Go the Distance | Homeschool Diaries
Sonlight is having a monthly blog linkup this year, in honor of their 25th anniversary. Find out how we decided to homeschool in the February hop and my best advice for new homeschoolers in March.
April's prompt:
Share a day in the life of your family. What does your family’s homeschool schedule look like?
What exactly does a day in the life of a homeschooler look like?
That's like asking what a fruit looks like. Sure they're all loaded in fructose and produced through photosynthesis, but like a kiwi and a watermelon, each day has a very different flavor. This year I have a 6 and 8 and a half year old. We just started into our second year of homeschooling in March using Core C, Science C and Language Arts 2 and 3.
Here's our plan:
Each child has a binder with their math, language arts, handwriting and science worksheets inside for the entire week. The cover has a kind of flow chart to their day.
Day at a glance:
Ideally here is our schedule:
6:00 AM
The kids wake up and get ready to go (wearing clothes, teeth brushed, beds made.)
7:00 AM
Breakfast and Bible study and memory verse work. Dishes washed and pet fed.
7:30 AM
First round of school work while everyone is fresh.
8:15 AM
Break to run in back yard and climb the wisteria.
8:30 AM
Second round of school. Almost all of the independent work is completed by the end of this round.
9:15 AM
Second run around break.
9:30 AM
Finish individuals. Group work, science and core readers.
10:15 AM
Break number 3 to run amok, read what they want or play.
10:30 AM
Mid-morning snack and finish any group work left.
11:15 AM
Start making lunch and start chores.
Noon
Lunch
1:00 PM
Park or play dates or swim.
3:00 PM
Clean up house. Errands, etc.
5:00 PM
Ben home.
Dinner.
Evening activities around house.
Bedtime routines.
Here's what homeschooling looks like in real life:
Once upon a time, actually a Wednesday toward the tail end of March...
4:30AM
Most mornings, my husband leaves for the gym and work around 4:30am. Today, I alternate between pretending I'm still asleep and praying until around 5, then I wake up for a run and a bottle of water.
6:00AM
If it's a good day, l'll get a shower in before Kylee comes out to join me. She knows she is allowed to do her Bible study and read quietly in her room from 6-6:30, but she comes over and lets me know that is what she is doing anyway.
Some days she'll wander out at 5:30 or even 5:00 for a sweaty hug, but today she "slept in" until 6:00.
Chris is asleep.
6:30 AM
I really should hop in the shower, but some days my blog or email or Facebook feels more pressing. I go in and check on Kylee and get her started with getting dressed, brushing her hair and making her bed. Then I squeeze in a quick shower.
Chris is still asleep.
7:00 AM
Kylee is starving! I start making oatmeal for everyone. The tea kettle whistles and hot water, cinnamon, almond butter and berries go into the oatmeal. Kylee is thrilled and sings about her breakfast then dumps her dishes onto the counter next to the sink. (She can't reach the water to rinse her own dishes yet, so I wait until she runs off before I rinse it for her.)
Chris is still sleeping.
7:20 AM
The big yellow public school bus collects a half a dozen children from their parents at the end of our driveway, less than fifty feet from my son's bedroom window. The noise wakes him up but rather than wandering out with his bed head to eat his oatmeal in his PJs he launches right into recreating Palm Sunday in LEGOs. I pop in to remind him it's a school day. He runs out and feeds the cat then eats his breakfast slowly while we start our school day with our Bible verse of the week and Bible study. I work with my daughter and Kylee completes her handwriting, math, phonics and language arts pages. She reads her independent reader (The Beginner's Bible, Tower of Babel) out loud to us. All of her independent work is done and public school isn't in session yet. I flip the laundry.
8:30 AM
Christopher is finally awake enough to finish his breakfast, wander off to get dressed and rejoin us for a snuggled up story time. We are reviewing Usborne Book of World History which means we will have timeline figures. Chris slowly sorts through his baggies of figures in search of the Golden Age of Greece, Pythagoras and Ptolemy reading each one as he goes. Kylee dumps her bag all over the carpet and quickly finds two of the figures. Kylee pulls out her colored pencils and starts coloring immediately. Chris worries he's "getting behind" and scribbles all over his first one to "get it done." We take a while to talk about diligence and doing things properly.
Reviewing is fun, because the kids like feeling that they know this part of history (which they do!) but I'm ready to get back into learning new things.
If only for the reason that the children would like to slowly reread each of the 23 pages we're reviewing today. I let them, but it makes for a very long morning. We all get up for a water break and a stretch.
9:30 AM
We read through Window on the World, and the kids color their timeline figures while we read Aesop's fables. Chris starts in on his handwriting while I read our chapter from Red Sails to Capri. It's amazing to see how much longer the children can pay attention to stories now than they could last year. We decide to double up on science most Wednesdays to leave our Fridays a little emptier. (Friday afternoon we spend at the park with our homeschool group, so pulling a little forward helps out.) Today we're learning about bears and tigers in the Usborne Book of Knowledge. I help both children spell out their answers on their worksheets.
10:30 AM
Kylee runs off and gets her baby doll to teach her how to braid. Chris finishes off his spelling work and I help him with his language arts and diamond notes (learning to structure writing.)
I check my email while he brainstorms. He's mostly done with the exception of his math.
11:15 AM
Kylee watches a PBS documentary on bears while Chris finishes up with his math assignment. I finally take a quick shower.
11:45 AM
Lunch for everyone. I flipped the laundry. Chris fed the cat. Kylee took care of the dishes. I started the dishwasher.
12:15 PM
The kids both watched an episode of "How the States Got Their Shapes" while I put away all of our school supplies and read the instructors guide for tomorrow. I had enough time to blog for ten minutes and started this post!
12:45 PM
Everyone got their shoes and water bottles. I applied for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration "On The Road" Tour.
1:00 PM
We hopped in the car.
1:30 PM
I organized a playdate at our church's indoor playground. Athena, Amy, Laura, Terri, Natalie, Leslie, Keely, Wendy and I visited and commiserated. Four of us homeschool. three have kids in private preschool and the last has two darling three year olds who don't do much yet but have fun and run amok. We talked about annoyances and broke up fights between the children and encouraged one another. We visited and commiserated and planned and dreamed and held each others kiddos and all those mom things. We all said that we should do this more often. My kids end up sweaty, tired and happy.
3:00 PM
Back into the car we pop.
3:30 PM
FaceTime with Mimi! My lovely mother in law reads the kids a chapter of a book once a week, so right now they travel west with Laura Ingalls with her as their guide. Chris draws while he listens. I blog some more and flip the laundry. After the story Kylee runs off with the phone to show Mimi some things she's been working on during school as well as some of her favorite toys she's been playing with while Chris continues his drawing.
4:00 PM
I get a turn to talk to Mimi. While I'm on the phone I pull the clean dry sheets out of the dryer and make our bed. I spend the next half hour sorting out and folding clean laundry then talk to Ben as he drives home.
The kids each put away their laundry in their room and I finish up putting our laundry away then do a sweep all over the house to put everything in order. Ben gets home and I get both kids quietly reading so we can talk for a bit.
5:00 PM
Ben takes Kylee out in the yard to hack up the overgrown hedges. Chris ventures out to help as well after much persuasion. Sweaty smelly kids come in, shower and hop into their jammies. Time for some pajama dinner!
5:30 PM
I start making a pancake breakfast dinner with veggie bacon as a treat for helping daddy in the yard. Kylee and Chris play while Ben showers.
7:00 PM
Both kids head to their rooms for bedtime and I squeeze in my Bible study. The kids are allowed to quietly read in their beds until 7:30 or 8, but Chris has been pushing this later and later lately. Ben and I catch up with each other, social media and then veg out. We're watching our way through an older (but new to us!) season of Bones on Netflix.
8:30-9 PM
Bedtime
For more windows into daily homeschool life, visit the April blog party!
To join up next month, check out the link below.
April's prompt:
Share a day in the life of your family. What does your family’s homeschool schedule look like?
What exactly does a day in the life of a homeschooler look like?
 |
| A day in the life of our first year with Sonlight. |
That's like asking what a fruit looks like. Sure they're all loaded in fructose and produced through photosynthesis, but like a kiwi and a watermelon, each day has a very different flavor. This year I have a 6 and 8 and a half year old. We just started into our second year of homeschooling in March using Core C, Science C and Language Arts 2 and 3.
Here's our plan:
 |
| Christopher's Weekly Planner |
Day at a glance:
- Bible Study
- Memory Verse
- Question of the Day
- Math Drill
- Handwriting
- Math Lesson
- Language Arts Reader Pages
- Math Worksheet
- Independent Readers
- Science
- Core Readers
- Go Try Something!
Ideally here is our schedule:
6:00 AM
The kids wake up and get ready to go (wearing clothes, teeth brushed, beds made.)
7:00 AM
Breakfast and Bible study and memory verse work. Dishes washed and pet fed.
7:30 AM
First round of school work while everyone is fresh.
 |
| Homeschooling in real life: You rearrange the room to give the kids a couple feet between their desks so that they don't bother each other so much. Your daughter gets "lonely" and does her seat work on the floor to be closer to her brother. |
Break to run in back yard and climb the wisteria.
 |
| And climb the wisteria! |
Second round of school. Almost all of the independent work is completed by the end of this round.
9:15 AM
Second run around break.
 |
| Sparring in the back yard. |
Finish individuals. Group work, science and core readers.
10:15 AM
Break number 3 to run amok, read what they want or play.
10:30 AM
Mid-morning snack and finish any group work left.
11:15 AM
Start making lunch and start chores.
 |
| Mopping is super fun for some reason. I'll take it while it lasts! |
Lunch
1:00 PM
Park or play dates or swim.
3:00 PM
Clean up house. Errands, etc.
5:00 PM
Ben home.
 |
| Helping make food? Also fun. |
Evening activities around house.
Bedtime routines.
Here's what homeschooling looks like in real life:
Once upon a time, actually a Wednesday toward the tail end of March...
4:30AM
Most mornings, my husband leaves for the gym and work around 4:30am. Today, I alternate between pretending I'm still asleep and praying until around 5, then I wake up for a run and a bottle of water.
6:00AM
If it's a good day, l'll get a shower in before Kylee comes out to join me. She knows she is allowed to do her Bible study and read quietly in her room from 6-6:30, but she comes over and lets me know that is what she is doing anyway.
 |
| Sneaking in her early morning Bible study. |
Chris is asleep.
6:30 AM
I really should hop in the shower, but some days my blog or email or Facebook feels more pressing. I go in and check on Kylee and get her started with getting dressed, brushing her hair and making her bed. Then I squeeze in a quick shower.
Chris is still asleep.
7:00 AM
Kylee is starving! I start making oatmeal for everyone. The tea kettle whistles and hot water, cinnamon, almond butter and berries go into the oatmeal. Kylee is thrilled and sings about her breakfast then dumps her dishes onto the counter next to the sink. (She can't reach the water to rinse her own dishes yet, so I wait until she runs off before I rinse it for her.)
Chris is still sleeping.
7:20 AM
The big yellow public school bus collects a half a dozen children from their parents at the end of our driveway, less than fifty feet from my son's bedroom window. The noise wakes him up but rather than wandering out with his bed head to eat his oatmeal in his PJs he launches right into recreating Palm Sunday in LEGOs. I pop in to remind him it's a school day. He runs out and feeds the cat then eats his breakfast slowly while we start our school day with our Bible verse of the week and Bible study. I work with my daughter and Kylee completes her handwriting, math, phonics and language arts pages. She reads her independent reader (The Beginner's Bible, Tower of Babel) out loud to us. All of her independent work is done and public school isn't in session yet. I flip the laundry.
8:30 AM
Christopher is finally awake enough to finish his breakfast, wander off to get dressed and rejoin us for a snuggled up story time. We are reviewing Usborne Book of World History which means we will have timeline figures. Chris slowly sorts through his baggies of figures in search of the Golden Age of Greece, Pythagoras and Ptolemy reading each one as he goes. Kylee dumps her bag all over the carpet and quickly finds two of the figures. Kylee pulls out her colored pencils and starts coloring immediately. Chris worries he's "getting behind" and scribbles all over his first one to "get it done." We take a while to talk about diligence and doing things properly.
Reviewing is fun, because the kids like feeling that they know this part of history (which they do!) but I'm ready to get back into learning new things.
If only for the reason that the children would like to slowly reread each of the 23 pages we're reviewing today. I let them, but it makes for a very long morning. We all get up for a water break and a stretch.
 |
| Climbing in the lianas. |
We read through Window on the World, and the kids color their timeline figures while we read Aesop's fables. Chris starts in on his handwriting while I read our chapter from Red Sails to Capri. It's amazing to see how much longer the children can pay attention to stories now than they could last year. We decide to double up on science most Wednesdays to leave our Fridays a little emptier. (Friday afternoon we spend at the park with our homeschool group, so pulling a little forward helps out.) Today we're learning about bears and tigers in the Usborne Book of Knowledge. I help both children spell out their answers on their worksheets.
10:30 AM
Kylee runs off and gets her baby doll to teach her how to braid. Chris finishes off his spelling work and I help him with his language arts and diamond notes (learning to structure writing.)
 |
| Homeschooling in real life: Sometimes my main dude wants a chair and sometimes he prefers to stand up. |
11:15 AM
Kylee watches a PBS documentary on bears while Chris finishes up with his math assignment. I finally take a quick shower.
11:45 AM
Lunch for everyone. I flipped the laundry. Chris fed the cat. Kylee took care of the dishes. I started the dishwasher.
12:15 PM
The kids both watched an episode of "How the States Got Their Shapes" while I put away all of our school supplies and read the instructors guide for tomorrow. I had enough time to blog for ten minutes and started this post!
12:45 PM
Everyone got their shoes and water bottles. I applied for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration "On The Road" Tour.
1:00 PM
We hopped in the car.
1:30 PM
I organized a playdate at our church's indoor playground. Athena, Amy, Laura, Terri, Natalie, Leslie, Keely, Wendy and I visited and commiserated. Four of us homeschool. three have kids in private preschool and the last has two darling three year olds who don't do much yet but have fun and run amok. We talked about annoyances and broke up fights between the children and encouraged one another. We visited and commiserated and planned and dreamed and held each others kiddos and all those mom things. We all said that we should do this more often. My kids end up sweaty, tired and happy.
3:00 PM
Back into the car we pop.
3:30 PM
FaceTime with Mimi! My lovely mother in law reads the kids a chapter of a book once a week, so right now they travel west with Laura Ingalls with her as their guide. Chris draws while he listens. I blog some more and flip the laundry. After the story Kylee runs off with the phone to show Mimi some things she's been working on during school as well as some of her favorite toys she's been playing with while Chris continues his drawing.
4:00 PM
I get a turn to talk to Mimi. While I'm on the phone I pull the clean dry sheets out of the dryer and make our bed. I spend the next half hour sorting out and folding clean laundry then talk to Ben as he drives home.
 |
| Laundry Ninjas. In fairness I did ask them to fold the shirts they've wrapped around their heads. I do not recall telling them to be ninjas. |
5:00 PM
Ben takes Kylee out in the yard to hack up the overgrown hedges. Chris ventures out to help as well after much persuasion. Sweaty smelly kids come in, shower and hop into their jammies. Time for some pajama dinner!
5:30 PM
I start making a pancake breakfast dinner with veggie bacon as a treat for helping daddy in the yard. Kylee and Chris play while Ben showers.
7:00 PM
Both kids head to their rooms for bedtime and I squeeze in my Bible study. The kids are allowed to quietly read in their beds until 7:30 or 8, but Chris has been pushing this later and later lately. Ben and I catch up with each other, social media and then veg out. We're watching our way through an older (but new to us!) season of Bones on Netflix.
8:30-9 PM
Bedtime
For more windows into daily homeschool life, visit the April blog party!
To join up next month, check out the link below.
I love the pictures, and finding out what it is really like for the kids. They look so creative and happy : )
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I especially love the picture of your daughter doing her schoolwork on the floor under her brother's desk because she's "lonely!" Too cute!
ReplyDelete