Schedules

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Time management is one area that greatly affects my ability to teach my children at home. I wrote in an earlier post about prioritizing. Once you have prioritized and weeded out activities, having a plan of action to carry things out is of great importance. One of the best ways to manage your time is, in my opinion, with a working schedule. I will readily admit that this is an area that needs continual work in my household.

Schedules must be revamped often. As the scripture above says, "for everything there is a season." There are different things that happen in our lives that will interrupt your plans and schedules and these call for adjustments. In our home we are going through a few of those "seasons." We have the season of an upcoming move and the season of morning sickness. Once your schedule is in place, try not to be so rigid that you cannot adjust for a change in season or a surprise storm or two.

A schedule is simply a written plan for ordering those things you deem as priorities into your day. You designate blocks of your time for specific activities. It helps you to find the time to accomplish the tasks you have before you. It can also relieve some of the stress of life because you have a plan. It is a way to direct your children to the next activity for the day without constantly being interrupted with questions about what to do next.

Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to how much structure to put into their day. I find that the larger my family becomes the more structure, the better. There is simply more to accomplish than before and I need to have a plan of attack.

I came across a great book that has been a tremendous help. What first caught my eye was the fact that the author was also a homeschooling mother of eight. She is someone who can relate to the sheer volume of things that pertain to a large family. I thought if this worked for her large family then I could implement some of her ideas and have them work for me, too! Her book would even be helpful for smaller families.

I ran into a friend who also used this book to organize her household. She is the mother of seven. She uses this plan and it enables her to manage her time wisely. When I received my book, I read if cover to cover in the first day. I was so excited! I pulled out the toolkit that came with it and began to put our schedule together. After three days of trying to make this schedule work, I called my friend crying. I simply could not fit everything into our day. Her words of advice reminded me that I could do all that the Lord desired me to do but I could not necessarily do everything that I desired to do! I needed to prioritize and cut out some things. I simply cannot do everything that a mother of two has time to accomplish. I have more children with many more levels of educational needs. After prayer and discussion with my husband, I cut and cut some more. At last I had a working schedule.

It takes time and effort to implement a schedule and get the family started. Once you have committed to it and worked at it for a while you will begin to fall naturally into a routine. You learn what takes longer and what is done more quickly. You simply adjust your schedule to fit your family. I found that I needed several schedules, almost one for everyday. Some days we had piano and other days we had to finish early for AWANA.

I do not currently have a written schedule. We have not used one this past year and I feel as if we have not accomplished nearly as much as we should have. After we are settled into our new home, a new schedule will appear and be implemented. My life is simply easier when we have one.

I suggest sticking as closely to your schedule as possible when you first start. This will help you to develop the habit of "running a tight ship." Once you have that, make more adjustments. You can determine then how strictly to follow your schedule. It will differ for all of us. My friend that I mentioned above follows hers to the "T." Her life is extremely structured and her family thrives under that structure! I am a bit more relaxed. As an example, I do not schedule my nursing babies and need some flexibility. The main idea here is to have a plan, a written plan. Not just to have a written plan but one that is actually workable!

Take some time and schedule your priorities and see how much more you will accomplish. Do you currently have a working schedule? Have you ever used this book? What have you found are the benefits of scheduling? Leave me a comment and let's have a discussion about it to encourage each other in our efforts!


Here is that wonderful book I mentioned.

It's written by Steve and Terri Maxwell.

I highly recommend this for those looking to manage their home in a more effective way. There is such great information and the toolkit is included. If you look on their website you will find testimonials, information on what else is included, and schedules from other moms.

MANAGERS OF THEIR HOMES




Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, "Ducks in a Row," she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.