How do I schedule

Actual adult conversation... we made it to the pool today, and I ran into a mom I've been sort of getting to know at the pool. Being a fellow homeschooler, she asked how I schedule our days. Good question!

I had to admit that I haven't much success in keeping to a schedule because more often than not someone will throw a monkey wrench into my best laid plans. Sadly... or mercifully, there are only so many hours of the day. Some of my children require a lot of time to work through certain lessons. Instead I have to gage our workloads, especially my own, and continually strive to press on even when goals aren't met. It's good to have goals, but important to realize they might not always be met on a predetermined timeline... not when it comes to children... especially young once who have no concept of the importance of time management.

There's simply no substitute for time.


Lately, I've been wishing that there could be more time... but by night fall I'm eager for the close of the day.

I don't construct daily lesson plan, instead I write down what we've accomplished, as it's proof of what we've done and not a checklist of failures. I select a course or curriculum and we just dive in, working at a pace that matches our ability. Rushing through lessons without mastery or at least a vague comprehension serves us very poorly. To learn it's sometime necessary to slow down and really digest the materials, mastering something before we can move on to the next.

 In the past we also had to contend with a lack of motivation, which made lessons absolutely stagnant and brought many a days to a near standstill. Lately, we've implemented a mind craft reward system, which has generated a great deal of forward progression in the workbooks that used to sit idle while excuses were made, and efforts were lack luster.

While swimming laps... it's always refreshing and empowering when I'm able to squeeze some lap swimming. Usually I'm the fastest in to pool, but today the lady in the next lane over was faster. I joke that she had the advantage with the speedo suit, while my mom dress suit wasn't designed for actual swimming, making it the perfect drag suit. I definitely had more resistance and was less streamline... and it's not a big deal, but since I've always gotten a little thrill out of pretending to race anyone else in the pool (and being used to winning my races) it was a bit of humbling experience to swim along side someone a league above... but in a good way. It makes me want to swim more and get better. That's how I've always been. I look to those in front of me as someone I want to catch up with, and then pass... which was how I ran my cross country races, a mental method if you will. Coach always said it was the best way to run a race. I certainly felt it was the most fulfilling... and really the only way I could maintain stamina to finish. A steady stream of short-term goals leads to the bigger finishing goal. So in many ways life, for me, is like a race... a long distance race. There's no quick and easy, just long and hard fought.