Schedule it is!

Bismillah,

Formal Homeschooling is around the corner. It's been on our minds a lot the last couple of days since we started acquiring the books we'll be using. I'ts overwhelming to think about it and I hope and pray that doing it will bring joy and balance to this household.

I'm thinking right now that I need to start, seriously, working on organizing my time and daily activities so that when formal homeschooling starts I don't have to worry about how I will do everything else related to keeping a house and nurturing a family. The idea is that if I have a few years of good home-keeping habits up my sleeve then they won't get interrupted by formal homeschooling once it starts.

I want to clarify that I use the term formal homeschooling since I believe that before the age of seven children should be allowed to have plenty of unstructured play instead of actively pursuing academics. They should be read classic children's books everyday to instill in them love for literature. So aside singing ABCs songs my children won't be taught in a structured way for about two more years.

Going back to my rant about schedule and good home-keeping habits. I'm thinking about  what a household needs to run smoothly:

• Nourishing meals and snacks
• Cleanliness and organization
• Well-fed, well-rested children
• Clean clothes
• Happy mommy and daddy

And this wee list includes all the basic things that need to be prioritized before pursuing anything else.

I'm hoping to:

• Come up with new healthy recipes to add to our repertoire
• Assign specific tasks to each day of the week
• Cut down on time guzzlers, i.e. the internet
• And, make sure I leave time to do the things that keep me going

I need help from my creator to get my act together. I want to, specifically, work on a schedule. I dread the word but let's face it I can't possibly escape from it if I want to succeed on this path of mine.

So schedule it is!

Somehow I want to work this in it:

• Cooking
• Reading to kids
• Exercising
• Cleaning and laundry
• Grocery shopping
• Sewing and knitting
• Blogging and Internet (sparingly)
• Personal reading
• Gardening and outside keeping
• Playing and doing crafts with kids
• Outdoor activities

Some of these will need to happen everyday, others once or twice a week. Hopefully, I can assign them to specific days and make a chart to post on an easily accessible place (fridge door.) I also want to keep an agenda to jot down appointments and things of the sort to not lose track and avoid planning things that conflict with priorities. 

I can't wait to work on such schedule for the sake of my sanity and the happiness of this family.