Monday, March 16, 2020

Daily Schedule

Today is weird because who EVER thought we'd be talking about social distancing and staying in our homes for an undetermined amount of time and all of that - it's still kind of surreal, right?  

My biggest goal over this next week (where we have an extended Spring Break without an academic plan) is to have it be a positive and fun experience for my kids (and me!) and for us that means some routine and schedule.  If we had the ability to go on day trips, run errands, etc. I wouldn't feel as strongly about it BUT since we can't do those things we're going full-on school mode :) 

This entire schedule may end up being a flop (and if it is I'll let you know!) but I feel good having a plan in place and as of today (Sunday) my kids are excited about it.

**all workbooks shown are linked at the bottom of the post**



Wake Up/Breakfast - My kids have been waking up around 8:00 which probably means they'll start waking up around 6 a.m. this week :)  They're good about making their own breakfast and I definitely see some play time happening before "school" actually starts

Math Time - I have some work books for each of the kids (some we've had and some are new) and I see them working on some of those pages and this would be when we'd play  Mobi or I'd let the kids play  OSMO Pizza or  Numbers in addition.

These are the books I have on hand for the boys...


The Star Wars one I'm hoping will get Mason excited :) 


And I was impressed with the level and quantity of work in the 4th/5th grade book.



I have these there "general" workbooks as well that I can pull from as they all include Math sections.


Outside Time - this will have to be flexible since the weather looks like it's going to be AWFUL this week but thankfully we won't melt and splashing in puddles is fun so we'll see how that goes.  If we can't get outside for some reason I could see swapping time slots (in case it's going to be nice in the afternoon) or adding in some extra creative or game time.

Writing Time - A writing prompt, a daily journal, or a few pages from a reading/writing workbook.

All three of the general workbooks have writing/grammar sections and then I have these as well...


I was REALLY impressed with the Star Wars workbook.  It's well beyond work sheets and I think Mason is going to love it.  There's even a section about reading a script, acting it out and then writing your own script.  Anything to get them wriring!



The 5th grade writing book is a little more involved but Luke is a GREAT writer (who will always pick writing last when it comes to activities), so I'm hopeful it sparks some interest in him this week.




These non-fiction reading comprehension books are perfect practice - my kids love reading for pleasure but the ability to read non-fiction for comprehension is something that I think we can all work on.  Each section has a passage to read, new words to learn (I may have them look up definitions) and then a multiply choice 5-question "quiz" on the following page. 


Creative Time - our favorite time of the day :)  If you want to check out some of our favorite ways to play creatively click  HERE.


Lunch/Bible Time - Pretty self explanatory... the kids will typically make their own lunches and I have this book that I think we'll probably read from and talk about every day.  If you're looking to mix up your lunches check out my  "little bits of lots of things" lunches OR you could go all "school mode" and have  packed lunches ready for them :)  


Chore Time - This will vary day to day based on what needs to happen, but my list of chore ideas include emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away, running the vacuum, wiping the counters, cleaning bathrooms, dusting, etc. 

Science Time - I have a couple of AWESOME books on hand that are filled with experiments that use things that we have on hand at home.  I love that they not only include the experiment but also the science behind why it works. 


History/Geography - All three of their general workbooks have geography and social studies but I also love this book for map skills...



Luke is REALLY into History so I'm sure he'll do some personal reading (his current interest is WWII) and we'll probably watch some Crash Course videos (my mom introduced me to these) as well.

Quiet Time - this is nothing new for my kids as we have this every day in the summer.  Mason and Griffin typically sneak into each others room and play together but I pretend I don't know as long as they're being quiet

Art/Music - I've been searching online for easy projects that all three kids can do (I don't want to prep three different projects) that tie in with artists who they can learn about as well.

Here are all of the workbooks I showed in today's post.  Some are leftover from summer and a few are new to us.  



If you don't want to purchase a workbook, there are a lot of great free resources available from Scholastic right now.


A couple notes...

- My plan is to make a plan the night before of pages in each book for the kids to complete.  I feel like large workbooks can be overwhelming so I'll probably use sticky notes to designate which pages they'll be working on the next day.  I'll also preview any YouTube videos that they're going to watch and make sure I have the art supplies I need for the next days project.

- Allllll of this is flexible.  If I feel like it's too much structure we'll relax it a bit.  Not enough and I'll tighten it up.  This is new for all of us so we'll figure it out as we go.

- I like to limit screen time during the day because I've found that doing so limits whining and "boredom" but that may not be the case for everyone's house.  If you're working at home and screens are what you need to use to keep your kids busy while you work NO JUDGEMENT!  Again, this is all new and we're all figuring it out.

I saw this schedule today and it cracked me up :)


- While we do have a schedule I feel like it structures the bulk of our day and leaves the evening open for games, movies, helping cook dinner, etc.  If you're looking for a list of our favorite games you can check out  this post.

I'd love to hear what your plans are (or if you aren't making any I want to hear that too!) for the next week or so - share any ideas you have in the comments and we can all share.  

Happy Monday, friends!!!

PS - this post contained affiliate links... thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!



16 comments :

  1. I work in health care with seniors, since visits are very limited they would LOVE homemade cards and drawings to brighten their day (you can pop them in the mail!). A great way to spread positivity during this uncertain time.

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  2. Parents could consider reading a chapter book out loud to the kids. This is a part of our home school curriculum through the eighth grade; usually I have teens lingering, too, because we love these stories. YWAM has great biographies. Brother Andrew is another book I love. Of course there are many fictional books to choose from as well. Check out Sonlight book lists for ideas.

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  3. Can you link the Bible book you’re using!

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  4. I am so grateful for your guidance! Our schools are closed for two weeks and because they don't need to be made up, my kids were sent home with nothing to work on except the normal read 20 minutes each day. I still have to go to work so my kids are being bounced between a couple family members - which I am so grateful to have their support. I just feel like so much is out of my control - but keeping their brains engaged is something I can handle. We have a few workbooks, but you better believe I will be supplementing with some of these recommendations. Thank you, Andrea!

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  5. Thanks so much for taking time to share this with us!!! Love your blog and instagram so much !

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  6. I am a former middle school teacher turned stay at home mom so the prospect of homeschooling was actually kind of exciting for me. I put together two days of lessons with a St. Patty's theme and then I'm going to spread out your family book club ideas to make the rest of our week's activities from your "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" book club. Next week, we're spreading out "Aliens Wear Underwear" activities. I plan on supplementing these with some writing worksheets for my kinder kiddo and we're only tackling one craft per day for my sanity. I have a bunch of blank books that we're going to try journaling about our day in. I'm particularly excited about bar graphing Lucky Charms marshmallows and making Cloudy posters as the pics I took yesterday of my kiddos were very funny. Any chance you would put together a book club on "Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast" or "If I Built a Car (House or School)"?! Those are some of our favorites and you're much more creative than I am ;)

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  7. I love your schedule!!! My girls and I all thrive on schedule and routine and I've been bouncing around ideas of how to make things at home work and this helps so much! We are just starting our spring break week and then moving to at home learning next week. I'm going back through your old crafting posts to help fill the spring break days with fun!

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  8. We will be utilizing audio books and podcasts along with some workbooks and resources we already have on hand too. Some of our favorites are Circle Round and Bible Stories for kids (both on Apple podcasts). Also, Adventures in Odyssey (I have these on CD, just happened to grab them from the library last week before it all went down!), probably available on amazon or maybe you can download them.

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  9. These are great ideas! My two kids actually start their official Spring Break this week, so I may be a little looser with the schedule at first - however, with nowhere to go, we may very quickly start needing some more structure!! I teach in another district and our Spring Break wasn't scheduled to start until next week, but we are now closed. So for now I am trying to work at home to prepare things for remote learning for my students, which is probably going to mean a little too much screen time for my own kids at first. Crazy times! Thank you for the ideas!

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  10. YouTube has direct drawing videos that I’m sure your kids would love. Art for kids hub! Also I could see you doing a cute activity with at Patrick’s day... like reading the book how to catch a leprechaun (you can listen to it online if you don’t have the book) and have them make leprechaun traps! I could see your kids totally getting into that! As a teacher myself I need structure too! My personal kiddos are in HS so they think I nuts when I tell them we are going to do school work! �� Got any big kid ideas... unfortunately my kids don’t love to read!

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  11. I will definitely be referencing this. Our situation is as follow: I live in Alberta, Canada and the school year runs from September to the end of June. With 59 cases of Covid 19, however in my province but the schools have been shut down in our province for the remainder of the school year starting today. Three whole months of school. I have one kid in grade 7, one in grade 6 and one in grade 4. Apart from the mental health aspect of missing out on socialization with friends and the fun school activities, that is a lot of content. I work part time, so some days they are home without my supervision. Your schedule is helpful in trying to navigate this difficult time. Thank you.

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  12. You guys are super moms! I am amazed! I am still going to work (hospital) so unfortunately my boys are home with video games. The good thing is they play together and talk to their friends on their headsets so at least they get some social interaction. We will plan on shutting everything off when we get home and hopefully play some bball and have dinner together. This is just crazy!

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  13. I will definitely be referencing this. Our situation is as follows: I live in Alberta, Canada and our school year runs from September to the end of June. Starting today (due to COVID 19) our schools are shut down for the remainder of the year. All students will use their current marks to move them to the next grade level. I have one kid in grade 7, one in grade 6 and one in grade 4. I am worried about my grade 7'r. That seems like a lot of content to miss to make up in grade 8. Do you have any suggestions for middle schoolers?

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  14. If Luke is interested in WW2, my 5th grader highly recommends reading Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. She just finished a History Fair project on the Doolittle Raid and this book was her favorite!

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  15. I just saw that Mo Willems is going to have a Facebook live doodle sessions every day at 1pm est and the Cinncinati Zoo is doing a home safari live stream every day at 3pm est!

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  16. Check out some of the educational videos on Netflix. They have 2 versions of Magic School Bus, Who was... (based on the books) and Carmen Sandiago plus others I'm probably missing.

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