Blocking Your Time To Get The Most Out Of Your Day! Pt. 2

    I thought I would let you in on my day. I am always tweeking my day because life happens, but if I have a goal, I have hope. I actually have 3 different block times. One for me, one for homeschooled children and one for my preschooler. We all have different responsibilities and different amounts of free-time. I am going to concentrate on my preschooler but you will see that all of our lives, obviously, intermingle.

   

Jack's Block Time

7:30-8:30     ~ Wakes up, Eats, Brushes Teeth

8:30-8:45     ~  Family Devotions

8:45-9:15     ~ **Watches PBS or LeapFrog while I get others started on school

9:15-10:30   ~ Activity Bags and Lesson (We are using Sing, Spell, Read & Write)

                      (Check out Busy Bag Ideas and What Jack Did Today)

10:30-11:30 ~  ***Breaks with Brothers and Sisters ~ Snack, Play and Read

11:30-12:00 ~ P.E.

12:00-1:00   ~ Lunch

1:00-2:00     ~ Quiet Time (He doesn't take naps anymore, but you could insert a nap right about here) He has quiet time activities, a library bag of books, any quiet activity.

2:00-3:00     ~ Outside Time or Rainy Day Time (It is my experience, the more run around time I give my preschooler, the happier he is. On rainy days we will play wii, jump on an exercise trampoline or build a fort.)

3:00-3:30     ~ Snack

3:30-5:30     ~ Chore Time/Errand Running Time or watches a library movie

5:30-7:00     ~ He helps pick-up before Dad comes home and we eat Dinner

7:00-8:00     ~ Bath Time and Brushes Teeth

8:00-9:00     ~ Winds Down, Read Bedtime Story and *Go To Bed

  * He may have a later bedtime than most preschoolers, but he shares a room with an older brother and this seems to work out best for our family. 

  ** Most days, I like to keep his TV time no more than 2 hours in a day, but if I am working on a project (changing seasonal clothes or deep cleaning) I will prop him in front of a good, long movie. 

  *** I have other children at home and ask them to help keep him occupied while I help others with Math, Reading, Spelling, whatever it is for the day. 

   Well, this is my day. Like I said, it's a routine I like to stick to, but I am living this life with bumps and curves and try to be ready for anything.

Let The Older Teach The Younger

As a homeschool mom, one of my biggest frustrations, is how to keep my preschooler busy and out of trouble, while I am teaching my other children. His school just doesn't last as long as my older children. I use our busy bags, I read him stories, I go over his lessons, he builds with legos, he races his cars and only an hour to an hour and a half has gone by. I am not a big fan of TV babysitting, but some days, I wouldn't mind. One day I came up with an idea, if I block our time, I can also include time where the older children play with Jack during our school day. You know what, It Worked! They get a little break from schoolwork and Jack is entertained and not getting into trouble. Just 20 minutes from each child and that is an hour where Jack is being entertained and I can help the other kids with their questions or even go clean or sweep something real quick. I can do this at several points during the day and they can play with their little brother. I will post more about our daily schedule and block times later.

Blocking Your Time To Get The Most Out Of Your Day!

  School is starting soon and your life is about to get busy again. The best way to make the most of your day is to block your time. I used to work outside the home and I always thought I got much more done when I worked, then I do now. I knew I was going to be out of the house a certain number of hours and sleeping a certain number of hours and had a house to run the other few hours. Since I am home, now I can always do it later; dishes, later; laundry, later; I will just do it later. Later comes and goes and I didn't get done what I wanted to.
  I needed to block my time. The first thing you need to do is write the To-Do-List. You can write it for the day or the week. Determine how much time it will take to get that task done. After you have your list made of things you want to get done, prioritize. What do you really want to get done first? Does the dog need a bath? Does the clutter drawer need to be cleaned out? Is it time to change out this seasons clothes? For the homeschool mom, block the time it takes for each subject, the chores you want to see done and any sports or meetings that you need to attend. For preschoolers, block their time for activities, nap, stories and outside time. If you write it down and post it where you see it, there is a better chance that you will get it done. What doesn't get done the first day, gets carried over to the next. There are only 24 hours in a day and we need to make the most of it. The HomeSchoolMom has a series of free planners you can use for homeschool, menu planning, chores and to-do lists. Help yourself and get organized!