I thought I would share the rolling of my days. I learn by seeing and listening to how other families run. Though I think my life is essentially rather mundane ~ filled with the wiping, tiding, teaching and correcting, sloshed around with the constants of food and sleep. This is how my days look...
My day starts early. I am naturally a morning person and enjoy having a few hours to my self before my family greets my ‘mothering’ day. In that time I get ready, devotions, email/blog, and make breakfast.
I have taught my kids that they can not meander out of bed until 7a.m ( I use a large digital clock and a piece of paper with the time they can come out, even pre-schoolers can fallow simple time frames on their own, with this method)
My kids are suppose to make beds and get dressed before coming for breakfast, but honestly this never happens, there is something in every younger kid that needs a solid cuddle before their day starts!
After breakfast and dressing, we head out doors and I walk with a friend, Marion bikes, and Davina and Lachlan get pushed in the stroller, we power walk for 30-40 minutes. I have found this a great way to start my school day, Marion’s energy is settled and she is more focused. I feel at this point my personal importance of the day have been accomplished, devotions and exercise!
The girls then practice their music for 15 minutes. I have learnt a lot from the brilliant educator Charlotte Mason. One of her findings and successes with teaching children is to give children small but meaningful bites of learning. Her way of doing this was by (in the young years) only spending 10-15 minutes on a subject. When I read of this teaching/learning method it confirmed what I had observed while working with kids. That in most cases a child’s attention span is double their age (a two year old will give you 4 minutes of attention) (a minute or so less for a boy). Until they hit about eight years of age, and then attention spans greatly increases.
I have used this principle in my teaching and have found it to be a great principle reaping good results.
We then do chores.
Lachaln has his morning nap.
9am – 12:00 school.
12:30 – 1:30 Roger is home for lunch.
When Lachlan goes down for his afternoon nap (this is a bit of a rolling time, dependant on his previous naps wake time) I also put the girls in their room for what we call book time. They get a stack of books and have to sit on their beds and read for 1 hour. We employ the clock method again, when an hour is up they can come out of their room. If they disrupt this time for goofiness or disobedience they have that time added to their bedtime, for instance if one of the girls is acting up or comes out of her room 20 minutes into book time, she will have to go to bed 40 minutes early. I am very strict with this time and will defend it fiercely! In this one hour I race around getting things done that are much easier with out three littles underfoot. Often this means I am in the kitchen making dinner. My goal is to end this time with at least 10 minutes to saviour a cup of tea and chocolate, uninterrupted so I can actually taste my calories!
Once book time is over, the girls have free time. We then move on to a project of sorts, we cook or craft together. I allow this block of time to be a ‘freelance’ rotation, either to get caught up on extra projects or to enjoy a set play thing. I will often take some of this time to tackle an extra job, make granola, fold laundry, wash widows, or anything that is pressing to get done. Marion also has her music lessons during that this time. I move my kids along through out the afternoon projects. They generally only have an hour or so of ‘free time’ in an afternoon (I explain more about this in another post.)
4:30 Clean up time
5:00 Out door time/ swimming lessons
6:00 Bath time
6:30 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 Lachlan goes to bed
Story time
Devotions as a family
7:45-8:00 Girls in bed
Roger and I tidy up and do dishes
FREE TIME! ~ Rather short-lived as I am always in bed by 9:00!
I hope you enjoyed coming along with us today. The above plan is simply a format and not the rule, nor does every day look the same or down to the finite minutes. It is helpful to me to know there will be respites throughout my day, and eliminates questioning from my children as of what to do next. It works for me!
My day starts early. I am naturally a morning person and enjoy having a few hours to my self before my family greets my ‘mothering’ day. In that time I get ready, devotions, email/blog, and make breakfast.
I have taught my kids that they can not meander out of bed until 7a.m ( I use a large digital clock and a piece of paper with the time they can come out, even pre-schoolers can fallow simple time frames on their own, with this method)
My kids are suppose to make beds and get dressed before coming for breakfast, but honestly this never happens, there is something in every younger kid that needs a solid cuddle before their day starts!
After breakfast and dressing, we head out doors and I walk with a friend, Marion bikes, and Davina and Lachlan get pushed in the stroller, we power walk for 30-40 minutes. I have found this a great way to start my school day, Marion’s energy is settled and she is more focused. I feel at this point my personal importance of the day have been accomplished, devotions and exercise!
The girls then practice their music for 15 minutes. I have learnt a lot from the brilliant educator Charlotte Mason. One of her findings and successes with teaching children is to give children small but meaningful bites of learning. Her way of doing this was by (in the young years) only spending 10-15 minutes on a subject. When I read of this teaching/learning method it confirmed what I had observed while working with kids. That in most cases a child’s attention span is double their age (a two year old will give you 4 minutes of attention) (a minute or so less for a boy). Until they hit about eight years of age, and then attention spans greatly increases.
I have used this principle in my teaching and have found it to be a great principle reaping good results.
We then do chores.
Lachaln has his morning nap.
9am – 12:00 school.
12:30 – 1:30 Roger is home for lunch.
When Lachlan goes down for his afternoon nap (this is a bit of a rolling time, dependant on his previous naps wake time) I also put the girls in their room for what we call book time. They get a stack of books and have to sit on their beds and read for 1 hour. We employ the clock method again, when an hour is up they can come out of their room. If they disrupt this time for goofiness or disobedience they have that time added to their bedtime, for instance if one of the girls is acting up or comes out of her room 20 minutes into book time, she will have to go to bed 40 minutes early. I am very strict with this time and will defend it fiercely! In this one hour I race around getting things done that are much easier with out three littles underfoot. Often this means I am in the kitchen making dinner. My goal is to end this time with at least 10 minutes to saviour a cup of tea and chocolate, uninterrupted so I can actually taste my calories!
Once book time is over, the girls have free time. We then move on to a project of sorts, we cook or craft together. I allow this block of time to be a ‘freelance’ rotation, either to get caught up on extra projects or to enjoy a set play thing. I will often take some of this time to tackle an extra job, make granola, fold laundry, wash widows, or anything that is pressing to get done. Marion also has her music lessons during that this time. I move my kids along through out the afternoon projects. They generally only have an hour or so of ‘free time’ in an afternoon (I explain more about this in another post.)
4:30 Clean up time
5:00 Out door time/ swimming lessons
6:00 Bath time
6:30 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 Lachlan goes to bed
Story time
Devotions as a family
7:45-8:00 Girls in bed
Roger and I tidy up and do dishes
FREE TIME! ~ Rather short-lived as I am always in bed by 9:00!
I hope you enjoyed coming along with us today. The above plan is simply a format and not the rule, nor does every day look the same or down to the finite minutes. It is helpful to me to know there will be respites throughout my day, and eliminates questioning from my children as of what to do next. It works for me!
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