Countdown!

I'm usually very flexible about when we plan to start back to our normal school-year routine in the fall. Not this year. This school year I'm going to be more scheduled than ever. We will start on August 18 at exactly 8:30 a.m. after a yummy breakfast of baked oatmeal, fruit, and cheese. Yes, I have that planned already. Actually, I've already written out our daily schedules, Managers of Their Home style, including wake up times, chore lists, lesson times, breaks, etc.... Eek! This is something I 've always been very resistant to in the past. The thought of watching the clock all day and sticking to a pre-planned schedule made me cringe. Those who know me well can attest to the fact that I am all about enjoying the benefits of homeschooling, including sleeping in, eating whenever we feel like it, moving slow on days we're tired, and doing extra on days we have more energy. I've always been very relaxed with our days. But we've always met our educational goals. Last year I thought it was fairly scheduled to try to have to-do lists checked off by such and such time. I have loved the freedom in that. So, this year it will be a grand experiment in self-discipline to stick to a regimented, posted-on-the-wall schedule.

Now, I wouldn't impose anything on our homeschool experience that I didn't think was right for us. And this is definitely a let's try it and see kind of thing. I am convinced that it's time to at least give this a shot, though. Having three kids doing pretty big stuff now (3rd, 6th, and 8th grades) with an active 3 year old and a still-nursing, but scooting all over the place 8 month old necessitates becoming more organized. Hopefully, this will reduce the kind of stress that comes from everyone needing my help at the same time. It will also be good for the routine-craving 3 year old we've got skipping around looking for what to do next. It will help us all with our focus and staying on our toes. Who knows, maybe we'll far exceed our expectations because of being even more organized. There is no doubt that we will allow for those interruptions that life presents. I'm sure there will be plenty of exceptions made in the schedule in our very real-life home. But at least we will be aware of where we are, what we've done, and what's yet to do.

We're getting close to this new scheduled life ahead of us. I'm going to start adding in a little more organization to our day bits at a time during the next 18 days. I think we'll need some transition time to go from the lazy days of summer to a strict daily routine. Here we go! Start the countdown.

If you'd like to see an example of the type of schedule we're going to be using, follow this link to see their scheduling book...
http://http://www.titus2.com/ecommerce/products/prod_listing.php/1100

A free printable schedule...
http://www.titus2.com/m-schedule1.htm

Introduction

Welcome to my blog! I'll be "thinking out loud" by journaling my thoughts here. I'm just learning the ropes of blogging, so be patient with me please. I'll be real and just share the daily ins and outs of being married to one of the most incredible men in the world and being a homeschool mom to my five super-kids. We've got plenty of homeschool stories to share. And I've always got something on my mind to talk about as I search for nuggets of wisdom from God, mentors, friends, books, teachers, and of course, the world wide web... LOL



Looking forward to blogging...