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What do you do all day? Isn’t that what we’re all dying to know about other homeschoolers? Today I’m inviting you to my house to witness a homeschool day in the life with an 11 and 3 year-old. I don’t know what you’re expecting, but it’s hardly glamorous.
There may be things we do that inspire you. Or there may be things we do that you think are weird, crazy, or a complete waste of time. All of us put energy into the things we care about most. That’s what makes us all unique in our homeschool styles.
Keep in mind that I’m writing about a good day in our homeschool. Posts like this can lead to comparing ourselves to others, and that isn’t healthy. It can leave us feeling better (I don’t do that) or worse (I don’t do that). But I know we’re all guilty of giving in to comparing from time to time. We all look for reassurance that we’re doing okay.
I hope you’ll find something helpful from this post and leave feeling encouraged in your homeschool journey.
It’s Friday…
6:30 a.m. Wake Up
My 3 year-old son wakes up and wants to nurse. Yes, you read that right. I’m nursing my preschooler and I am in no rush to make him wean. I know I’m a minority in our culture, but I don’t mind being different.
Miles heads downstairs to spend some time with his Dad while I try to fall back asleep, but with no luck. Later he climbs back in bed with me to cuddle some more.
7:45 Get Up
We finally get up to start the day. I take time doing my hair and makeup. Lately I’ve been putting more effort into my appearance because it makes me feel better. I just need to work on my wardrobe now. Remember “What Not to Wear?” I’m guilty of wearing those mom jeans with faded knees, stains, and fraying hems. Why wear nice clothes when I’m spending half my life on the floor?
As I’m getting ready my daughter gets up. Then I help Miles get dressed. He claims his shirt “feels funny,” so I convince him to wear something else. It happens to better for the photos I hope to take anyway.
8:35 a.m. Breakfast
Breakfast as a family is unusual. I don’t know how we timed it right today, but even my husband ate with us. I try to do chores throughout the day, so this is when I run down to put in a load of laundry.
9:00 a.m. Start School
Julia begins her math. Today she’s doing a practice set, so I don’t need to give her a math lesson. She’s in the midst of a unit on fractions in Primary Mathematics.
Miles and I bake muffins. He loves tools, especially kitchen tools. I choose cranberry muffins so he can use the food chopper to chop up the cranberries. It’s more fun than just his typical mixing with the whisk.
9:45 a.m.
While Julia works independently on her grammar and vocabulary, Miles asks me to play doctor. I have to be a kitty with a hurt paw.
10:00 a.m.
Julia works on some music theory homework for her co-op class and I put the laundry in the dryer. As I hang some clothes on the drying rack, Miles is there with me. He notices a ladybug on the light cord and starts asking me questions.
“How many legs does the ladybug have?”
“Are they boys?”
“Do ladybugs have mouths? They can’t eat if they don’t have a mouth!”
10:15 a.m. Game
One of our favorite games is Richard Scarry’s Busytown (affiliate link). On each Goldbug playing card is a picture of something to look for on the gameboard. We use our tiny magnifying glasses to see how many things we can find.
10:30 a.m. Read Aloud
I don’t like to skimp on read aloud because it’s so valuable, but it isn’t always easy. Most days I start reading the first paragraph and Miles interrupts, insisting I read him his own book.
I give him a snack, hoping that buys me some time today. He’s cute when he sits with us on the couch as I read. Our read aloud is Little Women and even though it’s not for him, I know he is learning about language and how books sound. And he’s seeing that everyone in our house reads. He likes to find letters, like the first one of each chapter that is written in a larger, script font.
Although it’s taken us most of the school year to get through Little Women, I’m glad we didn’t give up. There are times when Julia has been bored, but in the end it has brought her to tears. When we’re both crying together on the couch, you know it’s a good book. We’ve grown to love the characters and their life story. I can’t wait to watch the movie version.
11:00 a.m. Writers’ Workshop
Miles is too young for writers’ workshop, but he’s not too young to start understanding what it means to be a writer.
Today I invite him to write a book. We fold some white paper together and he uses markers to draw his story. He writes about a mouse and his hole, which ends up being mostly about elaborate tunnels with water flowing inside.
He was so proud of making that book!
Later he returns to his book and adds “The End.” With preschool writers you have to rely on them to read their story to you. Miles’s story had no written letters, only drawings and scribbles. But you can tell he knows that stories have a beginning and an end.
Julia is working on a fictional story with four main characters. I decided to do a mini-lesson that teaches a strategy for developing characters called, “Picture Your Character.” Julia made webs for each of her characters and jotted down physical characteristics, how they act, and how they talk. Now she can think about how those traits will play out in her story. How will she show Ernest’s compassionate, leadership qualities?
This strategy came from a new book I bought called, The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers (affiliate link) by Jennifer Serravallo. It’s jam packed with writing strategies organized by goal.
For example, if your child needs work on elaboration, you turn to that section in the book and search for a strategy in the appropriate grade level and writing genre. It’s going to be a handy tool for our writing time.
12:00 p.m. Lunch
My husband is working from home today, so we all eat lunch together. Julia offers to do the dishes, and I put in another load of laundry.
12:45 p.m. More Work
Julia takes her Latin test while Miles plays with his dad’s drums. Then she practices her clarinet. I keep Miles occupied with puzzles so she can practice in peace. If I don’t, he’ll get out his rhythm instruments and try to accompany her. It drives her crazy.
Science is the only subject left of the day. Julia works on labeling and coloring a sketch about the nervous system.
2:00 p.m. Physical Play
By this time Julia is finished with her work, so we bundle up to go outside. It turns out to be a warm 44 degrees with wet snow; perfect for snowman building and snowball fights. Miles enjoys splashing in the mud puddles. He’s a wet mess by the end of our play time.
2:30 p.m. Swim
Julia goes to the pool with her dad. I rarely go, because I hate being cold, and that walk from the pool to the shower is so far!
Miles and I play spend time playing music. He likes me to sing along and shake maracas while he strums his play guitar and sings an original song. We also get out some legos and building blocks. I manage to sneak away to fold the laundry while he has some alone time.
3:30 p.m. Break
I wish I had more will power to structure a “quiet time” for Miles. I had a friend whose preschooler would sit for an hour just “reading” books. I can’t see that happening for us, although in theory it sounds wonderful.
I revert to TV. An hour or so of Octonauts gives me a break, to get some coffee and chocolate and check my email.
Julia comes home from swimming, grabs a snack, reads, and spends some time on her iPad.
4:30 p.m. Reading
Miles is finished with his show and wants me to read The Cat at Night by Dahlov Ipcar. It’s a book written and beautifully illustrated by a women from Maine. If you are not familiar with Dahlov Ipcar’s books, I recommend checking them out. We were fortunate to meet Dahlov at a local art show before she passed away last year at the age of 99.
5:00 p.m. Make Dinner
Making dinner is rather fun tonight, because I can hear everyone taking turns playing my husband’s new drum set. My daughter has natural talent. Maybe she’ll consider playing drums in band some day.
Later Miles runs into the kitchen showing off his bright red nail polish. It’s fun having a big sister.
6:10 p.m. Dinner & Movie
We have a Friday movie night tradition. Tonight we eat fish sticks, homemade sweet potato fries, and asparagus while watching a British cooking show.
After ice cream, Miles wants to have “milks” and read Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Tomie’s Baa, Baa, Black Sheep and Other Rhymes by Tomie dePaola.
The only way I could get him to sit still long enough to read when he was a toddler was to let him nurse while reading. It’s a routine that stuck, and I’ve cherished our special time together. By this time next year, he’ll probably be all grown up.
7:00 p.m. Shower
I jump in the shower while everyone cleans up the dinner dishes. Then I retreat to our bedroom to sit by the fire and type up our day in the life post. As an introvert I’m wiped out by this time, and it’s energizing to get quiet time by myself.
My husband takes care of getting Miles showered. Julia is doing her own thing: playing ukelele, coloring, or what have you.
8:00 p.m. Bedtime for the Youngest
I sing and nurse Miles to sleep while Julia gets herself ready for our evening together.
8:30 p.m. TV Time
On weekends, we let our daughter stay up with us. Tonight we watch When Calls the Heart, which is loosely based on Janette Oke’s book.
We enjoyed season one, but now in season two everything has changed. Not only are all the actors wearing too much make up and living in a blemish-free town with perfectly groomed streets, but the story line has developed into a soap opera. Way too many love stories are involved, and the writers lost focus on developing the main characters.
We miss the simple plot and rustic feel of the first season, but we’re sticking with it since there’s not much better on TV.
The Olympic games have been keeping us up late this week. After our show we try to stay up to watch the men’s figure skating, but by 11:30 we agree it’s time to go to bed.
12:00 midnight
I finish my adventure with Percy Jackson in The Lightning Thief and finally turn out the light. It’s been a long, but rewarding day.
Final Thoughts
Each year, Jamie from Simple Homeschool, generously hosts this homeschool day in the life series. She has been encouraging homeschool moms for years. If you want to read other day in the life posts, please stop by her blog.
If you want to know more about how we’ve changed over the years, check out these posts.
