Homeschool: Is today a school day? What does that mean?

Once upon a time I didn't keep a physical (or electronic) schedule. My routines were consistent and the extra activities few enough that I could remember them all. I kept all my appointments, finished my assignments on time, and remembered all my extra commitments. I love routine with minor variations. But my life is no longer that simple. My calendar now has 7 different categories so I can manage not only my own schedule but all its variations and changes, and the schedules of 5 other family members.
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My husband introduced me to a level of spontaneity I had never lived before. He has been known to ask in the mid-afternoon whether I have enough food planned for him to invite someone to dinner that same day. (He has also learned to help in other ways to make that spontaneous hospitality easier for me and to include phrases with his request like "I can ask them to bring a salad" and "Would you like me to grill the meat for dinner?") His love of variety has hugely influenced our life together, even to the number of days I spend in a particular week teaching our older daughters. One week we might have 5 full days of schoolwork, the next only 2, the next 2 full days and 2 half days. I might plan to teach them for 4 days only to have plans change mid-week and turn one of those days into a half day or cancel schoolwork altogether. My goal is to average 3-4 days per week, year-round, with a lot of activities on "non-school days" which really are also schoolwork and would count as such in another school setting. (Shh! My daughters haven't figured that one out yet.)
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The problem with this spontaneity is that my daughters asked every day whether they had to do their schoolwork and complained when the answer was yes. They had no way of knowing what was expected of them each day and it increased their disappointment when they had work to do rather than a free day. So I made use of our wall calendar again to give them access to that information. We still alternate who is the "child of the day", but they're old enough to help remember and we keep track on our electronic calendars (notice the "s": that's how much my life has changed), so the wall calendar was completely free for a new use.
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Using our calendar to clarify expectations for all family
members and reduce arguing

All I do is mark each day with an X (no school), an O (full day), or a triangle (half-day). I only mark ahead as I know the schedule myself and I can easily write over a symbol with another one when our plans change at the last minute. For example, every Sunday is marked with an X right off the bat. Fridays, which were my husband's day off for awhile, were always X'd until his work schedule changed, then they became triangles or O's. But when we take a spontaneous weekend away or kids (or Mom) are sick or a week becomes too chaotic then an X might cover another symbol (and the children rejoice). Nor do they object as much about an X transforming into a triangle or O when they can clearly see on the calendar that it has simply traded places with another day that week. Spontaneity caused a Friday transform into a half day on Thursday evening, but it simultaneously caused a half day Saturday to transform into a day off. They can see that they are not expected to work more, just to complete the same work on a different day.
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A day off (X): Personal prayer time, Bible study and journals begin nearly every day. These include practice in the "school subjects" religious education, critical thinking, reading for our 7yr old, handwriting, and paraphrasing. We work on Scripture memorization as a family at breakfast so even our days off usually include recitation.
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Full day (O): I've made checklists for my daughters with everything they are supposed to accomplish during a full day of school. They are allowed to finish their tasks in almost any order (although if my help is needed then they may have to work on another assignments until I am free to work on the lesson with them and Spanish is to be done after all their other schoolwork). Right now the subjects for K and 1st grade include only reading, handwriting, math, and Spanish. Other subjects (art, science, phys ed, handcrafts, cooking) are covered weekly by all three of us together. At least officially. Actually, the books Maria reads for schoolwork and reports on usually teach her science or history, art is done during free time nearly every day anyway, all subjects are reinforced by computer games and activities which my husband invents, and "handwriting" for Maria has evolved into creative writing.
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Half day (triangle): Reading and Math are the only officially required subjects. Half days often coincide with other activities which I would consider schoolwork, such as a trip to a children's science center or a field trip to a butterfly garden or horse farm. On other days they may be scheduled to allow us the freedom for non-traditional activities which we consider just as important as official schoolwork: visiting friends, church activities, service projects, or simply more peaceful preparation for a big event such as a family vacation or special celebration.
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Sure, children still object to school days and complain that they should have the full summer off just like their friends. Yet I hear far fewer objections now that they can look at the calendar and know what is expected of them that day and that week. They don't wonder whether every day is a school day nor jump quite as freely into playtime when they are supposed to be working because they can see how many days they are expected to work this week and whether today is one of them. Clarifying my expectations of them has made our life together much more peaceful.
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Linked with Works for Me Wednesday