Answering Questions about the schedule! :)

*Please understand, I share our schedule with you all hoping that it will be able to be a blessing/encouragement or give help/direction/ideas to another as so many have done with me. I do not think that scheduling is the only right way to manage your home; I just want to share what has been a blessing and help to me :)

First, for those who are interested, I highly recommend the book Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell (http://www.titus2.com/); if you already have the book I encourage you to read (or re-read) it.
Now on to the questions you all have asked :) I'll be working on writing the answer to these over the next several days and then publish the post when I'm through :) I thought about dividing it into two or three posts as I'm sure this will be very lllooonnnggg, but thought I'll just write it all out here and you can scroll down, choose the question/answer you're interested in and skip the rest! :)
(I will write a separate post later on about children and chores.)

Okay...here it goes!

Why do you make a schedule if you can't follow it 100% all the time?
Our schedule is a guide we use to order our days. By praying about and then planning out our days, I am able to focus on the priorities God has given me. I don't come to the end of the day wishing I had spent my time differntly. A schedule brings so much peace and calmness into our home as we all know what we need to be doing at any given time. Nobody is wandering around aimlessly or bored. It gives rest to my mind as well as I do not have to make countless decisions about what this person or that person or myself should be doing or trying to figure out how everything will get done. It also helps me to actually get to the things that are really important to me (example...Quiet time with the Lord, sewing with the girls, reading to the children ect...)...things that I may not make time for if I don't have the time planned for them.
Of course interruptions to our schedule come daily. I have to use wisdom in deciding if I need to tend to whatever has come up right away or if it can wait and we continue on with what we have scheduled.

I may need to miss teaching a piano lesson one day due to a visitor or needing to do something for Daniel, but most likely, that child will get their lesson the following week because although interruptions come, they do not always come at the exact same time each day.

Even with the daily needs of comforting a child with an owie, redirecting a child back to what they need to be doing, changing a diaper, ect... I am still able to spend some time each day doing most of our planned activities.
We have found that we are able to accomplish more in 1 week on a schedule (interruptions included!) than we are in a month without one. :) And for those days when everyone is sick or some major thing happens that we can't do much of anything other than get everyone fed, I look for all the blessings the Lord has given us, am so thankful for my hubby and children, and know that we'll get back on schedule when we can.


Do you ever get overwhelmed with all there is to do?
I have had times of being overwhelmed but as I go to the Lord in prayer, and read and meditate on the truth in His Word, He is so good to encourage me and calm my heart.
The schedule does not overwhelm me...it does quite the opposite! I can see what needs to be done, when it will be done, and can end the day thankful and happy that we were able to accomplish all we needed to that day.

How do you recover when you get off schedule due to an interruption?
Normally I just pick up on my schedule where I am suppose to be when I get back to it. For example, if I was unable to spend my time teaching Benjamin because something else needed my attention, I would most likely not teach piano that day and teach him during that time so he wouldn't get behind in his lessons. But if I was unable to sew with the girls one day or our time was cut short, I would just continue on with my schedule and we'd get to sew the following day.
I do not feel like we have "failed" if we are not able to do everything exactly how it is written out each day. It is there to help guide our days, but we are flexible. For example, if I am up for most of the night for several nights with a fussy teething baby, I'll modify the schedule for that time so I can get some extra rest during the day. But I try my best to get to bed on time (not stay up reading or on the computer etc...) so that I will be rested and able to get up on time to start our day.

Do I make adjustments to our schedule after we start it? Does it get easier once the children get older?
When I first started scheduling, I made LOTS of adjustments the first month or two of using it. Now that I've been doing it for so many years, I still have adjustments I need to make each year but not as many.
I don't remember if it was more difficult or not when I was scheduling when all our children were really young. I imagine it would have been more challenging is some areas; but I do know that from the first year I began scheduling (I had 6 children then ages 6 and under) I loved it!

Why do you have everything in 1/2 hour time frames? What if something takes longer than 1/2 hour?
I use 1/2 hour time frames as it seems to be a good amount of time to spend on any one activity...a little bit of time on any one thing over several days sure adds up!! But there are some activities we spend more than 1/2 hour on and we just order the schedule to reflect that (examples- we have several 1/2 hr. blocks set apart for school work; the younger ones take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon).

You only have a 1/2 hour set aside on Friday for lesson plans. Do you find that is enough time?
I spend 1/2 hour in the afternoon each day working on a different project. But I also have an hour in the evening, if Daniel is not home or he's busy working on something, when I also am able to work on my projects. Much of my school planning or computer time is done then.
Since we have used the same curriculum for all our children for many years, I have most of the years lesson plans already written out.

What do you do for Pre-school time?

I have 30 minutes in the morning while the older ones are cleaning up from breakfast when I teach just the little ones. We have several activities which we do which I have planned out each week. We work on colors, numbers, letters, shapes, etc... We learn verses, count beans, sort things, play games, do crafts, flash cards, read stories, sing, learn poems, color, write, ect... Rebekah also has a half hour during the morning when she "teaches" the little ones...it's her favorite part of her schedule she says. :) I already have the activity planned out for her and she directs it.

What do Noah and Susannah do for activity time?
We have a box with strips of paper with different activities written on them. Each morning, Noah or Suannah take turns drawing out a paper from the box and that is the activity they have for that day. Some examples are puzzles, legos, a craft, playdough, painting, sandbox, etc...

Who do your children write letters to every day?
Each week I make out a letter sheet for who we will write each day. We write to family or friends who have a birthday, get well letters, thank you letters, the children have pen pals, churches or individuals who pray for and support us, missionaries ect...
Often they will draw a picture on the back of their letter as well :)

What do you do with your girls for Home Ec.?
This year, we are concentrating on sewing. Last year, we did crafts and made bread. Of course, the time can be used if needed for any home project (making a birthday cake or decorating for a party, etc...), but the emphasis this year is going to be on sewing.

What do your children do for their personal Bible time each morning?
Each of our children around the age of 7 or 8 have been able to read well enough to read and have a basic understanding of the Bible on their own. These children will find a spot on one of the couches in the family room, bring their Bible and notebooks, and have their time with the Lord. Some of them are reading through the Bible, some of them are reading through the New Testament, and some of the younger ones are reading a certain book (like one of the gospels).
They bring a notebook where they have written down the things they want to pray about (they also are able to record the answers to their prayers) and can also jot down anything they want to from what they have learned from their reading.
The younger ones who do not read or are reading but not well enough to read the Bible on their own sit in the living room with their Bibles and notebooks. They listen to the Bible on CD for about 10 minutes. The older ones in this group can sometimes read well enough to follow along in their Bible. The younger ones will listen and often draw in their notebooks. I then encourage them to pray and then they either look at a book quietly or hang out in the kitchen with me while the older ones finish their Bible time.
I love talking with them throughout the day about what they are reading and praying about...it's such a sweet time of sharing!
We want to encourage the children to make their time with the Lord a top priority each day. We have them dress, do their chores and we take a walk to help them wake up a bit :).

When do your children stop taking naps?
When they turn 5 years old, they no longer are required to nap. I will schedule an hour "quiet time" for my 5 and 6 year olds during the little one's nap time. During that time, they have to be in the family room either reading, coloring, or doing another quiet activity. If they are tired, often they'll rest or sleep on the couch. But as long as they keep quiet, they do not have to be in their bed in their room like the younger ones.

Do you have a bedtime routine? How do you keep your children from getting out of bed before their wake up time?
We have family devotions and prayer time each night before bed. Then, as each child's bedtime comes, I hug, kiss, tuck in, talk or pray a bit with, and sometimes sing to each one.
Our children normally don't get up until either the alarm goes off or I tell them it's time to get up. If someone does wake up early, they are welcome to get dressed, begin their chores etc... as long as they keep quiet so the others can sleep.

How often do your children shower/bathe?
Most every day as it is a very hot, dusty land :)

Do you find walking with the children provides enough exercise for you? Do you use a stroller or sling?
This is the first year we have scheduled walk times. The children love walking with us. One of the boys or I often have to walk down to the store in the morning for tortillas or something, so I thought it would be fun to schedule in a time we could all go together and schedule enough time that we could walk to the tortillaria (where the tortillas are made) if we wanted.
Daniel wanted us to begin walking around our neighborhood in the evenings as many of the neighbors do the same, so I scheduled in an evening walk too.
So I'm not doing it only for exercise, although that will be a nice side benefit :)
We will take the stroller and a sling or two :)

Do you do a summer schedule as well as one for the school year?
Yes! Since things run so much smoother and efficiently when we are on a schedule, we make one for the summers as well. Summer's give us extra time for projects (inside and out) and allow the children to keep busy with writing, reading, and some light school work as well.

We have breaks throughout the school year as well (Thanksgiving, Christmas ect...) where we can celebrate special holidays or take time to catch up on some spring cleaning or have a family fun day :)

Do you teach your children piano?
Yes. I was very blessed to have a mom who taught me to play and I enjoy teaching my own children as well. We love to sing and play instruments together as a family. I also teach a piano class to some of the girls in our church each Saturday.

What computer program did you use to make your schedule? How did you get it on your site?
I use Microsoft Publisher to make our final schedule each year as it is the program with which I am most familiar. I think most word processors (like Microsoft Word or Works) have the ability to make a table.
I used scribd.com to upload our schedule (which I converted to a pdf) and posted it on our blog.

When do you do laundry?
Provided we have a working washing machine :), laundry is just done here and there throughout the day. I wash every day (rather than having a certain day or days to do laundry) as we seem to keep up best that way. I am able to put in a load or two at in the morning before breakfast and then either one of the older children or I will continue to put loads into/out of the washer/dryer/clothesline throughout the day. When the clothes are dry, we simply lay them out in the appropriate piles on my bed so they don't wrinkle. Then in the afternoon, the children get their own pile and are able to in just a few minutes put their clothes away. I put Daniel/the younger ones/my clothes away during my housework hour. Saturday, when we have extra time for house cleaning, I wash/change sheets on the beds.

What do you make for Sunday lunches?
Anything that can be made the Saturday before :) This Sunday we had Shepherd's Pie and the Sunday before that we had lasagna. I like things I can have all put together and can just pop into the oven to cook/heat up while we are at church. Then when we get home, the house smells so good and we have a nice meal waiting for us. I usually have some homemade bread baked too and often we just make a quick green salad when we get home and we're good to go :)

What kind of sandwiches do you make for lunch?
There's not a lot of choices here...there is no peanut butter or sliced turkey. But they have sliced ham and tuna, so it is usually one of the two (although Tuna is not Daniel's favorite, so ham is usually the choice). In the cooler months, we sometimes do grilled cheese too :)

Do you have a supper menu like you do for our lunches and dinners?
I do make a supper menu each week, but it varies. What I am working towards right now is having 4 complete supper menus that I can just alternate each week. :)

What kind of snacks does Isaiah make for snack time?
This is something new we've added to our schedule as Isaiah wanted to do something on his own in the kitchen. I told him he could help me make a snack menu each week and then he could be in charge of making the snack/setting it out for everyone. Some of the ideas that we've thought of so far that he could do on his own are:
Sliced Apples (I have an apple corer/slicer), cheese and crackers, dishes of applesauce or jello, toast, yogurt with granola, chips and salsa, etc...