Daily Schedule

From Life Take 1
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After trying several different types of schedules, I have found that blocks of time with some things scheduled at specific times works best for our family. Below is our current daily schedule Monday through Friday. Weekends always vary as this is our errands, church, and family time days.

I consider myself a very organized person and so when I heard people recommending Managers of Their Home -- I wrote this off as one book that I will never read. It is so much more than just learning how to schedule or organize but gives you ideas on chores, menu planning, making the best use of your time, and more. I highly recommend this book to all of you and thank you to all of you who recommended this book to me. Especially Teresa, who finally convinced me to purchase it and taught me how to use it to benefit my family and me!

6:30 am -- Zac wakes up, comes in to wake me up. I sleepily reply "What time is it?" to which I hear "umm 6, 3, 2" Which is usually followed by me yawning and saying "no, Zac it is not time to wake up yet go back to bed." Zac says "But the sun is up. its day time. even the sun isn't sleepy mama." I say "I don't care go back to bed." Which he does but when he gets there he decides to share his news with Ben that the sun is indeed awake and he should be too! UGH!

7:00 -- Alright, alright! I am up! I am up! Zac has woken up both Ben and Kris by now. The boys play for awhile why I check email and get dresed.
7:30 -- Time to get the boys dressed, make beds, clean bedrooms and get breakfast on the table. When breakfast is done, Zac clears the table of the dishes, Kris wipes the table clean, and Ben pushes in all the chairs.

8 am -- Signing Time! The boys watch Signing Time and settle down to get ready for their school day to begin.

8:30 -- Office time. Everyone comes into the office. Zac and Ben sit down at the coloring table to color. Sometimes I give them an activity bucket or other activity to do but mostly its coloring. While they are doing that Kris takes his spelling test and then we do JBQ for the day. Next Kris works on his own completing his handwriting and critical thinking workbooks for the day. Zac moves to the school table and I work on his handwriting with him. Ben is still coloring or perhaps has wondered off to play in another part of the house.

9:00 -- everyone to the living room ... it time to read!! Bible, History, Read Alouds, Science, Electives, anything that comes from a book that I need to read aloud for the oldest Core I am currently using. After about 20-30 minutes I kick out the younger 2 as they are making to much noise. Off they go to the playroom. This usually results in some sort of mischief and we are working on correcting their destructive habits. After about 30 minutes of destruction... read as free play! They rejoin us in the living room. They are usually ready by this time to play quietly.

10:15 -- We are done reading. Time for a snack, drink, potty break.

10:30 -- Back to the office for Kris. Here we go offer his science worksheets for the day and his vocabulary for the read-alouds. He completes these while I make lunch. The other two are suppose to be cleaning the living room but the possibility that that is actually happening is slim to none.

11:00 -- Lunch. Afterwards, the boys do the same chores as they do after breakfast. Ben however is usually whisked off to his nap so chairs are being pushed in by one of the other boys if they remember. Usually - I go and do it.

11:30 -- Math U See video -- Zac comes running in to watch this. He loves it! Kris and Zac usually watch the lesson 2 or 3 times together before I turn it off and head them back to the office.

11:45 -- Back to the office for Kris. Now he is to complete his math workbook pages for the day, we work on Classical Writing together, and I assign whatever needs to be done. He usually has a project for his electives to do at this time as well. Zac is having quiet time elsewhere in the house. Once Kris is done the two are to play quietly together until the end of nap.

1:45 pm -- Ben is awake. Free play for everyone!
2:00 -- Prima Latina DVD in living room followed by exercises in the office.
2:15 -- Kris is to find a quiet place to read for 30 minutes on his own. Zac is in the office with me doing his OPG lesson for the day. Ben is off playing in the living room by himself.
2:45 pm -- This is reading time for our younger core. Right now this is directed mainly at Zac but Ben listens in from time to time. Kris doesn't want to be left out either so he is there too. We also sing songs and do other preschool focused activities during this time.

3 pm -- Free Time! The boys like to play outside if it is nice.
3:30 -- Afternoon Chores. These change daily but we spend about 30 minutes cleaning up so we can enjoy family time together all evening long. Daddy comes home sometime around now.

4:30 -- Daddy takes over while I head out for my 30 minutes of peace and quiet at the gym. Daddy starts dinner or watches it while I am gone.

5:30 -- Dinner time! Everyone has a job. Zac and Kris help set the table and get out things as needed, Daddy gets the drinks for everyone, and I make up everyone's plates. Ben's job is not to scream that he is starving and to wait patiently for everything to cool down enough to eat.

6:30 pm -- Kris clears the table; Daddy gives the little boys a bath. Sometimes a shower depending on what they all ask for.

7 pm -- This is a whatever time.

8:00 -- Ben goes to bed.

8:30 -- Kris and Zac go to bed

9:00 -- My alone time with dh. Then I go to bed.

10 pm -- Daddy does the dishes, takes out the trash, and usually does a load of laundry then goes to bed too.