On a good day when Mama gets up early and the kitchen is clean and the coffee is made…

Homeschooling four kids can be a challenge.

7 AM

when we’re ~supposed~ to get up and eat breakfast. Some days, it staggers between 0730 and 0800. I am so not a morning person. I make eggs or coffee cake or cheesy grits or steel cut oatmeal, with bacon and two kinds of sausage. Why can’t they all like the same thing?

Morning chores need to be accomplished before our school day: clean the table, get dressed, brush teeth, make beds…

8 AM

Tori and Katie do their Grapevine Studies Catechism page while I or Elizabeth wrestle Alex into clothes for the day and convince him to brush his teeth.

He’s addicted to his iPad in the mornings (and every other minute of the day) and I have to convince him it needs to “take a nap or eat” so he will join us in the school room.

Often Tori gets her Bible page completed way before Katie even finishes breakfast and then she does her morning routine. Whatever works. She’s the “good one.”

I steal a few minutes to check my email and Facebook or get a blog post started. I need my two cuppas! I often have to remind all the girls to brush their teeth and wash their faces (multiple times). Really?!

9 AM

I get Tori and Katie started on their seat work.

They have a daily journal and math work and word families pages. Some they can do on their own and others they need me to direct them. I try to interest Alex in his workboxes at this time.

I remind Elizabeth that she does indeed have a school daily checklist and she better get started. She uses Alex as an excuse and will play with him every chance she gets. If she would work diligently, she could be finished with 3/4 of her work in about an hour.

Here are the girls’ checklists. I got the idea from here. I got some little Command hooks and they’re in front of their desks on the wall. The girls love it!

Elizabeth has a pink agenda with a monthly calendar and daily checklists. Trying desperately to teach her to manage her time!

10 AM

I do our read alouds on the sofa.

Alex has recently shown interest to join us which is wonderful! He really, really loved our Beowulf picture book last week.

Occasionally, I call to Elizabeth to join us if it applies to her studies. We’re currently reading through Famous Men of the Middle Ages. The only problem is Liz doesn’t want to get back on task.

I love being able to lay all over each other and read on the sofa!

Rubeus enjoys our sofa time. He likes to snuggle and look at the pictures. I swear he understands the stories!

11 AM

I usually give the Tori and Katie a break to play with Alex with his workboxes and other learning toys. They love helping him with his Tot School. It’s a good incentive to get Katie to finish her list. I help Liz move along in her studies. I make sure she’s gotten her Bible, math, and Greek completed, at least. I find my now cold coffee and some days warm it in the microwave or toss it. I steal a few minutes to check email or write.

12 PM

Lunchtime. Liz usually helps prepare this. I like the help, but I know she’s using it as an excuse to not do her work. I think she also wants the time with me. We usually have leftovers or deli ham with fruit and veggies.

1 PM

Naptime for Alex.

No excuses for Liz now since she has time to complete her list! I use this time to teach her any concepts that she needs in history or LA. She gets her notebooking finished during this time. I like this conference time because I love seeing the connections that Liz makes. She really does get it!

2 PM

I finish up anything with the girls: science, crafts, art…

3 PM

Clean up time, especially the kitchen. We make sure Alex is up from his nap so he will go to bed on time.

4 PM

I try to prep dinner and get the table set. Tori often helps. The kids play until dinner time. I try to get in some computer time to blog, check email and Facebook.

5 PM

Dad is home and he and the kids check the garden. Then we’re working on dinner and eating. Wednesdays, the littles have gymnastics.

6-7 PM

Tori, Liz, and I clean up most nights.

Then the kids like to play outside and practice cartwheels and watch the hummingbirds.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Katie starts soccer practice this week.

8-9 PM

Sometime during this hour, we gather the younguns for baths and bedtime routines. I’ve been really lax with the nice weather and the sun being out so late.

We’ll have to gradually start going to bed earlier. My husband is also worn out and goes to bed with the kids most nights!

I usually stay up until about 11, reading, writing, researching, or watching Doctor Who.

Check out our other posts in this series. Our Curriculum, Our Homeschool Space…

Here’s a day in our homeschool life.

We have a toddler, 2 preschoolers, and 1 finishing elementary.

We’ve pushed our schedule back some…I really just am not a morning person! No 6 AM wake-up calls for me, please!

We get up around 0730 and have breakfast.

The kids get cereal and juice and I guzzle a pot of coffee. Then, together on the sofa, we do Bible and calendar time. We do history and literature reading together as much as their itty bitty attention spans can manage.

Then, we get dressed. Some days, that’s about 10 AM.

So, don’t visit me before noon, y’all. I ain’t like them storybook Southern belles who roll outta bed fully coiffed and already in impeccable makeup. NoSiree. It takes lots of work to look this good and I seldom feel up to it if I don’t really have anywhere to go. Ponytail and glasses and clean clothes will suffice at home, thank you. I know you FlyLady followers out there probably need oxygen right about now to get through the rest of this post.

We do laundry and dishes. I used to have a chore plan with a zone for each day, but I’m not sure what happened. We just clean when we need to lately. Most areas need daily cleaning. That works for now.

I try to get the girls started on their workboxes and computer work. I try to occupy the Bubba during this time. Lately, I’ve had all the kids go outside to play before it gets too hot. Then, they do school work when he naps. They’re much more amenable if they get their outside time. I’m much more amenable if I get some quiet time too.

We eat leftovers for lunch, or snacky things like deli meat, fruit, and veggies. Usually around noonish.

I need to get back into the habit of listening to our composer of the month or an audio book, or at the very least, some jammin’ praise and worship music.

I try to keep the Bubba up as long as I can.

On a good day, he naps about 2.

If he goes down earlier, we don’t get much done in the afternoon. While he naps, Elizabeth gets all her school work finished – Latin, math, reading, writing…all that good stuff. Sometimes, Tori and Katie do more school-related activities, other times, they watch a DVD or play computer games. It really depends on the day and how organized mommy-teacher is that week. And sometimes, they complete their entire week’s worth of activities in two days. Then what?!

Snack time and playtime commence when the Bubba awakes. I prep for dinner and we try to clean up before Daddy gets home. Some days, that happens, and others, well, it doesn’t. Luckily, Daddy doesn’t care too much. But I do. I detest dishes marching across my countertops and partying on the stovetop. Right now, I think they’re doing West Coast Swing in there. I don’t even want to look. On good afternoons, I get to lie around and read while the lil boogers play cuz everything is mostly done. Not this week. Nope. And Daddy has been rolling in after 6:30 PM since he returned from his deployment. With all that extra time, the boogers could be cleaning up, but they’re making more messes. Rather counterproductive. So rude.

Soccer started this week, so our dinner plans are unpredictable. Last night, we ate at 8:30 PM. Tori has practices Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 PM and Elizabeth has practice on Mondays at 7 PM. Katie has an hour in there somewhere, but no one has felt the need to inform us yet. Commence insanity and slow cooker meals which look like pet food. We will have AWANA beginning next Wednesday at 7 PM. Dinner isn’t that important, right? Don’t studies show that you’ll get fat(ter) if you eat after 6 PM? And don’t most cultures eat larger lunches and smaller dinners anyway? And they’re healthier. That awful S.A.D. diet. sigh

I could do so much more if I didn’t have to eat or sleep.