school ( example would be 10 September 2017, Day 12). It allows me to know how many school days we have finished (we have to do 180 for the year), but it also allows me to track what we are ahead on, what we might be behind in. Any field trips, or extra learning can be written in as well!

In a typical day, this is how I have it laid out:

• 9 am – Breakfast – this includes getting dressed and brushing your teeth. Using the bathroom is a must, because as soon as you sit down to start doing any kind of school work, your kid will have to poop.
• 930 am – Pull out the school books and daily work. I have it all pulled into a file folder, so the night before I just put in there what we are going to do each day. Gather all books, crayons and pencils and meet at the table. Work through at least two subjects (Math and history) before next bathroom break is needed. If one has to go, the other has to go as well. While the kids are working through their subjects, I am on hand to help and guide as needed. I also have my computer pulled out, so I can get some work done while they are plugging along.
• 10 am – 2nd breakfast might be needed, along with another bathroom break. Cue the UPS driver to show up and the dog insanity to begin. By this point, I have located my coffee cup which was mislaid, and reheated. Now set it down and walk away and forget where you left it. This is good to be re-heated at least one more time.
• 11 am – Make sure all crayons are sharpened to shanks, and prepare to hustle through some paper. Once everyone is refocused, and coffee has once again been located, we can restart. Keeping kids at opposite ends of the table ensures that they cannot touch, breathe or otherwise invade each others personal space making work impossible. Sometimes a large stack of books or cereal boxes across the center of the table, to keep them from even seeing each other is necessary. Parents can sit in the center of the table to ensure shenanigans are kept to a minimum, while also aiding in the refocusing and helping of school work.
• 12 pm – LUNCH – another bathroom break and recess will be needed. Kids tend to not want to focus after they eat. Burn all the energy running outside, and then head back inside for a drink, bathroom break, and small snack (I feel at this point as though I am raising hobbits).
• 1 pm – Science, writing, and reading can be accomplished during this time.
• 130 pm – recess – cause all kids live for recess.
• 2pm – squirrel!! Seriously, by this point, we are all tired and ready to be done with the work for the day. Reading out loud is a great way to get kids to refocus their attentions. We try to work through two or three books a month together, and choose something that we will all enjoy.

Anything after this, we can either go to the library, grocery shopping, or any other errands that need to be run. Our usual days takes between 2.5 and 4 hours, depending on the level of focus in the children. Ideally we work for the shorter time (as long as they are getting the concepts we are working on), so that we have the rest of the day to get out and do something else. Museums, library, etc are all ways that we can get out and still get some learning in. Math, history, Science, writing, Reading, Spelling, Language/English, and Music are the subjects that we have on our agenda for the year, as well as the special projects that they are doing. I have notebooks that have tabbed out each of the subjects, with sub-tabs within to denote tests, reading logs and book reviews that they have done. We keep it all together, as we meet with the district twice a year and lay out what we are working on. By having it laid out and separated, it keeps our meetings shorter, and also having it in order ensures that they see everything. While we incorporate art into our work as well, we tend to do a lot of art with food. We are total foodies in our house!

We have the days where I feel overwhelmed and under prepared, but we have more awesome days than the crazy ones. Before the beginning of each year, I lay out the entire semester, to include which days we are taking off. Those can be adjusted as needed, but we aim for at least 75-80 days in the fall semester, and the same in the spring. While the above schedule is what I strive for, there are days where we sleep in, or just get later starts. We adapt and overcome any obstacle that comes our way, but by having everything laid out, we can plan to take some time off once in a while. Everyone needs a mental health day from time to time!