Answering some questions about our morning schedule

My good friend Katie said:

What time do the kiddies head off for the bus. It’s always been between 7:30 and 8:00 to get the kids out the door around here (and this year it’s about 7:15 for the oldest), so I can’t even IMAGINE getting up early enough to do all you do. We have a morning devotional, get dressed, make a good breakfast, etc. but it makes me tired to even think of adding instrument practice and steward ships done as well. My kids are slow-goers and need a lot of time to do what they have to do or there are melt downs. One of my friends has a similar routine to yours and they have to get up at 5:00 to get it all done. Yikes! You are amazing!

I have one child that has to catch the bus in the morning, we leave the house at 8:30 and while the older kids are watching the little kids I walk her to the bus stop. My homeschooled kids don’t start school until 9:30, so there is plenty of time to get our stuff done in the morning. If I had to have the kids out by 7:00 the schedule would adjust! My 2nd grader and Kindergartner get home at 4:00, so free time in the afternoon is limited, considering dinner is at 6:00.

One of my favoritest blogging buddies Erika said:

That’s cute. We have a different way we do it but same concept but I like the neatness of the way you put it together. And stewardship sounds much better than chores! I think our chore wheel will be called the stewardship wheel from now on. And a FHE on stewardship would be a good way to kick it off.We love starting the day eating bfast together and reading the scriptures it starts the day off so well doesn’t it?

I have to agree, the feeling in our home is so different from what it was before.

Lisa said:

i can’t believe you call those stewardships!! we called them that growing up and now i call them that to my own kids! can you give me an example of what their stewardships consist of in the morning? what about for those that go to school? is the schedule the same? and do they have chores in the afternoon too? maybe you’ll be doing an afternoon schedule for us too? i could so relate to you in how you used to send your girls to school. i’m doing better this year but wow did i feel guilty most days last year!

Here is the list of stewardships:
Hall & Entryway
Bathroom
Tom’s Room
Living Room
Bedroom

Very simple. This list doesn’t include the evening stewardships, the dishes are included in those. I will be posting and evening schedule tomorrow, as for the afternoon between 4:00 and 5:45ish is free time. I think that the kids need time to decompress after school and just have free play. At 4:00 when the kids get home from public school there is a small snack then they are sent outside to play. As for the morning schedule for my 2nd graders, it is pretty much the same, excepting at 8:30 she is out the door on her way to school.

I hope this helps a little. I know that if we all prayerfully seek help in the managment of our homes the Lord will direct us.

My morning schedule has evolved over the last few years. It all started because I didn’t like how I was sending my two oldest daughters off to school. My days would start with me rolling out of bed with just enough time to get the girls out the door to the bus and it would go something like this:

“Get up!”

“Hurry, eat” (sugary cereal)

“Hurry, Hurry”

“You need to pick up your room”

“Get dressed, hustle up!”

“Your room isn’t done yet!? HURRY!”

“Brush your teeth, you are going to miss your bus.”

“Argh,, find your gloves, Hurry up.”

“Bye (kiss) run you are going to miss your bus!”

Shutting door, the house is a mess I am all flustered and I feel huge amounts of guilt for sending my girls off for the day in a rushed, contentious huff. This is not how things should be.

So I decided that I would get up a little earlier and at least make something nutritious for breakfast. So I did, and it was nice, but we were still very rushed and thing were not as they should be.

Thinking it over I decided that we really needed to add in family prayer, with Dad. That involved getting up even earlier, but I was determined to do it, and I did. Now we were all getting up at 6:30 eating a good breakfast together, the whole family and praying together. Then it occurred to me that while the kids hands and mouths were busy we could quickly do a little scripture reading. So it evolved into a morning tradition that we have all come to love.

This worked for a while, but after breakfast was finished it was still a mad dash for the door, the kids trying to get piano practiced, rooms cleaned and dressed in time. They were bickering over who got the piano first and who needed to clean what. While the morning had gotten better and I felt we were off to a great start I knew we could do so much better. I had read on other blogs about ladies that had schedules for their days and initially I had balked at the idea, but the more I thought about it the more I came to believe that a morning schedule would be the answer to my problem.

I sat down and I figured out a schedule that would work for us, and it did, really well. I think the kids do better when they know what is expected and at what times. By no means does it solve all the bickering and there are some days that we are very behind, but it gives us structure and guidance.

Here is a picture of our current morning schedule.

This is posted on the refrigerator for everyone to see. Here is a close up of one of the kids morning schedule. There is plenty of time for her to get her chores done and this particular child has learned that if she really hurries she will have extra time to play, she also like to be sneaky and clean her room before she come up for breakfast.