Adapting

One thing that I can count on is constant change!  I have been racking my brain the last few weeks trying to find a solution to getting us back on track.  The current system just wasn't working anymore..dynamics changed and things were not running smoothly.  This week, I finally stumbled on a more workable schedule.  Our start to the morning is very slow.  Getting my own morning chores finished and supervising the children in theirs, is very slow.  By the time we get to the point where we could start school, the morning has slipped away, there is no time for outside play.  Brighton is starting to get cranky and ready for lunch and a nap.  School is hurried and there is always something that we aren't getting to and the whole scenario was leaving me frustrated.

Here is the adaptation that we have tried the last couple of days.

Morning time is a time for chores and play.  We get up, have our breakfast, and then start on chores.  The children make their beds, get dressed, help with any clean up, dishes, etc..  When this is done, they may play.  If the weather cooperates, the older 2 or 3 may go in the backyard and I adjust my chore location so that I can watch them through the windows.  I get done what I can get done.  Sometimes that is a lot, sometimes a little.

Lunch and rest time is next.  The older two take library books to bed and listen to stories on the computer.  The younger two nap.  Mom eats a quiet lunch, takes a 20 minute nap, and has a few moments to gather her thoughts.

School time.  I get the older two up from rest time and we work on the part of school that needs direct instruction.  When we come to something that Evi can participate in (around 3:00), I get her up from nap and she joins us.  Then we do Bible and stories together as a group.  Brighton may or may not be napping during all or some of school.  (I can tell you which is easier!!)

Daddy comes home!  Daddy takes over with the children and Mommy hurries to get dinner ready.

The evening is where Phil and I tend to fizzle out and where the children get some sort of weird burst of energy.  Ideally, we would like to have our read aloud nightly, maybe do a science/history/art lesson, play games, and have family time, and finish up the evening chores.  This is definitely our work in progress!

Everything in me, says, "School MUST be done in the morning and then you can have the rest of the day".  However, it is simply not working out that way at the moment!  It took me 3 weeks of rethinking it to let go of that notion and adjust our schedule to fit the needs of our family.  I have found with 4 small children that my life is really not about me fitting children into it but rather about me adjusting and focusing on fulfilling my role as a mother: fellowshipping, training, and schooling my children.

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