Let’s talk about schedules! I love to think of it like this… My day is like a puzzle and I can put it together any way that works for me and my family. It can be changed, moved around, or parts can be eliminated.
Schedule… That’s a word that makes me cringe and then you add seven children, I want to scream! Do you want to know why? Another definition of schedule for me is “How in the world am I going to get it all done?” And then I get so tired just thinking about it, I throw my hands up and cry. Several years ago, I decided I had to do something about it and I feel so much better.
What is a family schedule?
A family schedule is a plan for what we are going to accomplish that particular day. It can include times or just be a guide for what everyone is going to do next. It can be the same schedule or it can be customized to the activities that day offers.
Every Sunday afternoon I sit down and figure out what our family’s schedule is going to look like for the week. Now I do this every week for a few reasons:
- There is only so much time in a week.
- It helps me pick my priorities.
- It keeps us focused.
- It helps create independence in our children.
There is only so much time in a week.
My time is so precious and so I want to spend it on the things that will result in the most dividends. Time is an investment and it will yield returns based upon what and how we spend it. I want to dedicate it to the priorities in my life. I believe in living life intentionally and this method helps us do that.
It helps me pick my priorities.
It helps me “budget” my time for all my obligations and gives a realistic view of how much time I really have available. I have an issue with editing. You know that saying, your eyes were bigger than your belly? Well, I have that problem with time. I am not realistic about what I can accomplish in the amount of time I have. I am overly ambitious and I need a schedule to help me keep my expectations reasonable.
It keeps us focused.
A schedule keeps us focused and lets everyone know how much time they have to accomplish something. This is to make sure that breakfast doesn’t take three hours. I look at our schedule as a goal for us to follow so we make sure and get everything done.
Does it change? Yes! Every single day! We have to be flexible or we will break.
It helps create independence in our children.
One of the things I love about this method is that it helps me evaluate the level of independence my children are at each week. Are there new responsibilities they could be doing? In a large family, independent children are a necessity and this is something we constantly strive for.
How to Create a Family Schedule
Check the Family Calendar
First of all, I review my calendar to see what appointments we have scheduled for the coming week. We have several recurring activities that we do consistently every week and then we also have things like doctor’s appointments, birthday parties, or family time.
Check my To-Do List
Then I look at my to-do list to see what I need to get done. I go into depth in a post about how I use a to-do list to manage all the things a large family needs to get done.
Combine Errands and Obligations
After looking at the calendar and to-list, I begin to figure out what I can combine. For example, if the kiddos have a dentist appointment one day, I may schedule any errands I need to do that day too. We live in the country so I try to consolidate our days out and about so we can save time and money.
Consider Needs and Wants of the Family
Next, I must consider the needs of every member of my family. When I first started doing this we had gone from 1 kiddo to 5 kiddos in one year and most of them had several special needs. Talk about being overwhelmed!
At that point, I sat down and made a list of every kiddo and their special needs. Wait just a minute, your kids don’t have any special needs, right? Let me explain… When you think about it every kiddo has a special need. It can be something that makes them thrive or something that they need an extra boost in. I really want to meet those.
Also, I like to evaluate whether we are morning people or night owls. When do you and your kiddos do your best work? Do they like to get up in the morning and get started? Or do you have obligations that require you to get into bed later in the evening and then sleep in in the morning?
Honestly, I have found that a later start works for our family. I find that we are much more productive when we sleep in a little bit and then get our day started around 8:30 or so.
Also, as the kiddos hit the teenage years, they tend to go to sleep a little later. Allowing some extra time for us to sleep in allows us to keep our rest up. It’s all about what works for your family!
Taking all these factors into your family’s dynamic is the way to go! Although it is not as overwhelming now than when I first began this process (or I may have gotten used to it) I still apply the same concept today.
Here are some needs and wants of our family that we need to do consistently:
- Devotions
- Exercise
- Meals
- School
- Friend Time
- Library
- Church
- Household Chores
- Family Time
- Quiet Time
- Free Time
- Field Trips
- Shopping
- Bedtime
- Marriage
Devotions
Independent bible devotions are something that I want my children to do every day. It is a daily habit that will become important as they grow up. This is a part of their morning checklist and it takes about 10 minutes every day.
Exercise
Making sure everyone in the family is moving is a priority. Not only is this a healthy thing to be doing, but it also helps the children focus during our homeschool day. Going outside to play or walk or spending some time on the treadmill helps everyone sleep better.
I usually try to plan about an hour of exercise every day.
Meals
If you’re a parent then you have figured out that these kids have to eat several times every day. We plan to have three meal times and one snack every day. I plan an hour and fifteen minutes for breakfast because they have chores that need to be done during that time. I plan an hour for both lunch and dinner because they usually try to play outside when they are done.
School
Since we homeschool, we must have time to complete our schoolwork. Not only do I want to make sure we meet our goals but I also want to have time for the fun stuff too. If I don’t organize our time at the beginning of every week we won’t be able to meet those goals.
We spend about thirty hours every week for school time. We do school year-round because it is important that we maintain structure or things go crazy around here!
Friend Time
God has blessed us with some amazing friendships and we want to have time to maintain those every week. It is so refreshing to spend time with those who are experiencing the same challenges as you. We dedicate between four and six hours weekly to spend time with our friends.
Library
The library is an amazing resource that we take advantage of every two weeks. When we visit the kids check out a variety of books that they can read and enjoy.
I plan our library visits with our mid-week church service so we are not spending extra time and gas money to go. We live about forty-five minutes from the library so it definitely takes some dedication and commitment to make sure this happens.
I plan about 3 hours every two weeks for our library trips.
Church
We attend church twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays. We feel like this is a very important way to spend our time and for our children to see that attending church is important.
With travel time and service time, we spend about eight hours per week.
Household Chores
Chores are very important around here. Not only does it help the kids learn responsibility and gratitude but it also helps fight those attitudes of entitlement that every parent hates! Plus, it helps keeps the house neat and tidy so I am not working all the time.
I plan for about thirty minutes per day for them to complete their daily chores. For some of the kiddos, it doesn’t take that long.
Family Time
Family time is very important because it is a time where we can all come together and connect. We live really busy lives and I want to cherish every second I get to spend quality time with my children.
On Friday nights, we plan movie nights, game nights, or outdoor game nights. They generally last about four hours.
Quiet Time
Quiet time is imperative at our house. This is a time where the children spend time in their rooms being quiet. Since all of our children are past the nap time age, they spend their time reading, watching a DVD, doing schoolwork or drawing.
This is the time of day that I can rest or do something in peace without someone touching me or asking me a million questions. It gives my brain a little break and I don’t feel as exhausted at the end of the day.
Not only does this benefit me, but I have also noticed that it really helps the kiddos have better attitudes. It is almost like a reset button as they have the opportunity to recharge and refresh themselves.
I usually plan for about an hour and fifteen minutes every day for quiet time.
Free Time
This is the time that the kiddos look forward to every day because they get to do whatever they want. This is the time of day that their electronic devices are available to be used.
However, this is also the time that can be lost due to misbehavior. We talk about our visual behavior tracker in this post and this is the time where they pay me their “clip time.”
I usually plan for about one hour and thirty minutes every day for free time.
Field Trips
Now, field trips don’t happen every week but I try to plan them often. For the weeks we don’t go to the library, I try to combine a field trip on the day of our church service.
Shopping
Shopping and other errands are something we definitely have to make time for on a weekly basis. However, we try to do our major hauls every other week while doing a small Walmart order the opposite weeks. We plan to do most of our shopping on Sunday afternoons after our morning church service.
Bedtime
Bedtime is generally at eight o’clock for everyone except our teenager. I joke that I run out of grace promptly at eight o’clock every night and honestly it is true. I guess I am the type of person that likes to see the end in sight and having a strict bedtime offers that for me.
Marriage
Spending time with my husband is something that both of us need too. Our marriage is the foundation for our family and so it is important that we care for it. Sometimes, it’s a quick walk outside or a few minutes to touch base through the day.
Maintaining our marriage is another reason we have a strict bedtime. After the kids are in bed there is time for Rick and me to spend time together watching a show or talking. This works well for us as we generally decompress in the same ways.
Put the Schedule on “Paper”
At this point, I put together a daily schedule and try to be realistic about what we can get done. My scheduled time slot for an activity stays around an hour to 90 minutes. I’ve found that we tend to lose concentration and focus after that timeframe.
When I’m scheduling our day, I generally pad each time slot about 15 mins. For example, PE will last 30 minutes but the transition time at the beginning and end will be about 15 minutes because we have to find shoes, etc. So I will schedule PE for 45 minutes so that it takes the stress out of it for everyone, mainly me and Andy. We both like to stay on track.
I have used Google Slides but I prefer the Numbers Program on my iPad. I go into the step by step process of building the schedule in this post:
Our weekly schedule looks like this:
Just a little side note… We have been enjoying late start in the mornings and sadly that must end this week because our school year is starting.
Also, a two-hour quiet time is not normal either but my kiddos have been recovering from kids camp and so I boosted their rest time this week. This is another perk of this method, I get to adjust our schedule based upon the physical needs of my children as well. I’m a firm believer in them getting enough rest so they can function and be nice (as much as possible) throughout the week.
CrewTip: The Concept Behind My Crazy
Each morning, one of my chores is to write out a visual schedule for everyone to see. I use a hanging file folder organizer, blank white pages in page protectors, and dry erase markers. I have seven kiddos and as you can imagine, they ask a lot of questions. So by the fourth “What are we doing today?” I’m a little irritated. The visual schedule is my answer to that. Not only does it tell them what we are doing that day but I even write what’s for dinner. That’s another big question!
Now, you notice it’s in dry erase marker for a very good reason, it changes! Times may need to be adjusted or things eliminated, that’s life. Don’t sweat it, I try not to! And I try to get Andy not too.
Well, I’m going to take off and do some scheduling! Wish me well and let me know what you think!
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This is a great idea even for my crazy schedule right now.
Thanks Mrs. Kacie..
Miss you and Rick.
You’re welcome! Miss you too! Thanks for commenting!