How Much is Enough? Too Much?

I'm doing lots of planning for the upcoming year, as are most homeschoolers I'm sure. The thing that's driving me insane right now is determining our general schedule. I'm massively conflicted about it. Actually, our *general* schedule is lovely, it's the reality of the scheduling *specifics* that are tricky. Generally I want us to have a three hour uninterrupted work period in the morning after breakfast, then a couple of hours free play and lunch, then Pre naps while Kinde and I do a more directed or involved project like science experiments, then more playing until dinner. See? Lovely. Ideally, free play period would be three uninterrupted hours as well. The trouble starts when you add in our classes. Here they are, along with their justifications:
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Swimming - feels like a non-negotiable safety issue until both girls are competent

Guitar - the extent of our music education (and all that I plan for the future beyond CM style appreciation and singing a few folk songs at home)

Creative Dance - excellent class that Pre can take too!

Hike - not a class, but a family priority, especially as we are more likely to otherwise stay inside in the winter and I feel like hiking is a great way to grow strong, confident girls

Irish Step Dancing - Kinde has been doing this for a year now and both loves it and is quite good, I love that it is a style of dance with a reasonable culture around it (don't destroy my girl!), it's a social style of dance, and it can be a lifelong physically active hobby (unlike my gymnastics history).

Drawing with Children co-op - Great opportunity for progressive art education with a friend and respite for both from little siblings, as well as for littles to actually have an activity planned around their interests and abilities. Will shift to Atilier once drawing lessons are completed.

General Co-op - an important place for us to make strong connections with a few families, and my kids benefit so much from exposure to the other main mom.

Spanish Preschool - an unusually good fit for our kids who understand lots of Spanish but don't speak much, right in our neighborhood. Second language a big priority.
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What this leaves us with is just three mornings a week for a good Montessori work period. Is that enough? I'm not worried about covering enough material, I'm certain they'll learn plenty for their ages between that, their classes, and the additional one-on-one time for Kinde. I'm worried about if they have enough time to explore the materials and learn the far more important lessons of self-directed and self-motivated learning. Speaking of enough, is there enough time for totally free play? I'm feeling like it's all a lot, but can't talk myself out of any of it. Also, we are in the car Every. Single. Day. Ugh. (Though we are investigating a move that would knock out two of those.)

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8 am Montessori	Montessori	Montessori
9			Spanish (Kinde)	Co-op
10					Irish Step Dancing (Kinde)
					Spanish (Pre)
11
12
1
2					Rosetta Stone	Rosetta Stone
3	Drawing with Children / Preschool Art Co-op		Creative Dance	Hike
5 Swimming (Kinde)
6 Library Time		Guitar
7 Swimming (Pre)
8 Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime	Bedtime
Athletics
Pre naps 1-3
Co-op
Montessori
Spanish

Just dodging in

I'll have a more complete introductory post, and start blogging more regularly in a bit. In the meantime, I've had a lot of requests on the playschool6 to see my make-shift puzzle map "cabinet" and our home classroom (expect a post on why we decided to have a dedicated classroom). Here they are , and check back soon for more!

The puzzle rack is just a super-cheap shoe rack (it is much more stable this way than used as intended) turned on its side. Someday I may trim the legs and enclose it, but for now it's working quite well. I bought it at Fred Meyer for under $10. Savings: at least $80 from discount suppliers.

These pictures are from December, so quite a few of the works are different, but you get the general idea.

Science and Engineering Shelves

Dangling octopus with continent swap postcards.

Top shelf: My albums, circle time bell and song basket

Second shelf down: meteorology tray, random box added by dd I don't remember what's in, measuring work

Third shelf down: ecology tray, geology tray

Bottom shelf: What material is it made of?, flashlight assembly

 

Tables

Small tables for eating and working, though much work is done on the floor. Renoir was our Charlotte Mason art study focus, and the Renoir book is open to the pictures of the day (his self-portrait is hanging to the right). The black table has our "Living Things Tray" with an African violet and a mirror.

Science and Geography Shelves

Phases of Moon Poster

Draped across: Calendar, each page a month

Top Shelf: Continent and Land and Water Globes, very basic Children's Atlas focused on continents, Compass

Middle Shelf: Phases of Moon Cards, Zoology control tray

Bottom Shelf: Vertebrate/Invertebrate Sorting, North America box

Cabinet: Continent Map on top, my supplies in drawer, sheets and blankets in cupboard (ah, homeschooling)

Child armchair, basket of woolly socks and slippers (it's cold up here in the winter!)

Language and Toddler Shelves

Top shelf: Dump truck for initial sound sorting game

Second Shelf Down: Sound buckets, Rol 'n Write, and sandpaper letters of former letters of the week

Third Shelf Down - Letter of the Week: Sound bucket, paint bag for writing, sandpaper letter, Sound Box book, Sand tray, Do-a-Dot letters, dot-to-dot letters, letter find worksheets

Fourth Shelf Down - Toddler Works: 3-piece puzzle with knobs, 3-piece foam puzzle, Shape sorter (only the shapes for the top currently out), geometric solids, lacing frame hanging

Bottom Shelf - Jane Belk Moncure Sound Box books, Moveable alphabet

Math Shelves

Top Shelf: Teen bead hanger, counters with marked places beneath numbers

Second Shelf Down: Decimal introduction tray, binomial cube box

Bottom Shelf: 1-9 bead hanger, large wood shapes with rods that fit the appropriate number (toddler)

Underneath: Instalearn Hundred board, sandpaper numerals

Leaning: Magnetic teen board

Number Rods

Calendar with month's poem and day's weather card

Work Rug Basket

History, Language, Writing Prep Shelves

Top Shelf - history: In progress dd-made December calendar, tray of calendars and timepieces, clock, First Discovery Time book

Second Shelf Down - Language: Sequencing cards for storytelling, tow truck initial sound sorting, syllable counting

Third Shelf Down: Metal insets

Bottom Shelf: Latch board, parallel lines drawing

Leaning: Alphabet train animal sorting pockets

Sensorial Shelf

Bottom Shelf: Sock pairing and bundling, rough gradation board, brown stair

Second Shelf Up: Beads on horizontal bar (toddler), knobbed cylinder block and blindfold, sound cylindars

Third Shelf Up: Pink tower, constructive triangles, Pythagoras "board" (DIY of felt, no actual board)

Fourth Shelf up: Temperature tablets, tactile matching (sandpaper) tablets and blindfold, baric tablets

Right: Red rods

Practical Life

Top Shelf: Dustin mitt, water pitcher, glasses, and tray

Second Shelf Down: Nut and screw matching, double hole punch, origami tray, stereognostic bag, nesting tins, "beadlings" (those little beads you put on a small shape with pegs and iron), box of scissors and cutting work, marbles for picking up with toes (we needed a foot-permissible work)

Third Shelf Down: Soap grating, tonging into icecube tray, egg shell grinding, pompom color/size sorting, Mastermind game (toddler for placing pegs, preschool for matching patterns), water pouring (toddler)

Fourth Shelf Down: Clothes pins to put around bowl edge, rice pouring, spooning, water baster transfer, toothpicks in small hole (toddler), water pouring with funnel, noodle pouring (toddler), zipper and buttoning frame hanging

Bottom Shelf: Safety pin frame behind, geometric demonstration tray and cabinet, shapes in the world for matching cards, dust pan and whisk broom practice tray, Un Elephante song basket