It's 1:45 in the afternoon. After a short rest, I'm up to blog and then wash dishes. As I sit down at the computer Sam comes into the den and sits on the couch with his bag of action figures. I remind him in a hushed voice, "No sound affects." He nods and looks over at Nattie who is passed out in her swing with her head turned up and to the left, her mouth wide open. I still have to remind him, several times, to be quiet. We don't know how long this quiet time will last. We'll go to the park soon to play and get out of the house. I'll also run a few errands during this time.
We started back to school last week so that we would be on the same schedule as Daddy who teaches Special Education at a school nearby. Today was a good day, school wise. I was up by 6:15 to read my Bible, have some quiet time and get showered and dressed. Some days it's hard to get up early and I end up sleeping in. Those tend to be lighter days and the kids are allowed to do one subject on an app on my iPod. Stephen was out of the house by 6:30. The kids all woke up on their own before 7:15, so they ate and got dressed and did their chores. We were able to start with school by 8:30. The twins go in their room to play for an hour and watch something on the computer for the second hour. We started with Math. They have an hour. I set the clock and the kids have to work alone for the first 20 minutes. This is when I feed Natalie. She lays down for a morning nap shortly after. I encourage the kids to read their own directions and do what they can until it's time for me to help them. Jonathan was done within the 20 minutes, so he happily (and quietly) went to the den and played with his toys that he can only play with when 2 year old Ben isn't around or else there's lots of arguing, crying and fighting. I helped Susan with her work for 10 minutes and then Sam. When the hour was up, everyone was back at the table for English and writing (Sam), phonics, writing and spelling (Susan) and writing and phonics (Jonathan). Whatever they don't finish within each hour, they have to finish after lunch. We do our reading at night when Daddy's home. Each older child will take turns reading to themselves, me, Daddy and a sibling. Our co-op, which we will start next week, will cover all the other stuff.
When school is finished, we eat lunch. Natalie is up and playing by now. The older kids are great at watching her while I'm busy in the kitchen. Today, however, I had to wear her in the carrier. The kids play together or on their own until nap time. The twins then go down for a nap, I feed Natalie, Sam reads to Jonathan and any unfinished work gets completed. Nattie, Susan, Jonathan and I lay down. Sam finishes work and has quiet time. After nap/quiet time is when we have play dates or go out. Today we're going to the park. Speaking of the park, I need to go.
This is how we home school with six kids. As the littles change, however, so must our schedule and I revisit it as needed and figure out what needs to be taken out or added.
Ashley
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