Daily routine

I had a friend recently ask me how we're scheduling our days. I thought I'd post our current Monday through Friday schedule here. I've made countless school schedules in the past 4 years of homeschooling. This is the first time I LOVE my schedule. A few weeks back I decided I was going to give the Charlotte Mason method of "short lessons" a try. I'd been reading through Catherine Levinson's More Charlotte Mason Education and started to wonder if what she said might be true. I have to say, I have LOVED CM's philosophy of education since I first read about it a few years back. There are some things I disagree with and do differently, but most of it is right in line with what we believe and desire for our children. We want them to develop a LOVE of learning.

So as I got to the chapter where Levinson discusses short lessons, and having always poo pooed that in the past, I thought, OK, I'll just try it. What is there to lose? If it isn't "enough" or it doesn't work well, I can always go back to what we were doing before. She shares this same advice on her website as well . One of the things that struck me with the idea of shorter lessons was this comment (from Short Lessons):

It is invigorating to go from math to poetry, from penmanship to history. Choose the school subjects so that they alternate between routine practice and subjects that take serious thought. With each day’s schedule we would want to vary the order somewhat to avoid any drudgery of a strict routine.

I thought hey, why didn't I think of that?! So simple and yet, genius! ;)

So this is what I've labored to do with our lessons each day. Keep them focused and on task, not allow "dawdling", and keep things fresh and varied.

Hannah is fourth grade, Emma is first. I have always gone with the "do the least favorite subject first" philosophy. This is the first time I've deviated from that and put it at the end of the day for Hannah. She is doing great with it. Knowing that she has something enjoyable to look forward to when she finishes (instead of another long lesson involving too much seat work ad nauseum), she is more motivated to focus and get it finished.

The numbers in parenthesis are approximate amounts of time we spend on each subject. Sometimes we spend less, sometimes more, depending on the need.

DAILY ROUTINE
Monday - Thursday

9:00-11:00am Morning Session

HANNAH EMMA
Devotion time Devotion time
Latin (20) Play with Ian (20)
English (20) Math (10)
Read aloud (fiction) (20) Read aloud (fiction) (20)
R&S Reading (20) Phonics (20)
Piano (20) Literature with Mommy (20)

11:00-11:20am Short break

11:20-12:20pm Mid Morning Session

HANNAH EMMA
Piano workbook or Cursive (20) Piano (20)
Spelling (5-10) Piano workbook (5-10)
Memorization (5) Memorization (5)
Read aloud (Science) (20) Read aloud (Science) (20)

12:20-2pm Lunch, chores and active play

2-3pm Afternoon Session

HANNAH EMMA
Math (30) Copybook w/ drawing (20)
Quiet reading (30-40) Quiet reading (30-40)

3-4pm Enrichment and Activities

One or more from this list...
Projects
Cooking
Handicrafts
Art
Games
Computer
DVD/VHS
Helping/Service

And this is Friday's schedule. They have 6+ "subjects" on these days.

FRIDAY’S ROUTINE

Breakfast
8-9am
Devotions
Chores
Errands – Target, Library, Grocery store, etc.
Preparation for Sunday (baking, any laundry, ironing, Sunday box etc.)
Cooking
Service/Helping

Free time ideas:
Handicrafts
DVD/VHS
Computer time
Games
Reading
Playing with Ian
Playing in room with dolls
History/Science activity if applicable

Lunch
12-1pm
Piano
Outdoor play

Afternoon Session
2-4pm

HANNAH EMMA
Math (30) Phonics (20) and Math (10)
Latin review or quiz (10) Copybook or piano workbook (10)
Composer study (20) Composer study (20)
Science/History work or Science/History work or
Activity (30) Activity (30)
Quiet reading or catch up (30) Quiet reading (30)

(Apologies as to the layout of this routine. I'm not sure yet how to get the right spacing and centering. I hope it's not too confusing.)