Good to be back on track!

Whew....for the past 3 months, we have been living in complete disarray!  We no longer started school and we were packing for our vacation.  When we returned from our vacation, it was time to switch out fall/winter clothes...then there was catching up on all that school work, more clothes, doctor appointments, surgeries.....and well, yes...we are just now back on track around here!  Most people don't understand why it would take so long to get life back in order, but then again, most people aren't large homeschooling families!  We are especially busy this time of year, so it's such an awesome feeling to be back in a routine!

Last Friday, we met with our small homeschooling group and made Greeting Cards that we donated to be sent with care packages for soldiers for Christmas.

Each month we participate in events with our deaf community.  Unfortunately, this year we have not been able to attend most of the events (due to illness or schedule conflicts).  On Saturday, we were able to celebrate Christmas with this wonderful community of people!  The young members of our flock especially enjoyed visiting with the signing Santa!

On Sunday, we were suppossed to meet with a few of our close friends and visit a Christmas Lights Display, but the weather didn't cooperate and we had to postpone our outing.  It was a good thing because Hawk came down with a sore throat and a terrible headache.  We took advantage of the unexpected time at home and got all the cleaning done that we could.

Time to REFOCUS!!!

We've spent the last month around here trying to get back into routine, catching up on school work and doing some "fall cleaning".  Our family is always so busy, each of us doing our own thing and it seems we don't have a lot of time to spend with each other.  This tells me that it's time to refocus big TIME!!!  My kids are growing up way too fast and I don't want to miss a moment with them!  Our weeks are so busy with school and our homeschooling group.  Last month, we started having "Family Days" with a few friends.  Once a month or so, we get our families together for a family outing.  It's nice to have time to do these things with our friends!

Now, that things are getting back in order and as we reestablish our routine and get back to our strict schedule, we will be finding more time to enjoy our own family!  As a large homeschooling family, following and sticking to a strict routine and schedule is the only way that we can sucessfully function!  We've had a lot of fun the past few months and surprisingly, not only have we stayed caught up on our school work, but we have also been able to start and organize a small life skills group with a few local homeschooling friends.

 I have had a few requests from some of my blogging friends for me to do a post on how we manage our days and how we do our workbox system.  I am currently updating our workbox system and will be working on that post very soon!  We have lots of exciting things to look forward to in our studies and I will do my best to share what we are learning!  Thank You for following us on our journey! 

~Mother Goose

Our Schedule

Many homeschoolers work on a strict schedule.  We don't stick to ours as we should, but we do work much better this way!  This is the schedule that works for us...sticking to it is a different story.  With the new year and re-organization...we are going back to our schedule.

Our Schedule

6:00am-7:00am                        Mom gets up, prepares for day & laundry

7:00am -7:30am                       Kids get up/get dressed/brush teeth

                                                Make bed

7:30am -8:00am                       Breakfast

8:00am -11:30am                     School time

11:30am-12:00pm                    Break/Free Time

12:00pm-12:30pm                    Lunch

12:30pm-1:30pm                      Chores

                                               

1:30pm-3:00pm                        (A) Little kids down for nap

                                                       Big kids School time
                                                 (B) Off to park, museum, YMCA, etc. if school work and chores are done

3:00pm-4:00pm                        Free time

4:00pm-5:00pm                        Prepare dinner

                                                Finish school work or Free time

5:00pm-6:00pm                        Dinner

                                                Clean up kitchen

                                                Tidy assigned areas & personal space  

6:00pm-7:00pm                        Family Time (games, park, etc)

7:00pm-8:00pm                        Little kids bedtime routine

                                                Big kids clean room/prepare for next day/free time

8:00pm-8:30pm                        Big kids bedtime routine

                                                Little kids quiet time

8:30pm-9:00pm                        Little kids bedtime

                                                Big kids quiet time (read, tv, etc.)

9:00pm                                     Big kids bedtime

9:00pm-12:00am                      Mom prepares for next day (laundry, cleaning, prepare

                                                 food, school work, etc.)

*On Mondays and Wednesdays we attend homeschool open gym from 12:30 until 2:30 and on Fridays we meet with a homeschool group from 10:00 - 12:00.