A Day in Our Homeschool

Many parents considering homeschooling wonder what their day-by-day would like if they chose to homeschool. I know that I watched (and sometimes still watch) videos outlining what daily schedules for different families. It is hard to set aside the training from public school as to how we should spend time educating. So here a glimpse at our day-to-day. Its not perfect, it evolves as needed, and most things aren’t set in stone.

Morning

I have long wondered whether my innate ability to rise with the sun is a blessing or a curse. I trained myself to be an early riser in my twenties and the habit truly stuck. Now, a decade later, I naturally wake-up between six and seven. This habit was helpful when my son attended public school and it is even more helpful now. I like to have 15-20 minutes of alone time in the morning while I shake the cobwebs off.

6-7 am:

Wake-up and immediately start coffee (yes, I know, I should be drinking water first). Ideally, I would use this quiet time to set intentions or read my Bible, but honestly I usually watch the news or an episode of a show while I drink my coffee.

8-9:30 am:

Wake the kids, if they haven’t already woken up. I give the kids about 30 minutes to eat breakfast, brush their teeth, and get dressed for the day. We then do the kids Bible reading from My Father’s World and Victor’s Journey Through the Bible, and review our weekly memory verse.

9:30- Noon:

I have found that I have to go to they gym for my own sanity, and its a good social and physical outlet for the kids. Three days a week we go to the YMCA for about an hour. Two days a week the kids are in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which takes roughly the same amount of time.

LUNCH/Afternoon

We come home from activities and I make lunch. I’ve recently started playing audio books for the kids using Sherwood Entertainment while they eat lunch. They seem to bicker with each other less and focus on the story and actually eating in a timely manner.

1-3 pm:

We use the afternoon to do the bulk of our lessons. Thankfully, each subject only takes 10-20 minutes. While my son works on independent work (math, timeline, history summaries, reading) I work with my daughter on her letter sounds and counting. Very rarely are we doing school for 2 solid hours. This time usually includes breaks to do chores and have a snack.

Evening

This is where it gets a bit chaotic. In the fall and spring, both kids play soccer. In the winter, we tend to hibernate and be a bit lazier in the evenings. And in the summer, we stay up late and outside until the sun goes down. Through the chaos, I try to have dinner on the table around 6:30. After dinner, we typically watch TV or a movie together. Bedtime routines start around 8. I used to be super strict with bedtime, but I have definitely been more lax since we switched to homeschool. My kids are usually early risers, but we adjust bedtime as needed for the season.

And that’s our general weekday. I’d love to hear how your family structures the day!