Our Homeschool Day, part 1

Every year around this time, I get a lot of questions from friends on Facebook regarding how we do homeschool. What curriculum do we use? What does our day look like? How do we not go crazy? I’m not saying I have all the answers (I don’t!), but it’s nice to read through ideas of how others do things to get a feel for what you could do with your own family. I’ll leave the curriculum + crazy topics for another day, but here’s a little walk-through our homeschool day/week.

The first part of our homeschool day is morning time. After the kids have woke up for the day, ate breakfast, and got ready (which includes Bible time + hygiene + 1 chore), they get to play until 9 am. For those who sleep in, that means more play happens later. For those who are up earlier, that means more play before we start. It gives them a bit of flexibility for rest while also keeping this crazy-train rolling.

At 9 am, we all gather somewhere I choose. That could be outside if it’s warm enough, or it’s at our dining room table. I’ve already put out some things for the kids to play with like crayons, stickers, or playdough, so they can each have something to do with their hands. We sing our hymn of the month, practice our memory verse, and listen to the informal part of our Spanish curriculum. Then, depending on the day, we do our solfa lesson, read a bit of a social-emotional book, do our picture study, or bust outta there (if my 1 year old is ready to move on by then). And that’s it! All together, it’s about a 10-20 minute gathering.

As my youngest grows, I’m sure our morning time will too. But for having a toddler in our homeschool, this is what works for us in this season. And we all love the way it starts our day! I’m amazed at how the kids pick up so much from this short time. My middle (5 years old) was singing our hymn at the grocery store the other day, without missing a word, even though she’d been silently listening this whole month.

As a side note, I am not militant about our morning time. We aim for 4 mornings per week of morning time (on Fridays we do blessing hour and nature study – more on that in another post), but some days we let it slide to pursue other opportunities that show up. For example, a friend of mine asked if we wanted to come paddle boarding before her boys start their school year. What a great opportunity to get a bit more time with friends before their schedule is busier, and to learn a fun water sport together! So we sang a bit in the car on the way to the reservoir, but we let everything else go for that day.

After our morning time, we break off into individual school work that requires one-on-one with momma. I’ll get more into that in another post! If you have any questions about morning time, or other aspects of our school day, drop them here. I’ll answer in the comments, or maybe you’ll inspire another post!