From Jan-Aug 2025 we had an American Nanny come to West Africa to help with my girls. Once she left I knew I would need to reevaluate my schedule so I could still have time to work alongside the extra time I would have with my girls. I also knew I wanted to be intentional with how I filled our time together. I read Managers of their Homes and benefitted from the recommendation of changing activities every 30 minutes with small children.
7-8 My girls don't usually wake at a consistent time so I chose to make our 1st block an hour range with the goals being get up/dressed & make/eat breakfast.
8-9 Next is simply playing outside and we don't worry if breakfast spills into this time frame, we just use whatever time is left to enjoy outside before it gets too hot.
9-10 At 9 my 2 year old Eden goes with our African Nanny where she enjoys spending more time outside and is able to be immersed in the local African dialect. This allows me to spend concentrated one-on-one time with my 5 year old Jubilee for "School."
I'm not into academics too early so this is an informal, fun time where we focus on what is most important to us - Bible & French. We rotate simple activities like reading, memorizing a Bible verse/week, and doing a French Letter a Day.
10-11 I am still involved with our Bible Translation and so if I have any Comprehension Checking to do with an African neighbor I bring Jubilee along. If I don't, we might go to market or do a cooking project. It has helped me to have several options of what to do during this 3rd time frame.
11-11:30 I purposefully schedule another interactive, fun time with Jubilee right after our previous more work-related one. Here we read French books together.
11:30-12:15 And as Jubliee's reward for "School" she gets to watch! I intentionally chose an immersion-based option first (Mimi Soleil, Whistlefritz) and then let her pick her favorite French cartoon (Peppa Pig, T'Choupi).
This is also Free Time for me and I really try NOT to do kitchen prep or work or even rest but to also watch or read something fun for me!
How My Days Have Changed
Feb 2024 Brittany’s Bilingual French Day (with a 3.5 yr old & 7 month old)
Sept 2024 Brittany’s “Redeeming Your Time” Bilingual French Day (with a 4 & 1 yr old)
March 2025 Brittany's Bilingual French Day (with a 4.5 and 1.5 yr old)
I used the same book- Managers of Their Homes- when we first went to Africa. My kids were 3-9 years old at the time. I needed to do some one-on-one teaching with each of them, and it was like figuring out a puzzle to get all the pieces in. I also found quite a few helpful suggestions in the book. I'm glad it's working for you, too.
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