Getting My Thoughts Straight

Our official first day of school is going to be Tuesday, Sept. 2. In my mind I thought I had 2 weeks to get finish getting stuff together, then it dawned on me that the 2nd is next Tuesday! We are going to have school on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. The girls go to Mother's Day Out on Mondays and we have Bible study at church on Wednesday mornings.

At this point our morning schedule will look like this:
8:30 Chore Can
9:00 Morning Devotions - this will be when we read a page from here or something topical like these
9:15 Reading Lesson (Lucy will work with a toddler activity bag)
9:45 Science topic and lesson that goes with it for the day (could be math, art, Bible, music, etc.)
10:15 Outside/Free Play

Thursday during Lucy's naptime, Norah and I will have a cooking lesson.

The rest of our day will be normal lunch, nap and playtime, but I will occasionally incorporate some structured activities as needed. Usually from the time the girls wake up until about 5 they play very well together (or separately, but in the same room). Around 5 they are READY for Kevin to come home (which is around 6) and I am usually working on dinner so we often have major FREAK-OUT time! In the laundry room I have a drawer of fun items to pull out if/when this happens - things like bingo dabbers, play-doh, watercolors, markers.

We are going to have family time devotions at dinner time. I bought this so the girls can be coloring a picture when Kevin gets home and as he is reading the scripture that is referenced on their picture. Kevin and I agreed that it is important to read out of an actual Bible to the girls instead of just picture Bibles all the time (which we will still do sometimes at bedtime). We also felt like they need something (a coloring page) to help them picture what Kevin is reading about and I just think Lucy needs something to do while he is reading. Each scripture is only a few verses to a chapter - at the most.

The curriculum that we are using, My Father's World, lists several books that go with each topic so throughout a week, we will read the extra books at various times (naptime, bedtime, times they are extra snuggly).

Obviously we won't always stick to the times exactly, but this will be a guide. I do want some flexibility (since Norah is still just 4 - and not technically in kindergarten) to meet friends at the park so we can always skip the chore can and save our morning devotions for naptime. Then we could be done with school by 9:30 and have plenty of time to play with friends!

After rereading this - it seems like a lot, but I think on a day to day basis it won't seem so bad!! We'll see!!