Want a peek into our day? I’m always curious about other people’s schedules and how they fit in homeschool, work, chores, and whatever.
I aim at a 2 for 3 kinda day.
I can focus on our homeschool. I can focus on housework and chores. I can focus on my blogging and home business.
On any given day, I can’t get it all done well.
I can successfully get homeschool and chores accomplished or chores and work or homeschool and work. But never all three.
A day in our life.
Here’s a typical Monday for us.
I have a 15 year old girl, two girls almost 9 and 8, and an almost 5 year old boy.
Morning
Alex wakes me up at
6:40.
He demands bacon and eggs. We read his Bible storybook and I do my Bible study. Kate soon comes down. They watch X-Men on Netflix while I make breakfast. I clean up the kitchen from last night’s dishes.
We eat. They demand a sip of coffee. We clear the table. I load and start the dishwasher.
I take my supplements.
I begin a load of laundry.
8:14
Liz comes downstairs and doesn’t want anything to eat. Tori soon follows and also doesn’t want anything to eat yet.
I encourage Tori to eat something. I think she snags some bacon and cereal.
(This is not going at all like I planned! The idyllic family breakfast just isn’t happening.)
Kate and Tori sweep the dining room.
Liz reads her Bible study.
I give the kids their supplements.
I tell the girls to sweep again and actually move the chairs and sweep the entire dining room area, baseboards and all.
Tori and Kate read their Sword Fighting Bible devotional. They fight over who reads what. I intervene.
I remind Liz to go make her bed and take her supplements. She finally decides to eat a tangerine.
We apply our daily essential oils.
Kate practices piano and Tori practices guitar. They’re doing so well! We just began music lessons this month.
School Time
8:50
We start with our read alouds. Today is Anne of Green Gables, Winnie-the-Pooh, Harlem Stomp!, and World Wars.
Halfway through Anne, Tori accidently bumped Alex’s nose. After comforting him and asking her through clenched teeth to sit on the other sofa, we finish a chapter of Anne.
I remind them all to brush their teeth. Why must I remind them to brush their teeth every single day?
Then we finish reading Pooh, World Wars, and Harlem Stomp.
9:42
Alex has a tantrum that he’s starving, but he won’t tell me what he wants to eat. He doesn’t want a banana. He runs to his room in despair.
The girls and I head to our school room.
Alex decides to eat a carrot.
I help Alex with reading printables and Singapore K math.
This kid kills me. Apparently, he didn’t feel challenged enough, so he wrote the beginning letter over each picture also:
Tori and Kate work independently on their Spelling Workout and a winter fun pack.
Liz works on Latin Form 2, VideoText algebra, and Apologia physical science independently. I check those later.
I do some money math with Alex. He refuses to read or be read to. sigh
11:18
I put frozen mini pizzas in the oven for lunch. Because, sometimes, it’s just easier, y’all. I do cut up some and onion, red bell pepper, and pepperoni for toppings. Semi-homemade, right?
Afternoon
12:23
Liz and I watch a couple episodes of Downton Abbey with our lunch. The littles watch the iPad – Wild Kratts.
They stack their plates on the counter and go play.
1:13
I help Liz organize her math notebook and write out her agenda for the week. We discuss history and literature and what she learned last week.
I realize I never finished school with Tori and Kate. sigh
We school year-round, so this isn’t a problem. We usually alternate science and history every day. We’re so ahead in math that it’s not an issue.
3:24
I hang up the laundry to dry. I print out eMeals.com recipes for the week. Liz wants a cool notebook cover for math. I find some funny math eCards and print a collage of those. She’s delighted.
Tori and Kate are playing so nicely with dolls and/or Legos upstairs. Alex watches his shows on his iPad.
3:57
I link up some blog posts and do some research.
We have to leave the house at 5:00 to take Liz to Civil Air Patrol for PT at 6:00. It’s already dark. I drop Liz off at the gym and stop by the library to check out a stack of civil rights leaders’ biographies.
Dinner time
We get back home about 6:15.
I make a quick dinner – sautéed pecan chicken, couscous, and salad. I unload the dishwasher so we can easily load our plates. I tell the kids to go ahead and get in pajamas so it’s an easy night. After dinner, they run to brush their teeth.
Evening
It’s now 7:09 PM.
We have family reading – currently Pollyanna and Bible stories. We put our bedtime essential oils on. We have a prayer circle, holding hands (and the cats always snuggle in too!). I sing lullabies.
8:00
Bedtime!
Liz and Aaron come home about 9:00 or so, eat leftover dinner, clean up, and it’s lights out for all.
I usually stay up until 11 or so, reading and working.
I love d how honest this was; the demands of kids, the deviations from schedules , the unexpected always crops up. I find keeping a schedule to be beyond me most homeschooling years. This is the first year I decided to embrace our non-schedule and just go with it. We school year round and I find that even when I’m not planning and implementing lessons they learn a lot. We’ve spend the entire summer unschooling and it’s gone so well that I figure we’ll keep going with it until we need the structure of school again (usually by the end of Sept./ beginning of Oct they’re asking for school).
yes, I like that term: non-schedule. That’s me! Waiting for books to come in at the library and we’ll transition to the “new” school year.