Juggling Life with Homeschooling

I spent my entire first year of homeschooling working nights and teaching during the day.
People ask me what is your method for homeschooling and how did you balance the two? Well as of yet I haven't pinned down a specific method like other homeschool families I know. But I do have a general schedule and when we follow it our days go pretty smoothly. *This are just the way my family does it with a few simple recommendations ;)

The three main things I recommend are:

1. Have a curriculum lined out with a general pre-planned schedule to use on a daily basis.  Tweak, run with it, re-tweak, and repeat.

What I mean by this is know what you want to teach and the pace you want to teach it at that's appropriate for your kids. Is your schedule so advanced that if you miss a "school-day" the whole thing falls apart? Or conversely are you scrambling to get things together while your kids 'patiently' wait at the table while you run around looking for the art supplies you need? Find balance by planning for your school day but be ready for life's unexpected-because hey it is going to happen. I almost always try to prep everything the day before or in the afternoon when the kids are done for the day.

Here's our schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
LifePAC/ Reading	Saxon Math	LifePac/ All About Spell	Saxon Math	LifePAC/Writing
Saxon Math Snack Time	All About  Spelling/ Writing Snack Time	Saxon Math Snack Time	All About Spelling/Read Snack Time	Math Review or a Math game Snack Time
LifePAC Bible/ Awanas	Awanas	LifePAC Bible/ Awanas	Awanas	Bible Story Reading
Geography/History LifePAC	Science	Science	Science	Geography/History LifePAC
Unit Study	Unit Study	Unit Study	Unit Study
Music-Famous Composers	Art Activity	Music-Famous Composers	Art-Meet the Masters	Music-Piano free play Computer composers
Health	P.E.	Library	Health	P.E.
Nighttime homework (opt.)	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework	Nighttime Homework

As you can see there is no time attached to this schedule because we don't always start at 8:30am. Sometimes its 9am or if we have morning plans then its noon. I don't follow the clock I follow my kids. The first two subjects are always Language Arts and Math because at this young age those are the most important and I find its better to get them done and out of the way otherwise if we wait until the end of the day it doesn't happen. With a special needs child some things take longer then others. Sometimes we zip right through activities while other times we slow down and really focus on mastery of a topic. This is a general schedule to keep things interesting.

2.  Take time out for your toddler and blanket time.

I do not expect my toddler to entertain herself for an entire day minus snack time, lunch time, and naps. My ultimate goal is to keep my older boys doing something while my youngest is also doing something safe, close to me-still in eye shot or ear shot distance (her room is right next to our homeschool room). Again, its a balancing act. Not every subject requires me sitting next to my oldest walking him through each subject-this is when I get my tummy-time in with Sweet Pea. We read, sit and do puzzles, whatever. Sometimes she even sits right on my lap while I oversee what the boys are doing.

3. Offer incentives for a job well done.
My kids love watching TV and using the computer. For every subject they complete and/or every work-box they complete I give them a token which they put into a mini-mason jar and tally up for the end of the day. Each token is worth 5 minutes of TV or computer time. On a daily basis they can go through seven work-boxes at the most totaling 35min. This is free-time however I DO oversee what they will watch and use the microwave timer to keep track of the time. Also this does not include their use of the computer or tv as part of their curriculum. For example we might watch a film or video on the computer about the topic we're learning for the week such a Little Einstein video about a famous artist and/or composer.  

Using this general schedule and being organized always make homeschooling easier. On the days when workboxes are pre-set we can save so much time and honestly my kids prefer things to be ready rather than a flustered mom ;) Happy Homeschooling!

Grace to You,
Jenna