One issue often discussed among homeschoolers is that of
routine and schedules. Having a program – a curriculum, goals – and a plan for
how you are going to reach these goals, is pretty much necessary, unless you
are completely unschooling. However, while it is true that a structured
regularity might make homeschooling easier, it is futile to think that you can
maintain a strict schedule like a public or private school. If you homeschool
in your home with a regular family, things are going to come up, planned and
unplanned incidents, or sometimes illness, that will disrupt your schoolwork.
The best way to deal with this is to embrace the distractions and learn to work
around or with them while staying focused.
This our first week of school was extra challenging in this
regard, as it was filled with a few scheduled (dentist visits across town and
first week of teaching for my philosophy husband) and several unplanned events.
I got sick over the weekend and was out of commission until Monday afternoon. We
had a major plumbing problem in the bathrooms with raw sewage leakage (which
had to be cleaned up once it was fixed). Then the sandstorm hit Lebanon, which
you might not think would have much impact on homeschool activities, but we
ended up housing or hosting a dust storm play date for the afternoon, with kids
of all ages filling up the house. Last night, William went to bed with a
stomach ache, and today he has been very sick.
One more day left of this week, Friday. What might happen
tomorrow?
