2013-2014 Proposed Routine for a Classical Conversations Family

**UPDATE**
For a downloadable, detailed planner, click here.
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I used to throw around words like “schedule” when I talked about our homeschool days.  Going into our third year and 3 additional kids later, I know better.  Routines are better because they are not time dependent but help us create patterns of behavior that keep my 4 kids from hard places feeling a little more secure. I also know that what’s in my head right now might not work, but here’s hoping.

Our biggest challenges last year were having 3 kids who needed me constantly and 2 more who needed me most of the time and 1 who always got the short end of the stick.  It was also tough not having John, Kayla, and Grace formally in CC.  This year, everyone will be in Foundations and the 4 oldest will all be in Essentials.

Last year, I tended to hand out work in the morning in amounts that I expected to be finished that day.  It created a lot of bottle necks and down time while kids waited for me to be available.  I also fought a lot of battles while the big kids adjusted to a new academic standard.

Moving forward, each child will have a notebook that will have enough work to keep him busy (even if I’m not available to help).

I will guarantee each child an allotted amount of undivided attention from me.  When the time is up, I move on to the next kid or next task I need to accomplish.  If it’s not a child’s one-on-one time, their questions have to wait.  Move to another section of the notebook and keep working.  If all else fails, find a book, or sit with your memory work.  This will hopefully curb the amount of people incessantly calling my name during school.  We’re doing a modified version of this now as we work through some summer work and it’s working well.

Wow, that was a long prelude to our actual routine.

Here are my best laid intentions:

Tuesday
  •   Bible listening, prayer, CNN Student News
  •   Timeline with motions
  •   Math sing and circle or drill sheet
  •   History-tutorial, read History Highlights
  •   Drill phonograms
  •   Charts, sentences (for Essentials students)
  •   IEW (brainstorming)
  •   Lunch
  •   2 hours of independent work time while I make my rounds
Wednesday
  •   Bible listening, prayer, CNN Student News
  •   Go to the gym
  •   Lunch
  •   Latin game/drill
  •   English game/drill
  •   Geography (sing and point)
  •   Grammar lesson (Mia)
  •   Charts, sentences (for Essentials students)
  •   1 hour of independent work time while I make my rounds.   Essentials kids will work on drafts.
Thursday
  •   Bible listening, prayer, CNN Student News
  •   Timeline game
  •   Science tutorial and Snippets
  •   History-copy work / read aloud
  •   Grammar lesson (Mia)
  •   Lunch
  •   2 hours of independent work time while I make my   rounds.  Everyone will work on presentations   and Essentials students will edit IEW papers and complete check list.
Friday
  •   Bible listening, prayer, CNN Student News
  •   Health
  •   Presentation Rehearsal
  •   Art project
  •   Science experiment or activity
  •   Wrap up loose ends
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3 Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing your schedule. Really blesses me. I have one beautiful princess but oftentimes because I have not planned too well she gets frustrated and I get exhausted trying to keep her on taskkk…uhhhh…whatever tasks I deem appropriate in the moments notice. Love “routine” vs “schedule” too…that ministers to me more than I can say. Thanks again. Blessings to you and your for sharing.

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