A Peek at Our School Routine-Fall Semester

Another school year begins! Some tidbits about our kickoff:

This year in homeschooling we are trying some new things. We've loved using the Sonlight curriculum in the past but decided to try Classical Conversations with all our kids this year. So a sample of our schedule this year for school looks something like this:

Mondays 9-12: Classical Conversations meeting. Lunch is followed by coming home and delving into doing some of the memory work for CC, piano practice for Mya, and reading with the twins.

Tuesday 9-12: staff meeting with Cru staff at our home while the kids are in childcare. Lunch followed by school in the afternoon (some combo of Math-U-See math and Alpha Omega Publications' Lifepac for language arts and handwriting for Mya...reading and PreK/K workbooks for the twins, Mya's piano practice)

Wednesdays: My day on campus doing ministry! Scott will introduce a new math concept to Mya on Wednesdays and do science experiments.

Thursdays: 8-8:45 a.m. is piano lessons for Mya, then 9-12 is the Family Center Co-op for all of us. The twins are in a PreK 4 class for 3 hours while Mya is enrolled in an American Girls class, Living in Colonial Times class, and Becoming God's Princess class. This morning is really about fun classes and connecting with friends. Mya is thrilled to be doing so many crafts, art projects, and cooking in all these classes and learning about history while she's at it. Lunch will be followed by an afternoon of quiet rest time, and either a field trip or baking something together, and doing house work together.

Fridays: 9-11 is our Cru staff breakfast where we have childcare. The afternoon will be used to tackle similar school topics to Tuesday, along with memory work for Classical Conversations & piano practice. Friday night is pizza night at our home and it's something we all look forward to at the end of a busy school week.

Our evenings are pretty full: after dinner is family Bible time and then Scott is off to the Cru weekly meeting on Monday nights, has Bible study with the student men he leads on Tuesday nights, we have date night on Wednesday nights, and we will be in our church small group on Thursday nights.

My goal this year is to be disciplined enough to get to bed before 10 p.m. because I get up at 5:10 M-W and Fridays to work out and spend some time in the Bible. And since a lot of school will take place in the afternoon (my sleepiest time), I need to be well rested or we are all going to have a miserable time!

Another important goal for us this year is to more regularly incorporate little dates with our kids. Scott will take 1 child per week, and I will take a different child once a week. I'm really excited to try some of the dates for moms and daughters found in the Secret Keeper Girl materials by Dannah Gresh.

Obvious in the midst of all this is that I really need to walk with God and will need to draw from Him to be able to love my family well, minister outside the home, and teach my kids at home without turning into an ogre. Praying for strength for this!