Motherhood Mania: School Plans

I've been making mental lists (that SHOULD be put on paper) for school stuff to do or remember or whatever.

I want to finalize my schedule and lesson planning before the baby arrives. I do plan to take some teacher guides with me to the hospital, so I can read up on the first few lessons and get the idea for the flow of each lesson/subject. I have a rough plan for the first 10 or so days. I don't have everything listed on there, though, like journaling and calendar and days of the week. I just did the major subjects.

My sister forwarded a schedule to me that one of her friends (who homeschools and has 5 kids!) uses. It breaks everything down by 30 minute intervals. I loved it! She started from the time she awoke in the morning until the time she went to bed and included ALL things she needs to accomplish at home - school things, housework, baby stuff, dinner, and whatever else she thought of. I really liked that she included all the housework items. My fear was that I'd put off housework until late in the afternoon and then not get to it for days at a time. This woman planned it all out and fit in housework throughout the day, assigning certain tasks to each child based on their age. Granted, her oldest is much older than Iris and can sit and occupy her youngest, BUT Iris does well with certain cleaning tasks and clearing the table, so that would be something I would want to consistently assign to her ON PAPER, so we had a set schedule and everyone can know what's expected of them. This would help me, too, know exactly each item that I should accomplish each day, so that I'm not piling all the housework into one time period. I think having a set schedule will also allow for more spontaneity, since I will know ahead of time what's going to be done and if something fun or an emergency comes up, we can fit it in and know what will need to be moved around without much hassle.

I have probably said it before, but I'll say it again - I am so thankful for my desire to be organized. I think Arthur gets frustrated with me often because I'm so set to be on a schedule and stay organized, but God gave it to me for a reason and I think homeschooling is just that reason. I do not at all think I could school the girls if I did not have this extreme habit of organization - mentally and physically.

I have some more arranging of furniture/items, papers, and decluttering to do before we can officially begin school, but I know even with a new baby I can organize my thoughts and with God's help accomplish it all in time. Having a baby, I thought, was putting a damper on vacation plans for this summer - he'd be too young to go camping with. BUT, I'm seeing now that no vacation means more time at home to get everything ready so we can dive in full-speed for the school year. I have already started with calendar and days of the week regularly with Iris and Lily. Addy even said "Tuesday" this week while we were reviewing. :) So, if we can little by little incorporate repetitive things into our days, we will have no problem come September!