Consistency
Among the
Chao
s
Planning for
Distraction
Before It
Happens
by Katrina Thennis
thechickenwire.blogspot.com
Distractions are inevitable.
It seems like there is always something
going on to distract us from our
homeschool goals and objectives. We
can’t plan for the distractions, but I think
we can get through them successfully
if we know in advance how we will deal
with them.
This year, as we start school I have come up
with some ideas for keeping on track when
life gets crazy. This doesn’t guarantee that
everything will go smoothly or that I will tick off
every task on our schedule every day. But I
think it will help us maintain good habits and
stick to our routines.
Here are some of the ideas I have come up with
to deal with distractions in our homeschool day.
Maintain a Basic Routine
If for some reason I know we will not be able
to stick to our regular schedule, I will do
everything I can to maintain some semblance
of our routine. We will still start school at the
same time, but maybe do a revised/shortened
school schedule.
Every morning we try to do the following:
• Wake up on time and everybody dressed
and hair done.
• Breakfast & Clean up
• Barn Chores
• School
(There’s a bit more to it than that for my
morning schedule, but for the most part
that’s it.)
Figure Out Your Bare Bones
School Schedule
I went through and made a schedule of the
minimal subjects I would have us do on the
days that get crazy. For us that includes
Mathematics, Bible and Piano. I feel like if we
stick to these we won’t get behind and we’ll
maintain the good habits we are trying to build.
My mother-in-law is a public school teacher
and I’ve visited with her about scheduling and
how far into the future she schedules. She only
plans a few weeks forward because she says
that they tend to have quite a few interruptions
in public school. I asked her what she does