Works-For-Me-Wednesday this week is a Backwards Edition, in which participants can ask for tips on any given subject instead of sharing tips of their own. There are so many things that I need help with in my life, it's hard to pick JUST ONE thing to ask about! But, since this is my homeschooling blog, I thought I'd shoot in that general direction.
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One thing that I really love about homeschooling is the freedom and flexibility that we have with our daily routines. If we have a late night and need to sleep in - no big deal. If we're snowed in and can't leave the house for a few days - that doesn't interfere with school, although it does tend to make mom a little crazy! If everyone gets sick, including mom, and we do no school at all for a whole week - it's okay. We have to do make up work, but not like they would have to do at a "real school". I love having that freedom.
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However, I am the type of person who, if you give me an inch, I might unintentionally take a mile, so to speak. It may be that I get on a kick of staying up too late at night, and thus the bad habit of sleeping in too late follows. Every once in awhile, fine. But not every day. Or, maybe we're studying something really cool with KONOS, and we get so caught up in it that we neglect our language and math for a week. Whoops!
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Of course, the most obvious solution is to have a daily routine. Believe me, we've TRIED. For a long time I kept a chore chart on the refrigerator with categories for morning, afternoon, and evening activities. This included both chores AND schoolwork. We had a fancy little point system where each activity counted for "x" amount of points, and the kids were "paid" for the points they accumulated. It was great. For awhile. Then we fizzled out, and the chore chart.... is now landfill.
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Then, I tried giving each child a printed off checklist each day for the things I expected them to get done. They could do it in whatever order they chose, but it had to be finished before bed and the sheet turned in for a "grade". Again, a grand idea... but it fizzled after a few months, too. I'd hand them their daily checklist, and they'd reply with an, "Awwwwww....Mooooommmm...." and the whiny eyes... it gets to ya after awhile, I don't care who you are.
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Jessica Hulcy, the co-author of the curriculum we use and the leader of the online Konos Co-Op, recommends a simple routine of doing the 3 R's in the morning, and Konos activities in the afternoon. But it's just not working for us the way it should. We have appointments in the morning at least twice a week, and we're gone all day every Monday...
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Boy, I am really starting to sound like a whine-bag, too! Now I know where my kids get it! Ha!
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So tell me, am I just being lazy? HOW do I find a routine that works for us? Or should we ditch the routine and just wing it? What WORKS FOR YOU?
I don't think you're lazy. Not at all.
You are dynamic and you like your life to be bubbly.
Even schools change routine often, so why don't you.
Maybe you should take all your plans, put them in a box, and draw one when you want a new one.
Don't try to make each day the same when you and your children don't need it.
You can find my "works for me" at:
<a href="http://www.laaneworld.com/2008/03/works-for-me.html">Laane on the World</a>
Have a great day!!!
Anonymous - 12:45 PM - Mar. 6, 2008
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If you ever figure out the great schedule question, I'd love to hear the answer! Seems like every few months I reevaluate our schedule, or often our lack of a schedule, and try to tweak it again.
I'd love to be really scheduled, but it just isn't the way we work. Like you said, we frequently have appointments or meetings or classes or *something* that comes up during the day.
I am starting to feel like we can either be proficient in the 3Rs or we can enjoy learning with more hands-on and experiential stuff like Konos, but doing it all is nearly impossible!
I don't have any suggestions, because I haven't found any approach to scheduling that truly WORKS for a LONG period of time. So I just came over to commisserate. ;~) And to say "Hi" because I haven'tseen you in blogworld or on email in a really long time.
California Homeschoolers need the prayers of the nation...
I am commmenting to as many bloggers as possible about the situation that has recently risen over homeschooling here in California. A serious threat has been made to the legality of homeschooling and who can and can't. It is a scary thing, yet God is so much bigger than some judges in a courtroom. Please first begin to pray that homeschooling will remain as it has been here in California, and that this will be dealt with quickly without families coming under undo attack or litigation. Visit HSLDA's website for information and to sign the petition as well. Thank you and God Bless, Jennifer
I just found your blog googling plant classification. Was intrigued so decided to look around a bit and what do I find? A homeschooling mom doing Konos without a routine who gets off track...just like me. ~smile I just posted on my own homeschooling blog about our having a bad day and needing a schedule. I've been working on one and will be posting in the next day or two what my new plan is. It involves a simple routine, lots of flexibility, and marrying Konos with Heart of Dakota's organization.
Not sure what to tell you. For me, usually, trying to make incremental changes helps the most. If I pick the thing that I think I could implement that would make the biggest change, then make that a priority and do it every single day. When that is in place after a month, then adding something else, and trying to make that a habit. I'm still working on it, but that has helped me the most.
Also, continuing to come back to the routine after disruptions. So we might have lots of disrupted days, but then when we have a quiet day again, I know what to do with my time--so I forgive the disrupted/failed days, and keep going. It works a lot better than trying to be perfect every day, and I get a lot more things done.
Love,
Lori
Works-For-Me-Wednesday