Our routines work like this: they are not a schedule. They are a guideline to keep us on track. More of a "first we do this, and then we do this" kind of thing. In general, the routine is a plan that includes the basic items we need to accomplish to maintain the house and get our school work done. If we spend more time on one item and don't have time for something else, not a problem, there is a plan for getting to it the next day. Once you've done the initial planning and the work of getting a routine set in place (which in a family of 6 is akin to NATO negotiations) they are very freeing.
Each of us has a chore list to complete everyday. In addition I have a Weekly Plan (where each day of the week has special tasks we need to complete like library day, desk day, and grocery day) and a Yearly Plan (where each month we have a room of the house we focus on detail cleaning a little every week). Got all that? Good, 'cause you'll be tested on it later.
Here is an outline of what our weekdays will look like after Christmas break.
7:00 - 8:00 Girls up and morning chores
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Start School
10:00 Snack
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Afternoon chores
1:00 - 2:00 Charlie nap and more school
2:00 - 3:00 Read aloud
3:00 - 4:00 Makenna reading time
4:00 Free time (anything but mass destruction and tv)
5:30 Dinner
6:30 - 7:30 Walk around the block/family time
7:30 - 8:30 Baths and reading in bed
8:30 Bedtime
The beauty lies in the fact that the routine is infinitely flexible and always morphing into something that works better. I don't expect our routine to look like this by summer and I'm sure it will change a million times over as the years progress. But I think for now it looks like a good starting point.
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