Order & Routine

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it. - Golda Meir

Raise your hand if you’re a home schooling mom who has ever decided to schedule her day. I’m sure there are quite a few hands if I could see them. Much of the time, my frustration has been that I have either scheduled and it didn’t work or I didn’t know where to start. It may be the same for some of you. For me it went something like this:

We got super excited after attending the home school conference at the beginning of the year. We purchased new curriculum and acquired new knowledge that we wanted to cram into that gray matter between our children’s ears and we said to ourselves: “We’ve got to get organized this year!” Then we began by sitting down and writing out a schedule – Wake up @ 7 am; Breakfast @ 8 am; Math @ 8:30; Spelling @ 9; etc. Once we had scheduled our day down to every 15-minute increment, we posted the schedule on the refrigerator and vowed to follow it to the T!

It usually took me to about Thanksgiving to realize that I hadn’t followed our schedule for about 2 months and to wonder why we still had it posted on the refrigerator. (I needed that magnet for the Thanksgiving Menu!) After a long sigh, the schedule found its way to file thirteen and we went on our way. Somehow we managed without a schedule and the kids had their gray matter filled to the brim (almost). After all these years, I have discovered that my family didn’t really crave a schedule; but they did crave a routine.

We, as mothers, know that our children need order in their day. We realize that when they have something to look forward to and can predict what comes next, our job is easier and they are happier. We know something must be done and we must drive it…thus the schedule. We have the right idea; but I propose that there is a better way. Allow a seasoned veteran give you a few tips (seasoned just means I’ve learned the hard way). What you need is routine; not schedule.

I have come to define routine as: the order of the day. Rather than using time to define what we do when, I use a list of “First this…then this”. Instead of trying to lock us into set hours in the day, we have come to value order; and what drives our routine is habit instead of the clock.

The first habit I want my children to have is the habit of rising early. I agree with Benjamin Franklin, who said “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” I also realize that once they are out on their own, there will be very few jobs to be had that will not require rising early. So the first order of routine is to get out of bed before 7:30 am.

The next important habit is exercise. Being over 40, I am acutely aware of the value of exercise as a daily habit and I want my children to have the same habit. So, the easiest exercise to do anywhere or anytime is walking. It is also the most effective exercise we can do. Thus the next in our line of routine: After rising, we go for a walk.

Another important habit for us to have is eating a good, healthy breakfast and we do that after our walk. Sometimes showers, clean up and brushing teeth come before or after and they each decide for themselves. Since they are tall enough to reach the counter, I usually encourage them to take turns making breakfast for the rest of us.

The habit of reading God’s Word daily and praying is one of the best habits. Therefore, the next thing on our list is Devotions. We usually read something from Scripture and then pray about our day, people who are sick and our own personal requests. This 15 or 20 minutes is one of the most important in our routine. I feel extremely discombobulated if, for some reason, we don’t have Devotions. It helps us to connect with each other and with God before we start the difficulties of our day.

If I can teach my children to do the more difficult tasks first, then I have taught them to make their days easier. The habit of tackling the hard things will come in handy in a job, at home or at college. Thus the next order of business for the day is the hardest subject; usually math or science. The rest of “school” is usually priority driven and each day has its priority subjects: Tuesday is Greek and Government, Wednesday is Grammar and World History, etc. Once the hardest subject is conquered, the rest of their work goes like clockwork.

The day continues with our list of “First this…then this”: first you finish your Greek exercises and then it will be lunch; first thing after lunch is reading and then finish your assignments; first you must do chores and then you can entertain yourself (another good habit) or go off to your afternoon job. In this way, we get much done and feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day --- most of the time.

Early in my motherhood career, my dear friend taught me the value of a bedtime routine with my then-young children. I realized that when we had a routine before bed, mom and dad would get a little alone time before turning in ourselves. So, when bedtime came, first we would put on PJs, then we would brush our teeth and then snuggle into bed for a story. It didn’t really matter when bedtime started (8 p.m. or 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.) it just mattered that we maintained the same order and “ritual”. To this day, my children usually follow this routine. In fact, most of them cannot sleep until they have read their books at the end of the day.

Anytime we get away from our routine, we feel a little out of whack. After a vacation or road trip, we are always happy to get back to our routine. After Christmas break or summer excursions, it always feels good to get back on track. Having a routine gives us all a framework on which to hang our daily activities and gives us a context in which to fit our extra appointments. Without a routine, I fear that our lives would be chaos and our time would be wasted. And yet, with a routine, there is always room for flexibility but with some security to fall back on.

The best test of our routine came when I was sick one day with the flu. I couldn’t get out of bed at all, much less at 7:30 a.m. However, the children did and took their walk. They came home and fixed breakfast, checked on me, prayed over me, and went to tackle their math and follow their priorities for their school work. When I was able to drag myself out of bed at three in the afternoon for some water, I found them in the kitchen amiably doing their chores before they did their “fun” stuff. I was able to go back to bed knowing that all was well. You see, routine has another benefit: it runs by itself; and isn’t that the whole point?

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Here’s my version: “Train your child in a good routine and when he gets older it will be something that he comes back to for the rest of his life.”

Never Too Old to Learn

Never Too Late to Learn

“Let self-education be an integral part of the education of your students.”
Andrew Campbell
The Latin Centered Curriculum

We’ve started another school year in the Gilmore house; and, like each preceding year, this one is different from the last. It seems like each time we start up again, we are starting a whole new routine.

Deanna sat at her desk pouring over her three books laid out on the top. Her pencil was going furiously as she copied, translated and diagramed the Latin sentences from her book. I noticed a couple of new index cards with grammar rules written on them next to the Latin grammar book.

Mikayla was also sitting at her desk with pencil in hand writing figures on her white-board slate. We had just finished our Latin recitation and she was trying to finish up her Math before we did History. Area and Volume were the item of the day and she was thrilled that she was getting it all down pat.

Leilani was hunched over her work space right across from me working on something. When I looked over, I realized that it was a drawing on her Math slate and that she was not doing her Math page as she should have been. She looked up and caught my eye. I gave her one of those what-are-you-doing- looks and she erased her board and went back to her Math.

It was about 10 a.m. and Terence had left for school at the local high school. I’d been up since 7 a.m. so that I could pray with him before he left. I’m still having a hard time with him being at the high school instead of at home. But, there have been some benefits: for instance, he likes his Math teacher and has had an improved attitude about Math recently. We’ll see how it goes and Ralph and I continue to pray that God will protect him in that place.

Adrian is living in Illinois with his mother, Anita, and going to school at a public school there. We keep in touch on MySpace and e-mail and he seems to be doing pretty well. He just told us today that his Video Technology teacher is a Christian and the friends that he has are Christians, too. We can see that God is working to bless him and we’re so thankful. So, he isn’t at home either.

Math papers were done and we did our History timeline recitation and talked a little bit about the first colonies started in the United States and how some of the explorers and colonists were Christians and wanted to win the “Indians” to Christ. Deanna worked busily on her Math as we did our lesson. Occasionally, she would interrupt with a question about the algebra equation she was working.

We took a break and Mikayla and Leilani helped me with our Postcard Wall. We have been putting up all of the postcards that we have collected over the years. They frame a map of the world on which we have stuck pins - different colors to indicate who has been where: blue for Dad, green for Grandma, red for the whole family, etc. It is really interesting to see the pins marking all of the states we’ve visited. This is really a Geography lesson but I’m not going to tell the girls that because they wanted a break from “school”.

We usually do our lessons in Greek earlier, but today they came later because we’d started with Latin instead. Deanna had already been halfway into her Latin exercises when we’d finished breakfast. It’s been really fun learning the Greek alphabet because we can transliterate English words using the Greek letters and it looks like code. We’ve all been having fun getting used to the sounds that way. So, we reviewed our letters and diphthongs and then set about learning some vocabulary and the first verb conjugation. We’re all amazed at how similar it is to Latin.

At lunch time, I set the girls to doing their kitchen chores while I re-heated leftovers from the night before and made a salad. The dogs sat at the edge of the carpet just outside the kitchen and watched us expectantly, hoping to get a few morsels thrown their way. When there is no food involved, they sit under my desk and generally get in the way.

After lunch, we sat on the sofa and I read aloud - the Iliad - while Deanna followed along in her book and the others listened. Agamemnon had just suffered huge losses in his battle with the Trojans and Achilles has refused to fight because Agamemnon had taken Breseis away from him. It’s an exciting story, but a bit difficult to read aloud so I am challenged. Deanna corrects me every now and then when my eyes get faster than my mouth.

Now, it is copy work and recitation from the Bible. Each of them are memorizing a chapter over the next two months - so they have to use their chapter for copying and read it over every day.

When each of them have read some of their verses to me, I open up the computer and select the song that we are learning from the Library. It’s one of my favorites and the girls are really enjoying it, too: Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant us peace). They are learning to sing it in a round and it sounds great.

As so often happens, the day passes by too quickly to get to everything. So, I put the History of Rome and Greek Mythology on the list for tomorrow and send them off to practice their piano. Deanna gets out her Logic and we go over the next lesson and discuss it -- she thinks it is the most boring subject of all.

This year is the most structured of all of our years home schooling. Instead of 5 or 6, I only have 3 at home all day. For me it is quite a change and it is easier to be a bit more structured. However, it is also a testament to what I’ve learned over the years: how to take each subject a little at a time and integrate it with the other subjects. It is amazing the way we get to grow, learn and change with our children and I’ve loved every minute of it.

We’re learning Greek because I want to learn Greek. We are delving into Roman History because I’ve always wanted to learn more about it. We are reading Greek and Roman Mythology because I want to really understand John Milton’s Paradise Lost. We are singing Latin songs because I love learning the music. We’re reading the Illiad because I want to read it (especially after seeing the movie Troy). We will probably do a lot of other things this year because I’ve wanted to do them myself.

I had a very wise friend once tell me “As you learn, bring what you learn to your children. You will learn it even better and they can see that you are learning, too.” I’ve tried to take that to heart and have benefited greatly from it.

Our greatest blessing this year has been that Dad has taken up the call to “teach what you learn and learn what you teach” as well. He read the book Epic by John Eldridge and enjoyed it so much that he read it aloud to us during our family worship times. Even though it was a little over the heads of the younger ones (as is the Illiad), we all enjoyed his reading aloud and it was a welcome change from Mom. We’re looking forward to more teaching of the Word from Dad as we go through this year.

I’m learning more and more that I don’t have to know it all to teach. I just have to have a desire to learn it. As long as I understand it just a little bit more than my children, there is success and we all learn.

Above all, God is blessing us every day with a desire to see things through His eyes. If I can learn anything more, I want to learn to see things the way that He sees them and then teach my children to do that, too.