It's been a month and a half and we're finally back on track, completely. Woo-hoo!
After Ronan was born, I had it set in my mind that the first month would be just completely going with the flow, not setting up any expectations or routines, and see how our natural daily "family rhythm" pans out.
Well pan out it did.
How we adjusted...
The first month:
Complete baby-adjusting
No daily schedule to stick by (expect approximate meal times of course!)
Very spontaneous (Hey! Let's go on the swings now while baby Ronan is sleeping!)
Very flowy
Feel out the natural daily family rhythm
Read books - no specific time really, just when we could...usually when Ronan fell asleep
Then, after about a solid month, each week I slowly began, one-by-one, adding one thing back into our routine.
First it was storytime (after lunch, before naps).
The next week it was adding Morning Time into the routine again. We gather for morning prayer, sing the hymn we're learning, and then move into the homeschool room for Morning Time. That typically involves them working on some kind of project (Joey likes Sticker Mosaics from AC Moore) and John-Paul usually just colors or plays quietly (getting lost in his imagination of course!). Teresa...she's in and out of the room with us! While they are busying their hands, we recite the poem they're memorizing, Scripture verse, then I'll read a Bible story which they'll retell in their own words/draw (we just go by the Mother of Divine Grace syllabus for that), and finally I'll end with a read aloud typically from the Book of Virtues. Then I'll "loop" something extra in there depending on how things go. So last week we observed our butterly, read a story about the Monarch butterfly and Joey drew a caterpillar in his nature journal.
Mission accomplished: moth captured.
Yesterday, we went on a nature walk and the kids picked up all kinds of stuff to put in their nature jar. Later this week, we'll try to identify one of the leaves from our "field guide to trees" then draw/label it in our nature journal. I also checked out a book at the library called "As an Oak Tree Grows" which we just read.
The whole gang at Morning Time
Going to parks in this gorgeous fall-ish weather is aaammaaazzzinnngggg!
"I found....a piece of mulch."
Ah, I LOVE when I get smiles out of Ronan!
After we had a couple weeks of adding storytime and Morning Time back into our daily routine, we began Joey's homeschooling. I have decided that instead of pushing the entire K year on him at age 5, I'm going to spread it out over a two-year period for him (although after a couple weeks, at this rate, he might just finish K this year...which is fine, but I'm not pushing it. It's easy to be flexible and do more fun things when they're all this young, as other experienced moms tell me).
We do school four days a week and all the work for a day takes about an hour. However, I moved the Bible lesson, reading, science (aka just be out in nature and appreciate it) and poetry to other parts of the day (like Morning Time). So he's really only sitting and doing "school time" for about a half hour in the afternoon with me while the other kids are napping. Then when he's done, he goes into rest time too and either he'll fall asleep, look at books, color, or some other quiet and restful activity, (And then I get a break to refresh myself too!)
Art appreciation
I am loving this curriculum thus far because the main emphasis of this classical curriculum (Mother of Divine Grace) is teaching the tools of how to learn, how to critically think, how to be perceptive and observant, and how to communicate effectively. This is so opposite of the mindset I grew up with and experienced straight up through my teaching certification in college which was about meeting requirements A,B, and C and putting pressure on the child or teacher to meet state standards and testing. We'll take it year by year; I know it's a very real possibility that I may have to substitute a part of the curriculum or switch all together. I also know that year by year we'll discern God's Will about what's best for our children...which could also involved sending them to a school depending on life's circumstances and their unique, individual needs. I'd love to homeschool them all the way through high school, but God's Will be done - not mine. That might be His Will, but it might not be at some point for one, some or all of our children. Year by year... We'll see - it's in God's hands!
Being flowy
While I used to think I was a definite type-A, super-organized personality, I've realized there are parts of me willing to bend and break for the sake of practicality, ease, and the good of our family. Thank You Lord!
Rather than have a super structured schedule (like 5 years earlier I would have thought I would have), it's more like a "flow." A daily routine. If I said that by 8:30am we HAVE to pray together and move into Morning Time, I think I'd spend a lot of time nagging and rallying the kids. That is the time I shoot for to officially "start" our day, but it really depends on how things are going in the morning thus far. Sometimes we'll start a little earlier if everyone's ready, sometimes not until 9am because I'm taking care of some last-minute things or because I want to give the kids some extra play time. So we have a routine, but not a strict schedule. This works for us at this point!
7am - Kids typically wake up (I'm up long before they are! If I'm not ready by 7am, it more often than not pushes everything in our day back); they eat, get dressed and Joey takes care of his morning chores.
8:30am - The hand bell rings to gather for our morning prayer in our prayer room. Then we move to Morning Time in the homeschool room.
9:30/10ish - Free time to play
11:30/12ish - Lunch
12noon - Angelus
12/12:30ish - Storytime
1pm - Rest time/Joey's school time. When he's finished, it's his rest time
3:30/4ish - Time to get dinner ready
6pm - Angelus
7/7:30pm - Get ready for bed
8/8:30ishpm - Bedtime/night prayer
So in a flowy way, you'd see this as: Wake up/morning routine --> Morning prayer and Morning Time --> Free time/play ---> Lunch/Angelus ---> Storytime --> Rest time/school --> Dinner/Angelus ---> Free time ---> Bedtime/night prayer
Each week, their grandparents usually take the 3 oldest to sleep over one day and another day we'll do an outting or playdate, so we'll adjust accordingly when those plans are made.
This has been working for our family situation right now and it's been great; this will change as family life changes, I'm sure. But it sure feels great to have a nice daily routine again! Some days are nice and smooth, others are more chaotic. I might be instructing Joey while nursing Ronan; I might be breaking up a little tiff between John-Paul and Teresa in morning time; I might be having to correct one of the boys' abrupt behavior of pushing Teresa off of the chair because "she's in my seat." I might have to stop to teach someone to share. I might have to pause Morning Time to get Ronan up from his nap because I hear him crying. I might have to clean up a child who decided to make mud soup. I might have to get the cleaning supplies because someone (not mentioning any names here, but maybe you can take a guess) peed in their closet...on purpose...because he and his brother thought it'd be funny. And due to the fact that there were a couple other big 'no-no' messes made that day, I had them clean it up; then they dusted the house and ran the vacuum. To end, they drew a picture of a clean house, and I showed them how to write "I will keep my house clean". ...And I haven't had those same behavior problems since....guess no one likes housework...
Stop, go. Stop, go. Stop, correct...let go of my original plans and adjust to the situation God is willing right now.
Yes, I must be flowy, otherwise I will resort to yelling or throwing a child (not literally...or literally?) in their room. But I am learning to see God more and more in every situation - good and bad. I am learning that whatever circumstance comes up - sibling fighting, delayed start-of-the-day, tiredness, messiness - I must be conscious of the fact that God has willed that situation for my sanctification and the sanctification of my children. It has made me more mindful of how I should respond: with patience and true charity...
It's hard. I'm under construction. But I'm willing to be molded. :)
God bless!
"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
- Joshua 24:15