I'm busy coming up with a new schedule for these "last" six weeks of school. Then I'll make a new schedule up where they just do school work in the mornings for plenty of summer playtime- playing outside, swimming, crafting, etc. Then sometime around the middle to end of July we'll start our new school year. I am excited about Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace now that I've figured out that during the Tapestry weeks, we'll put aside the other things! Then during December and summer I can hit those other things hard. What a relief to give myself permission to stop trying to cover all subjects all year!
Here is the schedule we'll be following. Most of this is what we've already been doing but I was cramming a lot of other things in. One of the best parts is that I've fit rest time back into our days (including for me).
5 Mama up, exercise, COFFEE, shower, devotions, emails etc
7 kids up, get dressed, breakfast, do chores, practice piano (all by 8:30)
8 baby up, breakfast
8:30 family devotions and character training (right now-for the second time- we're reading Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by the Mally's) During this time Silas sits in his high chair, finishes his breakfast, and has his own character training as he learns to be QUIET. It's a challenge, for sure, but very important!
9 Kids do personal devotions (this is also when they review catechism) and I spend time with Silas reading him a Bible story and then playing with him
9:30 Tapestry reading and math time (Silas has floor play, Crib time, and watches a music dvd for 30 minutes each activity)
11 Snack
11:30 Finish up morning work, clean up, play outside
12:30 Lunch
1:00 Silas story, nurse, nap
1:30-4 I haven't completely figure this out yet, but the kids will be rotating between Constitution study, memory work playlist, Tapestry projects, basement play, and at some point, a one hour rest time for all of us. During that hour I will either read, do meal planning/grocery listing, knit, sleep, or anything else I may want to do in blessed QUIET.
4 Silas up, snack for everyone, "free" time (basement play, outside play, or using a ticket)
5:30 Supper prep (with a helper team of 2 that rotate as daily kitchen helpers)
6 Supper, family devotions
7 Silas to bed, read aloud time
From here, the kids go to bed between 7:30 and 8:45, based on their ages and I CRASH.
Looking at that schedule I feel like it's intense enough. How funny that we were doing most of that AND phonics, logic, science, grammar, writing, and spelling. What was I thinking? Burnout was inevitable. And so for the past several weeks I've been feeling incredibly burnt out but didn't know what the answer was. I think this schedule tweaking is going to help tremendously!