Our school begins in a week. That seems early, but first semester will be over by Christmas break, and we'll finish mid-May. I work 20 hours a week as a home health nurse, and Wayne works intermittently as a dentist, at the local clinic. We are blessed with much time at home, so you wouldn't think our schedule would be so difficult, would you? I'm the main teacher, though, so I need to be home when it's time for the book part of schoolwork.
Emily loves music, and likes to be involved in musical activities. Some families are involved in sports, but for us, it's music. I'm the musical equivalent of a stereotypical "soccer mom". This year, besides violin, we'll have piano, choir, band, handbells, and youth symphony. The hours she'll spend at the local junior academy for musical enrichment will occupy half the school day Monday through Thursday! So, all the academic work needs to happen in the mornings. We also need to schedule violin and piano lessons in the morning. Of course, we don't NEED to do all this, it's a choice. When Emily started traditional school in 7th grade, she was like a starving person at a smorgasbord -she wanted to try EVERYTHING. She was in violin, symphony, youth group, basketball, jazz band. She had somewhere to go three nights a week. On Monday when she went to school, she didn't come home until 9 pm! By 8th grade she figured out that all that wasn't necessary, and she relinquished symphony, youth group, and only went to jazz band sporadically. So, this year, she only plans to be out one evening a week at the youth symphony. Actually, now that I think about it, It sounds downright relaxing!
Families who homeschool more than one child seem to be about equally busy--they either have all the kids do the same music and activities, or they find friends to help with carpooling. We haven't worked out the carpooling thing; we are often available to provide transportation for Emily's friends, though.
Our plan is to have "school" in the morning, and I'll be available for classes, as well as limo service. At noon I'll take Emily to school for her musical enrichment classes, and she'll take schoolwork to do during downtime between classes. After I drop her off, I'll go to work for 4 hours. I'm blessed with a flexible job, and spend 12 hours a week doing paperwork in the office. Then, I'll pick her up and we'll both go home. It should work! When my work hours get out of control, Wayne will be available for limo service, too.
We're waiting for answers to these questions: When will piano and violin lessons be? Is there room for Emily in the handbell choir? Will the school allow her to participate in PE during her 4 hours onsite? When these questions get answered, we'll feel like we have a handle on the schedule!
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