Step 1--Creating a Workable Schedule

The key to this step is the word WORKABLE. If your schedule isn't workable, it's not going to work. Then what good is it? A schedule that works for your family may not work for a different family and vice versa. This step will take time as you analyze your needs, your wants and your goals. I like to consider EVERY aspect of my schedule (or my family's schedule, I should say) when laying it all out.

There will be many things to consider while developing your schedule and I highly recommend that you take a long look at every facet of your daily, weekly and monthly schedule. Take time to brainstorm every possible idea, desire, goal and add in all of the things that MUST be done (see my note on routines below, however). You can always remove things that just won't fit before creating the final product. For now just let your creative juices flow. I'll give you some ideas in hopes of stimulating more ideas.

What do I want to accomplish? Do you want to do daily nature study or a weekly nature hike? Do you want to incorporate a tea time? Do you need to focus more on academics and less on extra-curricular (or vice versa)? Do you need to be outside more often? Do you want to instill habits? Do you want to get your children and yourself on a better chore schedule? Are there different avenues you've wanted to explore but never thought you'd be able to find the time--such as exercise, handicrafts, or a class you'd like to take yourself or as a family?

What subjects are being covered? Obviously there will be the three "R's", some science, history, etc., but what about other subjects? Foreign language? Handicrafts? Home Economics? Art? Music? Composer Study? Picture Study?
There are so many subjects, so many fun avenues to explore. Again, do NOT limit yourself at this point, this is the time to develop a plan of ALL you want for your family, not only what is feasible at this time. Lord willing, as you become more established in a routine, as the children grow and develop and as you become more skilled as a teacher and home manager, your time and abilities will become more abundant.

Are there younger children that need to be addressed? What will they be doing while you're working on more academic topics with your older children? How will they be involved? Are you getting them into a chore/help routine? Are there projects, games, etc. that you can do with them in order to involve them? Make sure to remember the little ones and have them involved in as much as possible.

Chunk the "need-to's" into a simple routine. It's simple to start with a morning routine, an afternoon routine and an evening routine, since these revolve around the 3 meals of the day. This way we're not putting things like "Brush teeth", "Get Dressed", etc. onto our schedule. We can simply say, "Morning Routine", "Afternoon Routine" and "Evening Routine" and have those specified elsewhere so our schedule doesn't get too overwhelming. You can take time to think about those routines and even make a simple outline at this time just to get a general idea of how long this might take...or you may just want to keep in mind approximately how long these simple routines take you each day and put them down on your list.

So, get out a piece of blank paper and start writing!!! Sit back and visualize your "perfect" school day and your "prefect" school week. We'll develop more of a plan once all of your ideas are out of your head and onto paper. It's very helpful to create a table with the headings: SUBJECT, DURATION and FREQUENCY so that you can continue with the next couple of steps.