Perks of Homeschooling — Flexible Hours

One of the perks of homeschooling is flexible hours. When we were starting out, I asked one of my go-to homeschooling moms, Michelle, how I ought to fix our daily schedule. She gave me great advice — set a schedule and see how it works out for the next few weeks, then adjust accordingly.

I wanted a daily routine, or at least some semblance of it, and scheduled Danae’s homeschooling within the 2 hours that Noelle was at her school, 1030am-1230pm. King’s only rest day every week is Monday, so I chose to only do homeschool for 4 days a week, even though Noelle has classes 5 days a week. Within those 4 days, the schedule was to have at least 3 subjects per day, and each subject was done at least twice a week. As you know, many things happen in a span of a few months, and so we weren’t able to really stick with the schedule or with the work allotted per day. We already started the school year late, at the last week of June to be exact, because I really didn’t want to be harassed with all the preparations plus it was Noelle’s first time to go to pre-school. And with all the interruptions — the kids and I getting sick, church events, family trips — we also ended the first quarter a bit late.

But that’s the beauty of homeschooling — it’s FLEXIBLE.

I adjusted our schedule and I find that doing Math, English and Science daily (Tuesday to Friday, that is), and Filipino and Civics three times a week (Tuesday to Thursday) seems to be working much better for us. Friday afternoon is reserved for the SPARKS class where Danae gets to be in a classroom with other homeschoolers her age for some Music & Rhythm, Arts & Crafts, Reading, and Science Experiments. We are not able to finish within the two hours that Noelle is at school, but it’s also good because sometimes Noelle joins us after lunch and we do work on her workbook or her puzzles.

And now, we have already caught up. Even though we sometimes extend our homeschooling time, or re-schedule to another time or day, we are already done with 2nd quarter exams! She just needs to finish her science project, then we begin the 3rd quarter on Tuesday.

For a mom like me, flexible hours is so convenient. I don’t have to be pressured by time, since in the first place, I’m not at all an early riser. I do not use that as an excuse, however, to move our home school time to the afternoon. Having a routine, or like I said some semblance of it, would be pointless. There should be goals set daily. But it does take the pressure off to know that even if we start a little or a lot late, we can always adjust and still not miss anything. We can also adjust the amount of work Danae is able to do per day. We can stop when she’s tired or needs an attitude adjustment (haha) or when I need an attitude adjustment (double haha), and she can do more work if she chooses to. We can miss a day or a few days of homeschooling, but we are still able to complete the lessons and the work.

We’ve already hit the half mark of our very first homeschool year and I think we’re doing pretty good. It hasn’t been perfect but I’m convinced that this year isn’t the only year I’m homeschooling. 🙂

*SPARKS stands for Shepherding, Promoting And Realizing Kids’ Skills

* click here to know why we chose to homeschool Danae and here to know why Noelle is in regular school.