Schedule Planning Update

Did you use my schedule program last year? Did you use it again this year?  If you did, were you amazed at how much easier it was to create your schedule this time? I know the whole thing seems complicated at first, but each year it gets so much easier to do. There is a learning curve, but fortunately, we get the opportunity to hone our skills for many years in a row. <wink>

I’m no different than all of you, I still have to go back through my notes to remind myself what steps to take. But last month I prepared our schedule for the third year in a row, and I couldn’t believe how fast I completed it! I even have one child who will move up a form this year, so I have children in three different forms again, but still, I got it all planned out so easily.

One thing that made it easier this year, was that I didn’t have so many mental stumbling blocks. I am past the agony that used to come with cutting things out. Things fit or they don’t. If I want one thing to fit, something else may need to go. And that is not just in relation to subjects, but even extra activities.

I also no longer try to keep my youngest up with her sister. They have different requirements, and that is that. Just because my youngest “can”, doesn’t mean she “should”.  I guess you can say that I’ve honed my priorities, and upped my commitment to sticking to Charlotte Mason’s plan. That makes schedule planning a lot more black and white.

Another thing I wanted to mention, is that last year (my second year with a well thought out plan,) I hardly made any changes throughout the whole year. That is a first. In the past I have changed it up almost monthly, but not this year. Things worked. I can’t say that will always be the case, but I am confident I will never need to go back to changing my schedule monthly.

One reason why I think this is the case, is because once I go through the process of picking what will be in the schedule and what won’t be, I don’t look back. My blank schedule is finished, and then I just have to add books. Sometimes, I want to add a book midyear that doesn’t have a “place” in my schedule – say an architecture book, or a poet biography. In that case I have to “steal” time from somewhere else in the schedule. (I typically steal time from a different place each week.) If it’s important to me that we read it, it has to take a spot on the schedule, which means something else needs to take a back-seat that week. It doesn’t get tacked on to the top of everything else, extending our school day.

My children have respond well to the routine that has been established. They know the rhythm of our day. They know what subject follows another. They know when they have an opportunity (or will be forced, depending on their perspective,) to do independent work. They know when they do a hard subject, there will be something lighter to follow. They trust the rhythm I have established, and that benefits the atmosphere.

So, tell me how it has gone for you. A lot of you joined me last year in creating a schedule that would suit your family. Did it help? What will you do different this year? Were there some things that you didn’t let go of which you should have? Have you already created your next schedule, and found it a much easier process this time around? I’d love to hear your feedback, and maybe you will encourage someone else who hasn’t tried it yet.

Related:
Preparing a CM Schedule