Lesson #6: Coordinating schedules is a beast at the beginning. Hmmmm . . . should I admit this or not? I’m gonna do it. Okay, here it goes. Structure for this first part of the school year stinks! I’m in the weeds of it as I type this and I’m wondering when I’m really going to get a good handle on it. Very soon . . . I hope.
But guess what? Excluding unanticipated and unavoidable distractions that may come in the way and derail my strategically-structured efforts, I actually have the ability to control the timing on when my and my son’s school schedule is established and efficiently running on all cylinders.
I say my and my son’s, because my schedule revolves around his schedule during this time of the year. Yes, Little Man’s schooling has me wrapped around all its fingers (on both hands) right now and I’m not fighting it.
My son’s educational success is of the utmost importance. And, the educations of my adult children were as well, but I was definitely more hands-off. At that part of my adult timeline, I didn’t have the opportunity to stay home and cater as much to their educational needs. Thankfully, they had great educators, throughout their school experiences, who took the charge and assisted them along in their academic achievements.
Unlike my two adult children who were never homeschooled/virtual school-assisted by yours truly, my youngest child’s educational journey is directly impacted by the input and output (or lack thereof) I devote to creating a healthy learning environment for him to thrive within.
And, I know that — which is why I don’t take this awesome responsibility and charge lightly. Not lightly at all. So, I’m highly aware that I have to get some streamlined structure going with the school schedules and with a quickness. What I’m learning is that immediate structure IS NOT a real thing, though. Not at the beginning. It takes you starting somewhere and then tweaking things over time to get a comfortable work flow going.
Structure, especially when you’re coordinating the daily activities of two different individuals’ lives, takes time. But remember, I have some control over the timing of when the well-oiled machine gets to revving. It just depends on how long I want to leave the beast untamed. Because, coordinating schedules is a beast, at first. No joke.
Maybe you can relate. If not, please tell me what your secret to immediate efficiency of coordinating schedules with another person looks like. I’d totally LOVE to know, because I’ve not experienced that yet in life. It usually takes me some trial and error and TIME to get an effective schedule going.
So, since messiness in scheduling seems to be my experience, I’m going with the fact that IT TAKES TIME to develop a good work flow, resulting from a coordinated schedule (between two or more people) — a schedule that’s pretty much in a state of work-in-progress throughout its existence.
Really, all I’m saying is that it takes time to develop a routine that caters to your needs (and the needs of the other or others you’re joining schedules with) to arrive at the most advantageous outcome for all parties involved.
The comprehensive schedule needs to lead to productive and constructive output. That should be the ultimate goal. And, the comprehensive schedule needs to tend to the priorities first. First things first, right?
So, I’ve already made up in my mind that my son’s education WILL ALWAYS come before my at-home business endeavors. It’s my responsibility first, as a mom, to make sure that my son’s educational direction is on point, before I even think about pouring myself into the business tasks of the day. That goes for Monday through Friday, when we’re schooling.
Of course, there will be pockets of time throughout the day that will lend to business items and household chores, but my time is going to be well spent in making sure my son has a strong foundation to his school year that will carry him through its entirety. So, I imagine my presence will be needed in these first couple of months of school quite a bit more than later on down the line. That’s my hope, anyway.
By mid-October, I fully anticipate that Little Man will be smoothly sailing and I may even be able to get back into my pre-school work flow again. But for now, I’m working out the kinks in the scheduling out of my content. I’ve already had some hiccups; and at the time I’m typing this blog post and putting in the finishing touches, it should have been up and published on WordPress seven hours ago.
Good thing I know how to give myself some grace, though. After all, the world doesn’t revolve around my content; there are much more important things in life; and it’s not the end of the world if I’m not perfectly on time. Life goes on just fine without Jana hitting every content deadline. I guess what I’m saying is that I opt for flexibility in structure. And, this very sentiment has strongly guided my creative content journey as of the last half of this year. Not the idea of missing deadlines, but the idea of giving yourself flexibility in doing the things you enjoy doing.
Speaking of things I enjoy doing . . .
Seeing my son blossom as a middle school learner fits the “Things I Enjoy Doing” category quite nicely. And having the structure with the daily schedule will, most definitely, help forward that process. So . . .
I plan on working successfully through this beginning part of the school year with the understanding that the beginning of the year schedule will inevitably change fairly soon — once my son gets a more established work flow under his belt and we get some daily or weekly normalcy created. (On a helpful note, Little Man does have an actual “recommended” schedule that’s been provided by his school. It’s flexible in a lot of its daily time slots, but has been great in providing some structure to our personalized mom-and-son schedule.)
All in all, the outlook is positive and life as I know it is blessed. I’m alive and able to directly experience my son’s growth mindset at work. Life’s a beautiful thing. And the kinks with the schedules will work themselves out in time. I’ve decided that my work can wait on me a little bit.
But just remember Beast: your taming is coming!
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Phil – I so appreciate your words of wisdom and encouragement. And you are so right. What parents do in teaching their children to be wonderful human beings is the true sign of success in parenting. Who they are is so much more defining than what they know when it’s all said and done. You absolutely don’t have to apologize for speaking truth. And, I definitely am head nodding and agreeing wholeheartedly in the importance of being a good person and citizen, as my husband and I are big proponents of assisting our children in cultivating their moral code based on the Word of God. Having a strong inner being foundation is so vital to a child’s growth and development in every area of life. And in having a firm foundation in who they are as a person, I truly believe they can do great things in the different life achievements they set out to accomplish. Oh, and my apologies. I thought I was already following you and realized that I hadn’t yet. So, I took care of that today. Now, I should be able to get your articles in the “Reader” section. I’ll also have to go back and check out your previous posts. I’m looking forward to reading your words of inspiration. Thanks for what you do as an educator and motivator. Have a blessed day.
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Thanks for posting a very readable and constructive piece, even if you may feel somewhat frazzled in the process. As a volunteer part-time teacher at my local junior high school for the last 12 years, I can assure you that things will work out if you put your time and effort in raising your child to be the best adult they can be. In the end, and as a child becomes an adult, their most important attribute is for them to be a confident, sensible, logical, considerate, organized, loving, focused and a caring individual. Who they are as a person is far more important than their actual scholastic abilities. Not every child is ordained to be a good scholar, whatever that reason may be, but they all can become a good person and citizen, and that should be the primary goal. If the child has abilities as a student, certainly encourage same, but never forget that parents have far more say on who or what that child will become, than anyone else. It is generally recognized that by the time a child is 8 years old, the die has been set. I have taught a number of students reading in grade 1, who are now in grade 12, and they have not changed much. Sorry to make these comments, but I think both you and your child could benefit by considering these thoughts. Perhaps you may be interested in one of my blogs at http://knowledge-data.net regarding education.
All the best, Phil
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WOW, Kat! That’s a lot to have to deal with and it’s just the beginning of the school year. Well, you’re such a go-getter (and your son sounds like he is too). So, I have no doubt in my mind that you two will move into the new school setting and get your work flow going in no time. I’m just sorry you and your son are having to start over again. I have a feeling a lot of households are going to be affected by loss of teaching staff, so this challenge is probably more far-reaching than we could ever imagine. But yes, the struggle to maintain everything you need to do and the help you must give to your children IS REAL. It’s so real for so many right about now. Good thing children are resilient and flexible. They kind of just go with the flow while we (speaking of myself only – you probably hold it together all the time) have our little fits from time to time. I want to be like them when I grow up. All in all, I have high hopes for both of our households. We’ll rise to the educational challenge, because our children depend on us. And, we love our children. Take care, dear friend. I’ll be praying that things go smoothly in your new hybrid learning environment for your son and with the homeschooling you’re doing with your daughter. We’re sure to have much to visit about over the course of this school year.
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Two weeks ago, I’d have gleefully said I have it all in hand, all the blogging and online schooling and homeschooling. But things with my son’s online schooling provided by our district took a deep dive for the worst, to the point where a ton of their teachers were on the verge of quitting last week! So, of course, as a mom who values education, we had to jump ship, which really sucks because we’re already on week 7 of the academic year, but I have absolutely no clue what he was learning for those 6.5 weeks it’s been so far. We’re hopefully starting a more established online school option this week and I’ll be starting over figuring out how to fit in all my reading, writing, and blogging with a homeschool/virtual school hybrid with my son and homeschool preschool with my daughter.
I’m right there with you! But our children’s education must take a priority and I’m sure we’ll get to an efficient, workable schedule soon.
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