Hi Friends,
Many of you are in scheduling mode right now and asking for help, so here is our routine/schedule for the upcoming school year using AO Years 0, 2, 3, 12. (Mater Amabilis years Prep, 1B and Year 2 of 1A)
Page one is the schedule, which I based on my combined experiences at Basic Combat Training in the US Army and with Carmelite monastic life, because I'm crazy like that... and it works. True story.
Page two is the gritty details... what exactly we are up to.
As before, we have three formations (we call them consilium)-- one in the morning, one after naps, and one in the evening. I'm toying with the idea of having afternoons be poetry AND music and opening up the evenings more because we always have company at night... we shall see as we go along.
I'm schooling three elementary children, tutoring one high school senior, and entertaining a toddler, and "academics" go til noon. Haven't used this much yet (although it's close to what we did last year) so it may need some tweaking, but this is the general plan. I'll keep you posted as far as how it seems to be working.
A couple notes:
I don't combine years. Each kid gets cycled through time with me, youngest to oldest. Kids can get up whatever time they want and join me in that morning routine as long it's AFTER 6:30 and BY 7:30. Obviously, there are days where.... yeah. It's not happening. That's why we school year roundish (we break for advent, lent, and a month in the summer but usually keep "schooling" lightly because CMing is a life.
We don't snack. Meals are an event around here. They take a while, and since we cook from scratch, they require prep. Also, we ALL nap. If you're not sleeping, you are having a "quiet time." That's when freereads goes down.
Wednesday nights we do a book study/bible study or prayer group in the community so that is pretty open. Workbaskets are just random tups full of whatever handicrafts the kids are into at the time (Sewing, knitting, spinning, woodworking, whatever)
The "phases" are what they do to make soldiers in BCT, and I use it in the same way-- as a guideline to help me know how to provide the right environment/ oversight to each kid. Kids are cycled through as needed.
In keeping with "Education is a discipline, atmosphere, and life" we aren't going to do much breaking from good habits this year to see if that helps with the Mondays. ;) As before our observation of the Hebrew Catholic liturgical year makes for a good mix of ordinary and holy moments throughout the week.
Hydration just means I make sure they drink some water.... and I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory.
Don't be put off by the military mindset.... our days feel relaxed and it plays out as naturally as breathing.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments!
Good luck, I'm praying for you in your planning!
