Otherwise, I would spend too much time teaching or on the opposite side of the coin, I perhaps would spend too little time planning, and consequently, not provide the proper guidelines for my children to follow. I feel my children work best with a daily schedule. Our schedule last year was very specific. I felt it gave the children a sense of order and reminded them how long they should need to complete each class. This schedule worked pretty well, although there were many times all the children needed my attention at the same time.
Flexibility is the key to survival.
If I had insisted totally on following this schedule, I would have gone nuts. Instead, I used it as a basic guide. The kids and I usually work together to develop an appropriate schedule. For optimum learning, they have to be happy with the flow of the day. Typically, my children choose to do math first thing in the morning.