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SuzanneG
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| Posted: April 27 2010 at 10:23am | IP Logged
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Last year, I remember trying to get ical to "display" like Christine's. I don't think I could do it, but I'm a bit fuzzy, now.
I think that's why I created a word doc Word doc where you can see EVERYONE across the board, but used ical for specific days???? Is there a way to get ical to "do that?"
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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MarilynW
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Christine - we are big MOTH schedulers in our home too. Whilst I use it more as a guide (ie not down to the hour and minute) it is indispensable to me - to know how to spread myself out amongst everyone - and also to make sure that we can share out the computer and piano, make sure there is no noise when it is quiet work, make sure everyone has their individual work schedule etc. I actually have to have a different schedule for each day of the week - though our morning schedule remains more or less the same. It is also different for seasons.
You are the only person I know apart from me who color codes their MOTH on a computer schedule!! On mine - each child has their favorite color! When I first started doing it about 6 years ago - I used post its and had a big chart on my wall. But then I quickly switched to Word as it is so easy to change and adapt. You managed to fit 9 across well too - it took me a while to get 6 children and my husband and I too (I include my husband as he does the sports, science and foreign language)
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Marilyn
Blessed with 6 gifts from God
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Angel
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| Posted: April 27 2010 at 2:52pm | IP Logged
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MarilynW wrote:
You are the only person I know apart from me who color codes their MOTH on a computer schedule!! On mine - each child has their favorite color! |
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I am nowhere near as organized as you all, but I have to admit to making color-coded MOTH type schedules, too. And, um, sort of having fun doing it.  
I sometimes also use color to indicate particularly critical times of day, too, though. I made up a soccer season schedule a while back which had our home prep time (making dinner for the cooler, doing evening chores early, getting little people up from naps and ready to go) in BRIGHT RED because I was terrified of forgetting when I needed to start getting everyone ready. I have to admit, it did work and helped me not to spend the entire season with my stomach tied in knots.
You know, the other thing that's funny about MOTH.... I like to look at the schedules in the back, too, but I started out when I had a lot fewer kids. I would look for the ones with the fewest and youngest kids. Then as I added more kids, I would skip the schedules I had looked at before and look at the schedules with a few more kids. Now I'm skipping through and thinking, oh my, I think the most kids anyone has to schedule is 8!
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Angela
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Three Plus Two
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Becky Parker
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I read MOTH 8 years ago when we first started homeschooling. Maybe I should pull it back out! I remember it helped me with the initial planning of our day. It seemed a bit rigid in some regards, and I only had 2 kids at the time. Reading it now, with 5 kids, will probably be a different experience. I too color code schedules. I find it visually appealing, but also, it's easier for me to check specific items at a glance.
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Becky
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hylabrook1
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MOTH also seems rigid to me, if you take it all in and try to do it exactly as suggested by the authors. But it is very helpful if you take the ideas that make sense to you and adapt them. Something I really like about the book is the suggestion that you make stickies of the various components of your day, and then try them and re-arrange them if a different ordering seems to fit better with your needs. Such a clever way to tweak without needing to tear up lots of written schedules in frustration!
Peace,
Nancy
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Sarah
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As I look ahead at a whole new season here for us, I am trying to make our day divided unto four blocks rather than times. Morning, lunch (long), afternoon, evening. Each block is about 2 to 3 hours.
I am trying to make sure I am not planning something stressful in more than two blocks a day. For example, if we are deep cleaning and have baseball in the evening, that's two block occupied in a stressful activity so I would not add anything but simple stuff to maintain the home or child centered time at home to the other blocks. We would read, sip lemonade, etc in the other two blocks. I wouldn't allow a teen to pull me out of the house that day driving all afternoon and that sort of thing. He would already have an activity in baseball and thus would have to be content.
These are the things I am pondering as I look ahead at a baseball season with kids on 3 teams and a new baby on the way.
I'm going to pencil in some ideas and make my days as simple as possible.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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Christine
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| Posted: April 28 2010 at 9:43am | IP Logged
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Sarah wrote:
As I look ahead at a whole new season here for us, I am trying to make our day divided unto four blocks rather than times. Morning, lunch (long), afternoon, evening. Each block is about 2 to 3 hours.
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I tried to loosely base our chores around four blocks of time (Morning, Afternoon, Before Dinner, Evening).
Your comments reminded me of Andrea Chen's Avilian Homeschooling Routine which she shared on Ora et Labora years ago. Andrea based it on the ordering of events in religious life. It was the first "schedule" that we ever used and it worked well. Although the schedule that I shared was done in MOTH format, I think that some of the aspects of the Avilian schedule crept into it.
Below is how Andrea summed up the tables that she shared:
-wake, prayer (Mass), breakfast
-3 hours work related to one’s vocation in life
-1 hour Examination of conscience, lunch, recreation
-2 hours work related to one’s vocation in life (lighter then in the morning)
-Rest Time
-30min-60 min Read aloud
-30 min work related to one’s vocation in life (household chores/cooking)
-rosary
-supper
-1 hour recreation
-30-60 minutes light work & study related to one’s vocation in life
-silence (quite time or bedtime for children)
-personal time (at least an hour of unstructured time)
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
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Mackfam
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| Posted: April 29 2010 at 7:28pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
Last year, I remember trying to get ical to "display" like Christine's. I don't think I could do it, but I'm a bit fuzzy, now.
I think that's why I created a word doc Word doc where you can see EVERYONE across the board, but used ical for specific days???? Is there a way to get ical to "do that?" |
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No. 
Like you, if I build something like Christine's amazing plan, I do it in pages or Word.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Angie Mc
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Reading this whole topic will be a reward for me this weekend. I look forward to being inspired! Before checking my plan out, I feel compelled to point out that my youngest is almost 5. You moms with sweet littles, please only take from this what will allow you to enjoy this special little time - and completely ignore the rest  !
Here's my current approach to time management:
1. Analyze, Strategize, Attack (ASA)
I wrote about it here and it still works for us. I keep my to-do list, priorities, and calendar on Outlook.
2. Daily Pegs By the Clock
6:00 wake and do morning routine (mainly prayer and personal care)
7:30 work with 14yo on writing
9:00 eat like a royal family, pray, discuss.
11:00 family read aloud
1:00 eat like commoners and watch educational DVD
5:00 eat like paupers
10:00 lights out (with an adjusted bedtime because of baseball season)
3. Once a Week Duties Assigned to Day
Monday - Home Education Notebook Plan
Wednesday - Food Shop
Friday - Clean House
Saturday - Feast
Sunday - Family Meeting
4. Themes
Daily:
Morning = Home Education and Expertice
Afternoon = Home and Personal Care/Nap
Evening = Family Activities
Weekly:
M-W Home Education and Expertice
Th - Personal Care and Independent Work
F - Home Care and Outing/Visiting
S - Flexible and prepare for sundown
S - Rest
5. Exceptions
I make sure to have spaciousness within most days. Discipline During Exceptions shares more. (I no longer have my bead counter up, but I do mentally keep track and have developed the habit of communicating better with my family.)
Other Helps
Place highest priorities on pegs...stack them!
Single-task by time (within certain hours/days) and space (by room)
Keep track of the unexpected and out of the ordinary. Know my limit and communicate when a day is going wild.
When we get off track, get back on *at this moment.* Avoid dragging undone tasks into the present.
Trust the past to Divine Mercy and the future to Divine Providence.
Say "no" to activities that will over-tax, no matter how fabulous the opportunity.
Time activities. Time everything from how long it takes to brush teeth to how long it takes to do the weekly cleaning. Write times down and plan accordingly and/or try to beat your best time. This is to avoid the "It will only take a minute to move the laundry" trap.
Have a daily plan to keep my space in order. An unorderly space is a time-waster.
Group daily activities that can be rotated when needed, such as for Home Education we rotate history, art, music, science, - pretty much everything other than reading, writing, and math.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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hylabrook1
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Angie - you've shared a wealth of helpful ideas! It's kind of the foundation of thinking about particular daily schedules. Exactly what I need as I enter the planning mode for the summer and next school year. Definitely planning on spending some time reading the things you've linked.
Peace,
Nancy
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Angie Mc
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| Posted: May 01 2010 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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Mimip wrote:
I prayed and talked to my husband and we made a list of priorities and goals and every time I plan my day or week its with those things in mind. ... Using my planner in a concrete way when I am planning out my days. ...So I am going to plan to not plan
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That's me! For me, it's too discouraging to have detailed plans...for them to, in the end, be ignored or ditched. It's important for me to have order, but not detailed plans. Which differs from lists of daily duties...
Sarah wrote:
I have named each day with some purpose. I may still need to change this around as I'm not sure I have it just right. ...
Now, under the umbrella of these days I am trying to make lists for each child and their needs. And I hope to really study these needs and BE PRESENT and ATTENTIVE to these needs, ... |
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Great stuff! I, too, give "names" or themes to days, parts of days, etc. I like to be able to say, "This is time for home care. If we aren't taking care of our home, we're wrong." Blunt, but true! When we all know the theme, the details tend to work themselves out via habit formation and LISTS! I think I need to add LISTS to my previous post...
SeaStar wrote:
| Once I got into that habit, I started to think about *how* I would clean the bathrooms... doing it the same way each time would make it quicker and, also, a no brainer. I know it sounds lame, but I actually sat down and thought about a "bathroom cleaning plan", trying to figure out the quickest way to clean them. |
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Melinda, this isn't lame at all! I have lists for ev*er*y*thing! I'll out-lame you...I have a personal care before bedtime list for myself:
Get PJs 3 mins.
Change 2 mins.
Wash Face 2 mins.
Prep Face 3 mins.
Brush Teeth 3 mins.
Vitamins and Mouthguard 1.5 mins.
Hair 1.5 mins.
Foot care 2 mins.
Clean up 2 mins.
Back Stretch 4 mins.
Bed Prep 2 mins.
Total: 26 minutes!
There are several benefits to me for these types of reminder notes. They are realistic. I can't say, "It will only take 2 minutes to get ready for bed." I can get into a quick routine and try to shave off time (can you tell I hang around with competitive boys? ) and I DON'T NEED TO REMEMBER THE DETAILS! A quick glance at any of my kazillion lists, keeps me honest and on track.
Can't wait to read more posts, but for now, I'm off to a baseball game. Hope you all are having a great weekend.
Love,
__________________
Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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JuliaT
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I have been pondering this thread since it's beginning. I have tried many ways to manage my time, do household chores, etc. and I have not been successful at all. I have tried flylady,as well as cleaning one room each day and cleaning the entire house in one day but nothing has helped.
After reading Melinda's post, I am wondering if giving each day a chore would help. I am already doing laundry on Mon. and baking on Wed. so I thought I could wash floors on Mon. as well, heavy cleaning of bathrooms and laundry room(I clean toilets daily) on Tues. dusting and vacuuming on Thurs. etc. I am wondering if this would be more helpful as I would get the equipment out for that one day and go through the whole house. Also, if I could get back into the habit of doing a quick tidy at the end of the day, this would help a great deal as well.
As I am writing this out, I don't know if this will work but I am at the point where I just need to do it and stop planning it all out. My problem isn't so much the planning (I'm really good at that), it's the doing.
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Blessings,
Julia
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JennGM
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JuliaT wrote:
| As I am writing this out, I don't know if this will work but I am at the point where I just need to do it and stop planning it all out. My problem isn't so much the planning (I'm really good at that), it's the doing. |
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Amen to that, Julia. My biggest problem, too.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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CrunchyMom
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Yk, looking at other people's schedules, I am way jealous of those who only need 8 hours of sleep. I don't know if it is because I've never really been in good shape or what, but if I go to bed when I'm tired and wake up naturally, I will sleep 9.5 hours every time. That is harder to gauge with a nursing baby in bed and pregnancy for the past 6 years, but still, I seem to need that much sleep.
I just flounder between listening to my body and just realizing that I have 90 minutes less time in the evening or early morning because I need my sleep OR declaring myself indulgent and forcing myself to get up after 8 hours sleep. Even when I was a young child, my parents said that at 8:30 on the nose I would announce that I was sleepy and going to bed. But by golly, there is part of me that SCREAMS it is not fair that I should have to go to be before my kids in order to get up before them and either sacrifice those sacred morning hours which are so quiet and productive or those nice evening chatting with dh or watching a movie with him, yk?
So, do I really NEED that much sleep, or is it just habit? How does that work? Not that I always get that much sleep! I just mean in terms of planning my ideal routine.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SuzanneG
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Lindsay~
Everyone has different sleep needs. If I'm not getting enough sleep, I start to get sick. Does this happen to you? Can you try "only 8 hours" as an experiment, and see if you start to get sick or feel run down?
No matter how much sleep I get, I never want to get out of bed, and I always start losing steam right after lunch....I don't think that has anything to do with not getting enough sleep. That's just normal. And, I never wake up by myself, I have to set the alarm. Also normal.
The key for me, is when I start to feel run-down and getting flu-like symptoms....then I immediately get myself to bed as soon as I can and catch-up, and vow to get back on track with a bit more sleep.
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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JaysFamily
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Lindsay,
I'm the same way, but I have several health problems that cause fatigue. I also found that having a baby/child nursing at night made me feel tired, even when I didn't completely wake up to nurse him. Pregnancy and nursing are physically demanding, even though it doesn't always feel demanding.
Even now, I have to sacrifice activities or chores to get enough sleep to function. When I am sleep deprived, everyone else in the house seems to feed off that, and then nothing gets done.
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In Christ,
Jaysfamily
wife to Jay
mother to DS(5)
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 03 2010 at 2:56pm | IP Logged
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SuzanneG wrote:
Lindsay~
Everyone has different sleep needs. If I'm not getting enough sleep, I start to get sick. Does this happen to you? Can you try "only 8 hours" as an experiment, and see if you start to get sick or feel run down?
No matter how much sleep I get, I never want to get out of bed, and I always start losing steam right after lunch....I don't think that has anything to do with not getting enough sleep. That's just normal. And, I never wake up by myself, I have to set the alarm. Also normal. |
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So I'm normal????  I'm tired, dog tired all the time. Yes, I need the alarm to wake up. And all I want to do is sleep. If you give me free time, I will want a nap. 
SuzanneG wrote:
| The key for me, is when I start to feel run-down and getting flu-like symptoms....then I immediately get myself to bed as soon as I can and catch-up, and vow to get back on track with a bit more sleep. |
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I do try to listen to my body. I know that I can't cram in extra hours and stuff in a day, so I do try to be realistic. Quiet time is a must (thanks, Rachel May) but sometimes it evolves into a nap for me. Otherwise, even the most basic plans fall apart.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Erin
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Mackfam wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
| As far as planning school goes - has anyone tried "module" or "focused subject" organization? |
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Yes. This is what my oldest dd did last year and she and I both loved it. What was key? Meeting together weekly.
Dd had as required each day: math, latin, catechism. Beyond that, I had an outline of the books and topics to be studied which I broke down into more manageable chunks (quarters of work). We met weekly to discuss what she wanted to focus on for the week. She typically chose 1 or 2 subjects she wanted to focus on at a time. |
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Marilyn
We also work this way. Some of the children prefer to do one or two topics a day, depending on how much they need to do to achieve what is needed for the week. Dd16 does a little maths and English per day plus one subject.
The older children have a print out of the whole Terms work needed, with a break down for each week, the younger children have a week outline only.
Jen
I'd like to spend more time meeting, but they are daily snatches.
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Erin
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Angel
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Can I ask those who dedicate every day of the week to a different set of chores to elaborate on the gory details of how that works in real life? There are certain chores around here that desperately need to be done on a weekly basis (such as mopping the floors) but that don't get done nearly that often because they aren't in our daily routine (which takes care of the basics, mostly) OR the "extra chore" routine, which takes up most of Friday morning and involves bathrooms, catching up on the laundry, the hallway-playroom, and as much of the bedrooms as I can do.
My problem is that a lot of these chores fall on me and the big kids, while there are still a lot of little ones running around making messes and only marginally helpful with the clean up. We seem to spend a lot of time cleaning, but the house is never clean -- kwim? It always seems like if I add more chores to our load that it will eat into the kids' school time.
Can anyone give me an idea of how much time you and your kids spend on chores every day, particularly if you have "dedicated" days?
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Sarah
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Angela, I think we are in a similar boat with our kids ages and such if I remember right. Honestly, my plan looks great on paper but real life means that my house is NEVER clean all at once. On Friday mornings we clean for two hours and don't do school. I just cannot. After 2 hours of cleaning I am too tired and everyone is hungry and little ones are needy.
Then I try to rotate what those 2 hours will be spent on since I cannot cover everything. One week I might start on the kitchen and may not get out of there. The next week I may start on the bedrooms and never make it to the kitchen. My boys do the mopping and we sum for once a week but that doesn't always happen. In the end, I just try to plug away and get done what I can. Its never super clean. Ever. And I can either just come to terms with that fact or get really sad and mad. I cycle through both. But u always realize that whether I am mad or happy my house looks the same. Its much better to plug away and remain happy than to get depressed about it. Its always a mess or in a state of recovering from a mess no matter how I feel inside. I'm always amazed how doing just a few things can improve the overall look. Hang in there and just know that it never gets done perfectly here in my home. I'm still trying though.
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Ordering the day - Time Management
