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When our kids were younger, I did my best to maintain a schedule that was pretty regular and wasn't changing constantly . I found my children did better when they had a pretty good idea of what was to come-which included snack/nap time, etc. But as they grew, we had to morph to accommodate their skill levels (meaning at one time I had a baby/kindergartner/middle elementary student and upper elementary almost jr. high student) to meet the demands of a variety needs. Then when it came time for scouting or swimming lessons or what-have-you, well, it just made sense to readjust and redefine. So now we're at this point-one upper elementary aged student. That's it. So we have a much more relaxed schedule.
We're not morning peeps. I also like to take the first hour or so after arising to do my 'office work' and pray. That includes going thru my emails, making appts, prepping or just enjoying a cup of Java without noise, or anyone too nearby. I think I deserve that after 25 years of parenting-LOL. I find that when I have a bit quieter morning-the rest of my day goes better which equates to a more tolerable mom and happier student. :)
Obviously, if we have afternoon commitments (like during baseball season) we work to get his studies done by 1 pm. That way I have a bit of time to do what needs to be done around here and he has some off time before heading out the door.
Plus, we do not have a 9-5, M-F dad. He travels up to 12-14 days per month then works from home the rest. So when he is gone-I have double duties, making my workload a bit more and therefore, during those times we adjust as needed. Because of his travel, at times we are also able to do "tag-alongs" which offers us a change of scenery but throws any 'schedule' or major book work out the door (or car window if you prefer).
So we have no typical day but I do my darnedest to maintain a relative "must do per week" for the following:
M-F: reading work/spelling (intense to help combat the dyslexic struggles we have going on here)
M-Thur: Bible (sometimes Friday), Math, art projects
M, W and F: history, geography
T, Thurs: Science, artist/musician study and if weather permitting some type of nature study activity
F: catch up for anything I really wanted to cover but couldn't for whatever reason, crafts, art projects wrap-up, etc.
Since I have become a big couponer-I do a blitz shopping every other Thurs. and frankly, that takes pretty much most the day and when I get home I am exhausted...so on those weeks we'll just move any Thurs. assignments to Friday and call it even.
Monday mornings are also my intense 'office/coupon prep time' which means no teaching from me but he'll have some easier assignments he can do nearby to occupy him. I found the biggest route to burn-out was using all my weekend time to do school stuff when I should have just been doing home stuff and enjoying the fam. Sometimes, this is unavoidable-but I have drastically reduced that b/cuz it never left me any time to just be me. And that was not good. It is just too easy to be drawn back into 'prepping and organizing' and before I knew it my weekend was gone and I never got a recharge. I learned that one after oh, about 15 years of hsing. LOL Now I know better.
As for the where? Well some of it is desk work, and usually he does that in the education room which is right nearby the fam room...or he comes to the table I am working at. Most reading (and we do a lot cuz we use a lot of literature based curriculum) is done on the couch. But if it is nice, we'll go outside and sit on the porch or back patio. When we travel and nature study opportunities arise, we work right where it is....so on a beach or nature trail, etc. Well not on the actual trail, we might get run by a rogue biker or block the path-so we'll use nearby picnic tables and such.
and that is a basic day in the life-
but that can all change and
probably will! LOL
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