Morning Schedule

When Matt and I decided that we were going to homeschool our children my mind immediately started spinning with questions. My first question was simply, how do you begin homeschooling the first child with two (almost three) other small children and do it effectively?

Having previously taught in a classroom with many more than four kids...I knew that this feat was possible.  I began looking at other moms blogs and talking with all of the homeschool moms at my church to see what was working for them.  I came to the conclusion that the beauty of homeschooling was that there was a great deal of flexibility in how you set up your day, but I also saw the value in a consistent routine where both mom and kids can thrive and learn together. I am providing an example of how we schedule our morning hoping that it will be useful to someone else who is planning theirs! Until my younger children get older, my schedule will always be shifting around the babies nap time.

Here is an example of the schedule that I am currently using:

Time	Oliver (4 years old)	Eleanor (almost 3)	Gideon (18 months)
6:00-7:00	*Mom gets up and showered... drinks coffee
7:00-8:00	Cartoon/Play Wake up Time	Cartoon/Play Wake up Time	Cartoon/Play Wake up Time
8:00-9:00	*Breakfast Gets himself dressed and makes his bed	*Breakfast Likes to try to get herself dressed and make her bed too!	*Breakfast Play time
9:00-10:00	*Helps mom with cleaning chores *Play Time	*Likes to help mom with cleaning too *Play Time	*Play Time with Brother and Sister (usually we get out books)
10:00-11:00	*Bible Story Time *Recite Memory Verses *Weather Chart Oliver and Mom sit at the table and complete Readiness Skill Activities and Math.	*Bible Story Time *Recite Memory Verses *Weather Chart Ellie independently completes her lesson and educational games on ABCMouse.com	Morning Nap Time
11:00-12:00	Wed.-  Science Experiment *Free Time	Wed.-Science Experiment *Free Time	Morning Nap Time (Gideon Wakes up around 11:30)
12:00-1:00	Lunch Time *During lunch time I read stories that are suggested in our Sonlight Curriculum	Lunch Time *Story Time	Lunch Time *Story Time

**Teaching Tip: Many teachers and moms will agree that their kids thrive when given a consistent schedule.  The consistency helps them gain a sense of responsibility over the things they need to accomplish and they always know what to expect.  As a teacher and a mom I find my kids have an easier time listening and playing well together when the expectations and tasks are clearly laid out and communicated to them. 

Oliver's First Right of Passage

Matt and I are both firm believers that teaching our kids to work hard, always try their best and have fun are very important lessons to learn from an early age.  We want our kids to be respectful and obedient to authority and to understand that with obedience comes great reward!
The bible speaks much about obedience and the reward that we have in Christ.  We are not to be building our kingdom here on the earth, but storing up treasures in heaven! (Matthew 6:20)

Several references about these topics include:

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans (6:16)

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:12)

The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. (Proverbs 22:4)

As we try to emphasize the importance of obedience and reward that is presented in the gospel, we are beginning to introduce these concepts to our young children by expecting them to be obedient to their parents. "Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." (Ephesians 6:1) Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." (Colossians 3:20) We are also helping them to experience some kind of reward that comes with their obedience.  We know that reward in the bible is referring to the joy and love we receive through Christ, so we often talk about the heart with Oliver and Ellie.  When we chose to be obedient one of the greatest rewards is the joy we feel in our hearts.  

For Oliver's fourth birthday we wanted to create his first "right of passage" to becoming an older and more responsible boy.  With this right he was to receive responsibilities that only "big boys" get to have.  Special gifts were arranged to bring him to "big boy" status:)

Oliver Received a Daily Jobs Chart that was designed for him to start completing tasks independently in the home as a part of his morning, afternoon and evening routines.  At the top of his chart it says "Helping others shows that we are thankful in our hearts." When Oliver masters a day of tasks with a happy heart he gets to place a ribbon at the bottom of his chart.  When he completes his tasks, but struggles with heart issues (such as pouting or refusing) he is able to place a star at the bottom of his chart. When he lines up seven ribbons he gets the privilege of helping his dad with a big guy project around the house.  Last week he got to help clean out moms van (he loved it)...and so did I!  This chart has given us ample opportunity to talk with him about his heart and has given him the opportunity to feel joy when he helps out and is obedient!
Here is the hard copy of my chore chart jobs that could probably be used for most small children. All you will need is some kind of pocket chart or created poster board with Velcro dots!
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-4_yroOwt-aMVhSS2FiQWlpU2M/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-4_yroOwt-aUTVtN3RwSlBmMDg/edit

Oliver also received a suit of armor that reflects wearing the Armor of God.  This particular set has each piece labeled to reflect the Armor of God.  Matt was then able to talk with him about wearing the armor of God always.  The Helmet of Salvation, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word, the Belt of Truth and this set comes with the Gospel of Peace to be worn on their shins.  Oliver loves talking about battling Satan and his lies and feels very brave and strong in his armor.

The last gift he received for his "right of passage" was his very own cleaning bucket and laundry basket.  His cleaning bucket is labeled with his name and includes a duster, all natural cleaning spray, a scrub brush and two sponges.  You would not believe how often he is pulling out his cleaning bucket and asking if he can please clean something...this is music to a moms ears! 

**Implementing Tip: Matt and I were thrilled about how excited Oliver was to turn four and begin all of these new responsibilities.  We spent a lot of time talking to him about these things before his birthday and the transition was a piece of cake.  This morning Oliver ran out of his room having dressed himself (pants and shirt on backwards and mismatched) and having made his own bed without any reminders.  He was so proud and so was I!  He is a little man in the making. Obedience and Reward work...

  

Organization Tips

In our house we have three little ones.  Oliver(4) has just started officially doing school!  We decided to make our kids fourth birthdays a big transition year in our house.  Oliver is now expected to complete daily jobs on a job chart, and is expected to complete school each day with me!  We spent a lot of time preparing the chart and talking about school, so when Oliver's fourth birthday came he was more than excited to start his "big guy" routines.  

In this particular post I would like to share some of the ways I have organized our learning activities in the home.  We have plans to build a schoolroom in the future, but that could be several years from now.  I taught in the public schools for several years before I decided to stay home with our first child and in that time was able to gain some very useful knowledge for organizing a classroom. Currently, I am making the best use of the space we have and have found some great ways to organize and consolidate a lot of learning materials for both Oliver and my toddler Ellie(3)!

Several years ago when Oliver was just a baby I began collecting fun learning tools from rummage sales, good will, friends, and dollar stores.  With the help of other mom blogs I was able to start putting together some really simple learning activities that could be used with my toddlers.  I collected things like puzzles, board games for toddlers, flashcards, little blocks and manipulative s (colored blocks, colored popsicle sticks, pom poms, pretend money...and more) and great learning books that I found at dollar store.

This is a shelf I picked up at Good Will for 5 dollars and it has been a great spot to store baskets with all of my learning tools and activity guide books.  The three drawer organizer also holds different kinds of manipulatives, such as the ones listed above.

While searching other blogs I found some great file folder games.  I bought this bin to store different games and also workbooks that I picked up at the dollar store or Walmart.  I have this file folder sorted into different learning categories such as Alphabet games, Letter Recognition Activities, Counting Games, Calendar Activities, Sorting Activities, and Writing Activities.
**Teaching Tip: This is one of my go-to bins for simple activities that Ellie can do if she is wanting to do school like her big brother.  We can easily pull out a game and she feels like such a big girl!  This is similar to what the 1+1+1=1 blog (http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/)  does with Tot School.  It gives Toddlers a sense of school and learning that is fun, hands on and done when they are feeling up to it! It also gives them an opportunity to have ownership over something and to sit and focus on a learning based task.

This binder is similar to the file folder above.  It is filled with pocket folders and labeled by subject.  I use it to hold fun papers that I use for multiple copies and also to hold memory verses, calendar months, and often teaching activity guides that I print online or receive from library programs ext... Again, there are many go-to activities in here for days when we need something to do in a hurry:)

This is a pocket chart and rack that I bought my first year of teaching at The Learning Shop. Pocket charts are great when you need to display a lot of things with limited or no wall space. The charts are interchangeable and the cart can easily be moved from place to place.  We are currently using this side of our chart for our weather board.  Some of these weather pieces are free printable's from the blog Confessions of a Homeschooler (link below).

 http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/calendar-printables

I am using the other side of the chart to display our memory verse and characteristics of Christ that our curriculum is providing for us every week.  We are currently using Sonlight Curriculum and are finding it to be a fantastic experience for our young children.  The literature is wonderful and they truly enjoy our time learning together.  I will speak more about Sonlight at a later time, but have provided the link below if you are interested in checking it out!
http://www.sonlight.com/

These are most of our Sonlight curriculum books.  The curriculum provides colored labels for easy identification by level.  I keep them in a separate location so that they last as long as possible.  But don't let this fool you...they are getting worn!  I pull out several books a day and we read the stories over and over again!

This is a separate book corner for the kids in the living room.  The Book Basket is filled with mostly board books that are Gideon's(1) favorites.  He knows right where to go and loves having a basket all to himself.  We always keep our current library books in the "Oliver Bag" and try to visit weekly or bi-monthly to fill our bags with new books that reflect our current interests!  We have a book shelf in the boys bedroom, but its fun to switch out our favorites in the living room book corner.

In this picture Oliver and Ellie are holding their small Project Binders.  I use these binders to store some of their creations.  It does not have a specific purpose...it is only for them to keep the things that are special to them!

**Teaching Tip: Organization varies greatly for different people and their individual preferences.  I do believe that keeping organized in a home-school environment is one of the keys to success.  As a classroom teacher and now a home-school mom I know that figuring out my own organization likes and dislikes was key to minimizing my stress and maximizing my time.  All of these things were done over time...not overnight! Start one project at a time and continue to seek out other peoples ideas.  Knowing what works for other people is a great help.  As teachers often said at the school where I taught "you don't have to recreate the wheel!"  Have Fun creating a vibrant learning environment designed especially for your kids!