There's Flexibility in the Schedule!!

I'm glad I started out with a fairly specific/strict schedule and expectations, as it's always easier to loosen than it is to tighten. But, the reality is this is HOMESCHOOL, and the kids' friends are doing less less than we are during "At Home Learning" (as they continually remind me, thinking they're the only one with "homeschool"), so I shouldn't be so super strict!  One of my biggest goals and objectives with all this is that they learn time- and self-management, expand their CREATIVITY, and get to explore their own interests, while learning at the same time!

Because shouldn't this really be what education is about? I understand within the confines of Public school, and given the # of kids who attend this isn't feasible. But...how I wish it could be more! 

Here's an example of how flexibility played out today:

Tuesdays is the day I've attended Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for the last several years. Luckily our BSF has migrated to "virtual" meetings via zoom, and we still have them on Tuesday mornings @ 9:30. Unfortunately, this is not the most convenient time for our school schedule, as I'm usually meeting with the boys around that time to review the schedule of the day, following our Bible & Breakfast video  and prayer. But, this is important to me, so I let them know that I'll be unavailable to help for 40 min each Tuesday from 9:30-10:15.

• Initially I planned on us starting school by 9, but my teenager and tween aren't usually awake, and it's hard to wake them up when I want to make sure they're getting enough sleep. So our youngest (age 8) is almost always the first one awake. He actually thinks it's pretty cool to start school before his brothers so he can finish before them (probably because he has first dibs on a video game). 

Today (Tuesday), I made sure my eight-year-old had several tasks to work on during my online Bible study so that he would be self-sufficient (hopefully). He can easily do Reading and Math on his own, so he worked on both of those during this time since these are the first two scheduled subjects, and he is my "RULE FOLLOWER". I also put him in charge of telling his brother to get started on his work when he woke, which he thought was pretty cool. Math is supposed to be the first subject of the day, followed by reading, but this week I'm allowing my twelve-year-old to have more freedom (like his older brother) for planning his own day and week as long as he is getting his tasks complete.  

When I finished Bible Study I came inside to see both of them working diligently. Carson was watching "Phantom of the Opera" on his iPad, which was apparently an assignment for music.  I LOVE that this flexibility shows me their true interests in what they want to do, and pick to do when given a choice. Marin wants Science, specifically learning about animals, and dreads Social Studies. Carson is attracted to anything related to music music. Last week he asked me if he could use the entire day for Band (a subject he isn't even planning to continue in junior high), and came up with a fabulous project.

Since I love music, it warms my heart to see he does too! I love the music of Phantom of the Opera, but it's been many years since I had watched it, and I did not remember the story. So I brought out my Andrew Lloyd Weber Anthology and Carson & I sang along to the songs. Then I asked him to tell me the entire story which he did. He would get so excited when telling me that he was stuttering, so I asked him to use his fluency strategies, and counted this time for speech practice also. 

Carson then moved on to illustrating his Publishing company book of poems that is due this week. We didn't get to a lot of Science or Math today, but that's OK. I'm learning to be flexible, and that it's perfectly fine to do more of one subject on one day, as long as we have balance in the week. And most of all, I love watching my kids work on what interests them most, so FLEXIBILITY in the schedule is a gift I can provide during this crazy time for all!