School days, school days

 

Monday through Friday, 7 am, six bleary-eyed girls came tromping downstairs for breakfast, each having been woken up at 6:45, made her bed, gotten dressed, brushed teeth, brushed hair, spruced up her room and done her morning chore.  Some even came down with braided hair (thanks to Rachel).  All came down with smiles.  Grant was usually woken up right before we ate and carried downstairs, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes.  Some mornings I played music on the computer for inspiration.  Breakfast was our usual routine:  CoCo Wheats and cinnamon toast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Cereal on Tuesday and Thursday.  Bottomless cups of orange juice. 

Some parts of our day remained the same. 

• Right after eating, a Proverb, Bible story, catechism questions, and poetry while they’re still corralled in their chairs. 
• Math lessons, reading lessons, history songs and lessons, spelling lists, science experiments,
• Pencil chewing, pencil dropping, pencil losing.
• Sometimes, a backlog at one of the computers while waiting for a turn to do geography games or Latin Flash Dash or spelling.
• Periodic breaks in momentum, caused by, but not limited to, an occasional diaper change; a quick grabbing of the camera to capture a moment too cute to miss; a squabble breaking out here or there; workbook/library book/teacher book/answer book searches; a hungry baby; a stray dog in the yard; the mailman delivering new books and letters from pen pals, etc…
• Lots of reading.  Good books.  Sense and Sensibility, Bobbsey Twins, Sir Cumference and the First Round Table:  A Math Adventure, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Elsie Dinsmore …

Some parts of our day were new.

• A consistently early start;
• A schedule for everyone (except Trent) posted on the fridge;
• A piano lesson for the oldest 5, some in pairs;
• No interruptions from the outside world except during lunch;
• New subjects and activities for Claire and Grant;
• Concerns about what one was “supposed” to be doing.  “It’s 10:30 and I’m supposed to be starting Spelling, but the computers are all being used!”; and most importantly …
• Productivity, productivity, productivity!

For years, I have resisted creating a detailed schedule because (a) it seemed too impossible (toddlers and babies can challenge even the most flexible routines) and complicated, (b) I didn’t want to turn into Drill Sergeant Mom, and (c) … well, it’s just not how I’m wired.  I’m a stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of gal.  And the lilacs.  And aren’t the coneflowers pretty?  However, subjects do need to be taught and learned in a timely manner and kids do eventually grow up and graduate (when I look at my 15-year-old, I’m reminded of that fact). 

So I took drastic measures and met with a super-organized homeschooling friend a few weeks ago.  She came armed with a huge bin overflowing with books, schedules, supplies, timers, games … all tools in her homeschooling toolbox.  We spent almost three hours together, with me mostly listening, asking questions and furiously taking notes with my laptop.  The other patrons in Burger King must’ve thought we were planning some kind of national convention!  Then I came home and let everything steep for a few days, sat down with pen and paper and started sketching out a schedule, gradually moved everything over into Excel, then started adding borders and shading, making everything look more official and school-y.

Everybody was excited to jump in and try things out.  Of course, everything was not perfect.  I was prepared for that and gave lots of pep talks beforehand about flexibility and patience.  What I didn’t anticipate was how concerned the younger ones would be with doing things at the appointed time.  After a few episodes of panic on their part, I came up with a word picture.  The clock is our servant; we are not its slaves.  The clock is suggesting that we do such-and-such.  We take the information the clock is giving us and decide whether we’re going to finish up what we’re doing more quickly and move on, or keep at whatever we’re doing. 

And now I look back on this first week and am amazed.  We got so much done each day. Lots of school, lots of chores, but still some down time and breaks.  By the end of the week we were tired.  Not the defeated kind of tired, but the wow, we got a lot done kind of tired.  I’m hoping the novelty of our new productive school days does not wear off too soon, but I’m already putting some tricks up my sleeve for those days that will surely come.