What is a typical day in the life of your home school like?

[mommyoffive]

What is a typical day in the life of your home school like?

 

 

 

[Soror]

Days vary from month to month and year to year.  Fridays tend to be lighter, as do Fall and Spring days. It also depends on how I am feeling unfortunately(altough that is improving).

 

Today(Friday)- light school day- dd1 only had spelling and reading and ds had spelling, reading and math

8- kids ate cereal for a light breakfast- I get pumpkin bread in the oven for a more substantial breakfast

8:30-9:15- walk and tromp through the woods (I told the kids we got both Roadkill Science(name those bones- figure out the animal) and Forest physics(teeter totter on the old dead tree means trying to figure out levers and weights))

9:15-9:30- pumpkin bread and CNN student news

9:30-10:15- read aloud

10:15-10:30- Friday free-write(all but the 4y.o.)

10:30-10:45- dd1's spelling

10:45-12- Spelling & Math with ds

12- lunch & episode of Amazing Race

1-2:30 reading/quiet time

2:30-3- clean up time

3- 4- electronic time

 

Normalish day-

(sometimes the olders get up early to get some work done before starting day and both my older ones will take some of their reading with them to bed so they can read ahead for the next school day)

8 or so breakfast

8:30-9:30 PE/Walk

9:30-12:00- I rotate through the kids, starting with dd2(1st)&dd3-4yo, then dd1(4th) and ds 6/7th. I work with each one individually about an hr or so.  

My older 2 do individual work while i'm working with somebody else and the younger ones are sent off to play once they are done.

Read- Aloud 

 

12-1pm; quick clean-up- lunch- might watch an educational or semi-educational show; Read aloud time if I didn't get it in earlier

1-2:30 - Finish up with son- special stuff- Poetry time(tues), Nature Study(Wed or Thurs), movie(any read alouds made into movies are watched after they are read)

2:30-3- Clean- UP

3-4- Electronic time

 

On light days or when I'm not feeling feel well the extras often get skipped, I try to schedule that in these days and make it as easy as possible to get to it so we don't skip it too much. Last week for example poetry time was done in the van- cookies from a box and a poetry CD :) This week we did it proper with homemade pumpkin bread and hot cocoa and everyone had plenty of turns reading their old and new favorites. Sometimes nature time is a big exploration down the road to the creek and sometimes it is in the yard.

 

These are estimates of course if you try to add it all up it doesn't fit perfectly , sometimes we start considerably earlier and not so infrequently lunch isn't until 12:30 or 1pm. Unless ds gets up early and hits the ground running he is working after lunch. 

Edited November 18, 2016 by soror

[LMD]

It's difficult to say, I really am not at all naturally organised or neat, but generally :

 

Kids up, breakfast, morning jobs.

We try to start school between 9-9.30.

We do about an hour of morning time - bible, read aloud, handicrafts, tai chi, then get into maths - everyone works on math at the same time and I bounce between whoever needs me. My 3 year old is usually playing with playdough or stamps at the table with us. Then we finish off the block with language study and music practice or assigned reading.

 

That usually takes us to around 12-12.30 and we're all very ready for a break - outside time - and some food lol.

 

We try and jump back in by about 1 with some basket time - about half an hour of read aloud, memory work and loop (geography, artist study etc) before LA. The 3 year old hovers around playing with various toys/crafts/causing chaos or plays outside - often the 6 year old gets done quickly and joins him.

 

After LA we'll do science or history and the kids finish off anything else on their list by 3.30ish. I usually still have music practice with my 6 year old (and try to squeeze in some for myself!)

 

Then I *try* to get in some reading and chores before the evening routine, but it's just as likely that I'm wiped out and coffee/net-ing or the kids are at me about a project or tv or something...

 

Some days we have extra curriculars or catch up with friends, and dh works a rotating shift which means we have to be flexible. And we have a big property so there's always stuff to do and seasonal work...

 

It's chaos and so hard but awesome.

[MeaganS]

Average day:

 

Kids up by 6:30. They play and do their chores. Maybe they eat their breakfast.

 

I'm up at 7:30. Feed the baby, eat my breakfast, make older 2 start silent reading time.

 

Around 8 I do a reading lesson with dd4 (older 2 still reading). Everyone plays for a bit and I call the older 2 back to do most of their books subjects (grammar, spelling, writing, geography). This is about 8:45 to 9:30. They usually do their work at the same time with me sitting there helping/doing lessons.

 

Then they all play and maybe I do some laundry and dishes, or maybe I do some math and handwriting with dd4.

 

Around 10 we do math. Dd6 is fairly independent and usually needs very little input from me. Dd8 struggles more and I actually usually scribe for her to help th process go smoothly. We're probably done with math by 10:45 or 11.

 

At this point, we're mostly done for the day. Lately we've watched CNN student news then or done a Mystery Science lesson. At some point in the day, the older two practice the piano and/or do another piano lesson, but school is mostly done.

 

The rest of the day, they draw, play outside, play in the play room, read, go to the park or science museum or zoo, go shopping, co-op, girl scouts, etc. We have mandatory quiet time after lunch until 2pm. Really, it isn't bad or even that time consuming for us.

[Miss Tick]

Perhaps average, rather than typical.

8:45-11:30 academics

12:30-3:30 content subjects

 

The 2nd grader does most of the morning and a bit of the afternoon with the rest of us.

 

Afternoons are filled with extracurriculars.

[HomeAgain]

Today was a normal day

 

5am - the alarm goes off.  I'm already up, thanks to an ill-timed cup of coffee last night and not adjusting to daylight savings time yet.

 

6am - alarm for the teen goes off. 6yo wanders out.  He gets hugs, I make him breakfast, and then he makes bed/cleans room before vegging on the couch.

 

6:45 - teen's alarm goes off again.  Nobody pays any attention to it, least of all the teen.

 

7:15 - my two extra kids show up.  The 3yo has some almost tearful goodbyes before forgetting why he was sad the minute the door closes.  Teen finally wanders out of his room, nukes a frozen breakfast sandwich, and glares at the world for having the audacity to give him another 8 hours of school.

 

7:40 - teen leaves for school.  6yo and 3yo settle down with free play, I feed the baby before her nap around 8am.

 

8-11:00 - the kids rotate through different activities: imaginative play, independent work, art, motor skill work.  The 3yo has a tendency to turn his foot in so we work on exercises to strengthen his walk: penguin waddles, balance beam tape, walking in a circle, frog jumps, yoga...we also spend our morning doing most of our outside-the-home activities: park, music lessons, storytime.  This morning we left at 10 to go to the park, cold as it was.

 

11:00 - Lunch.  We're working on care of self skills.  The 3yo is encouraged to use his fork and spoon, pour his water, and use of napkins.  I end up planning lunches pretty carefully so that there's always an opportunity to do something (one item might be a finger food, but the rest no) and keep it balanced.  The baby usually eats at 10:30, so she joins us at the table while I take advantage of my captive audience to subject them to a reading from a chapter book. It also makes them sit longer and end up trying foods they refused before.  When done, they wash up and get ready for separate activities.

 

12:00-2:30 - 3yo puts himself down for a nap.  6yo starts on math.  We do a chapter of Life of Fred followed by a page of MEP.  Today was fractions, so he was slightly excited to have something new.  Skedtrack is up on the computer and 6yo goes back and forth, checking what he needs to do and deciding which order to do it in.  Math was not excessive in writing, so he picked cursive next, then reading about the first Thanksgiving.  We followed that with checking in on Theras (and His Town) and did a project to go with.  Each chapter gets something - we're working our way through ideas from History Pockets, though not as intended.  They have a picture of columns, we make columns.  They have a worksheet on Greek roots, we have a matching memory game.  Several of the items I picked up on our trip to Athens and Olympia have made it into our work as well (it's always nice to be able to hold a drachma to see what it really is).  He debated on spending more time reading Percy Jackson, but opted for doing that at bedtime instead.  He grabbed the MP3 player loaded with The Jungle Book and listened to that while doing a spelling review.   Dictation only takes a few minutes, and science was a review today from a lesson a year ago.  He still enjoyed it, though.  Baby falls asleep somewhere in the middle usually, but she's teething and miserable today.  Being held works well.  She's hungry and not hungry, and just looks at me like I'm the evil one who did this to her.

 

2:30 - 3yo wakes up.  Most subjects are done, but a few will be done tonight while I make dinner (violin, Spanish, video recording of his current poem)  Teen comes home from school to change, rest, and grab water.

 

2:45 - get a text from DH.  Apparently I missed him trying to Facetime 3x.  Catch up with him and he sees why I really don't Facetime during the day.

 

3:00 - backyard play.  The 3yo and 6yo have a "machine" they're building.  It's a lot of bricks, clothesline, and cotton yarn.  Don't care.  They're running and happy.  Teen leaves.  For now.

 

4:00 - inside again with rosy cheeks.  They each have an orange and play dinosaurs in the kinetic sand.  Baby

 

5:00 - time to clean up.  They do a nice job, and I turn on the tv to see what is still on PBS.  Oh, good, Wild Kratts!

 

5:30 - mom is here for my two extra children.  The  baby will have had her last feeding/change at around 5 so mom can get a few things accomplished when she gets home before having to immediately tend to her needs.  I send them out and tidy the living areas before starting dinner.  I think, because it's been a hectic week I'm just ordering pizza tonight, especially because I have at least one extra teen arriving in an hour. 

 

Edited November 18, 2016 by HomeAgain

[Another Lynn]

Early morning - I have coffee, browse the forum, enjoy the quiet, take a shower etc.

9:00. Everyone drags out of bed for morning time - Bible, history, read alouds etc

10:00 - those who need to eat breakfast and get dressed do that. Then they start their independent work.

10:30 or so, I help 8yo practice violin and do her skill subjects with me.

After that I don't know times (11:30?, 12:00?) I eat lunch. Then I work one on one with 11yo.

Then later I work with 13 yo.

14yo and I touch base as needed.

Laundry gets re-started in the morning - usually folding a load during violin practice. Sometimes put something in the crock pot in am, or set out meat to thaw for supper.

Usually one of the younger ones unloads the d/w after they finish school. Most household chores wait for the weekend, a break, or utter desperation.

Evenings are usually sports activities.

Edited November 19, 2016 by Another Lynn

[wendyroo]

95% of our days follow this routine:

 

5ish - I get up, get ready and do a couple chores.

 

6ish - I start to hear kids waking and looking at/reading books.  I eat my breakfast while making the kids'.

 

7 - Kid get up and do morning chores.  Breakfast at 7:15ish while I read aloud.

 

8am - Little kids play while I do school with the second grader...a rotation of challenge math, writing, spelling, geography, typing and Spanish.

 

9ish - Help clean up the play room and then snack while I read aloud

9:15 - Baby takes a nap.  "Together School" for the big kids...a rotation of phonics, handwriting, read aloud practice, piano, history, science and art.  On any given day the preschooler might decide to join in or play by himself.

 

10:30ish - By the time the baby wakes up we are done with school for the morning.  We have speech therapy once a week and homeschool gym twice a week either before a later lunch or after an earlier lunch.  Otherwise we play or go on an outing or run an errand, etc.

 

1:00 - Lunch is over and cleaned up and we all do math.  The older two do their math, the preschooler works on busy bags and the baby and I help them as needed.

 

1:30 - REST TIME!!  The older two have rest time, the baby takes a nap, the preschooler alternates nap and rest days.

 

3:30 - Rest time is over.  We normally head outside until Daddy comes home.

4:30 - Daddy time while I finish making dinner.

5:30 - Dinner is done and cleaned up.  We ave family time until it is time for bath, books and bed.

7pm - Bedtime for the kids.

9pm - Bedtime for the adults.

 

Wendy

 

[freelylearned]

Typically, our days at home looks like this:

 

8:30 I read a Bible story, we say the Lord's Prayer or Apostle's Creed (our memory work for this half of the year). Then I read a picture book that has to do with our science or history or literature topics. Or I read a fairy tale or folk tale. I read a chapter from our history book and the kids narrate. Everyone has silly putty or a handwriting page or a blank paper to draw on. This takes 30-40 minutes.

 

9:15 My son does a few pages in Writing and Rhetoric or writes in his journal and does a spelling or grammar exercise while the younger kids play then he goes to his room to do his independent reading. My daughter reads to me while he is in his room. She sometimes practices letters. Everyone has a break when they are done. I send them outside for a short recess.

 

10:15 Everyone gets a snack and we do math at the table. I do my son's math lesson while my daughter does ST Math on the computer. When he's ready to work independently, I do my daughter's math lesson After math my son does typing and duolingo. Then he finishes up any reading he didn't do earlier. When everyone is done, I send them outside while I make lunch.

 

12:00 is lunch. After lunch we bring our science books or art materials outside for a science lesson or art project if the weather is OK. Otherwise we work inside After that we either walk to the park or library or run errands. On Fridays everyone pitches in to clean up the house. Sometimes a friend comes by to play. Otherwise the kids have free time to play Legos, draw, read, or play outside.

 

4:30 If they aren't outside playing with the neighbors, the kids tidy up their things and then they can play Minecraft or watch a show while I make dinner. When I have knives and hot pans, I like for them to be occupied with their screens. That just makes sense to me.  :lol:

 

After dinner, I read more stories or my husband takes them outside to shoot hoops or go on a bike ride.

[JenneinCA]

This is just my twelve year old's schedule. The older kids go to the community college and mind their own time. I don't know if this will be helpful, but...

 

At 9:00 am starts his Japanese homework.

At 9:30ish we do math, one lesson from videotext algebra, takes anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes

Then we go for a walk, takes about forty minutes.

Then he does his unit study, currently Lighthouses, this covers all the writing and history/science/art

He finishes that and eats lunch.

 

He usually spends the rest of his day writing his role playing game or reading D&D manuals.

 

Then he goes to water polo or swimming in the evening.

[Farrar]

We don't have typical days. (Someone had to admit it.)

[SeaConquest]

One homeschooling DS, second grade:

 

M,T,TH:

 

730ish Wake up, breakfast

830-930 Math and Logic

930-10 Read Aloud

10-1030 French or Latin

1030-11 Writing or Grammar/Spelling

11-1130 Hebrew

1130-1 Lunch and History

After 1 Extracurricular sports classes, Programming or Science, Guitar practice

 

Wednesday charter school classes 9-230:

 

Meet the Masters (Art)

Writing

Lego

Music Theory

 

Friday:

 

830-930: Math

10-11: Homeschool Music Theory and Guitar lesson

11-1: French/Latin and Hebrew

[purpleowl]

We don't have typical days. (Someone had to admit it.)

 

Oh, good. I'm not the only one.  :lol:

[Arcadia]

Typical weekday

8am-1pm DS10 does his work and online class

11am-1pm DS11 does his work

1pm-4pm leisure reading at the library. The library is a short walk down the street

4pm - 8pm both kids finish up their work and then play

8pm - bedtime reading

9pm - evening news

 

Tuesday is my kids outside class day so they spend most of the day reading when they are not at class. We catch up "Tuesday's quota" on weekends.

[Junie]

8ish -- I get out of bed.  The kids who are awake are allowed to come out of their rooms.  (If they wake earlier, they are allowed to play/read in their rooms.)

 

8:30 -- I wake up my teens.

 

8:32 -- devotions with ds16, dd14, and dd12; everyone else eats breakfast and/or plays, draws, etc.

 

8:50 -- ds16 and dd14 watch CNN student news

 

9:00 -- anyone who hasn't eaten yet eats

 

9:05 -- homeschool with the early eaters begins

 

I homeschool on my bed.  Those who need help are supposed to come to me.  There is a fair amount of complaining, by one child in particular.  We're working on it.

 

12:00 -- one of the older kids helps me make lunch (they take turns)

 

12:30 -- lunchtime -- school is officially over for the day, although the high schoolers have work they sometimes work on and most of the kids read throughout the day.  During lunch we often do flash cards or skip counting or a read-aloud.

 

2:00-4:00 -- quiet time  (it's not really quiet, but everyone is supposed to go to their rooms and leave me alone)

 

5:00 -- I make dinner with a helper

 

6:00 -- dinner

 

8:00 -- clean-up time

 

8:30 -- devotions

 

9:00 -- youngest 3 go to bed

 

10:00 -- dd12 and dd14 go to bed

 

11:00 -- ds16 goes to bed

 

12:30 or 1:00 or 2:00, etc. -- I go to bed (depending on the insomnia)

 

Chores are done at various times.  They aren't really scheduled.  I like to set a timer for 15 minutes and have everyone work.  Candy at the end.

 

 

[displace]

Thanks for all these responses. Very helpful !

[Wheres Toto]

This is what our typical day is like lately, but I'm really hoping to make a few changes.  Getting up earlier (I have awful insomnia so it's hard to get going), get school started earlier, do more science and history (mostly reading and 4-H STEM right now), get more housework done.

 

I get up around 9am (or later depending on how badly I slept).  I have breakfast and tea while checking email, Facebook and the forum.   The kids are sometimes already up, sometimes not.  They stay up late reading at night (something else we're going to need to change).  Dd has breakfast, ds just has chocolate milk (he's never liked to eat first thing) and they watch youtube videos while they wake up.

 

Around 10am (or later depending on if I set things up the night before or had to do it that morning), the kids get started on their "binder" work.  They still call it binder work but it's actually in a storage clipboard.  This is most of the core subjects - math, literature, spelling, journal writing.  Most of it they can do on their own, they put aside anything they need help with or needs my involvement until the end, then I sit with them one at a time to finish that stuff up.  

 

Around 11:30 am they take a break for lunch.  Since they don't each much for breakfast (ds nothing at all), they eat lunch early.   They watch videos during lunch.  Sometimes school related videos.

 

Around 12/12:15 it's back to work.  They finish up their binders or if they are done, they do an hour of assigned reading - usually a literature, history or science selection.

 

Then we do 1 hour of screen-free, quiet time where they play in their rooms.

 

About 2pm, we SHOULD be working on our content subjects but we've been having trouble getting to them lately.  

 

Around 3:00 we are getting ready to head out for extra-curriculars/Phys Ed.  The kids have TKD a couple days a week, yoga once a week, swimming once a week.  Most start between 4 and 5pm.

 

I"m spending this weekend doing plans and getting things reorganized (again, this is a constant process in my house) so we can hopefully get on track.

My IDEAL schedule would be:

 

Wake up at 7am, have my tea and breakfast in peace and quiet. 

Get the kids up at 8am, give them 30 minutes to wake-up.  Do some yoga, meditation before we get started.

Start school at 8:45am, finish the core binder work by 10:30am (most days, not always).  Take a break to take a walk, do some exercise.

Lunch at 11am.

Do content subjects after lunch - science, history, art, etc. for a couple hours.

At 2pm, do an hour of assigned reading.

At 3pm, start quiet time which can include getting ready for activities and may be cut short some days.

Leave for activities between 3:30 and 4:30pm depending on the day.

 

[Hobbes]

Typical days are Mon, Tues, Fri. Weds morning we are out at homeschool group and don't do work at home. Thurs we do a regular morning, then kids all go to Grandma's at noon.

 

Times are all "ish", as I like a framework, but it's more a routine than a tight schedule:

 

6:45 - I'm up, shower, coffee

7:30 - girls out of bed, come down for snuggles and a read aloud chapter

8 - get toddler up, changed. Girls get dressed, make beds

8:30 - breakfast, baby gets up

9 - morning time around table, beginning while kids finish breakfast

10 - girls begin individual work at table. I stagger more independent stuff with stuff that needs me and we go back and forth. Toddler plays/cuddles, baby crawls/bounces/cuddles/nurses.

11 or earlier - 6yo finishes work and goes to play with toddler. Baby goes down for nap.

12 or earlier - 8yo finishes independent work. Joins other playing, preferably outside. I regroup.

 

12:30 - we do history, art, or science and then lunch, or lunch and then history, art or science. Depends on how tired I am, attitudes, etc.

 

2-4 - naps, quiet time (varies a bit within this window)

 

4 - piano practice and chores (girls alternate)

 

5:30 - dinner, if I've got it together... it doesn't go well when it's too much later.

 

7:30 - everyone ready for bed. Tuck toddler and baby, DH reads and prays with girls, leaves them for quiet reading until 8:30.

[2_girls_mommy]

These are fun to read. I love these threads. For us, a typical day:

 

8:00-9:00  dd12 gets up and does some math review with me, eats breakfast and starts today's lesson. I feed toddler, and dd14 sleeps until I force her up a bit before 9.

 

9:00-10:00 dd14 reads her English and works on it independently. dd12 does one day of EasyPeasy Spanish online mostly on her own. Some days she needs help with written work or to do a conversation. And then she works in her Thinking Tree Journal. She does a page daily, and they vary on topics. Some days it's reading and journal about that. Some days it is do an art page. Some days it has her do a math game online. She does xtramath.org on those days. Sometimes it has her write a story or draw a picture or do copywork. It is all artistic, so good for her. The baby and I get dressed, make beds, clean up dishes, start laundry, etc.  She will often want to "do school." So I will get down playdough and supplies or paints and books, or whatever table activity she wants.

 

10:00=11:00 dd12 swtiches to an hour of Latin. I usually have to help her get started, but then she works on her own. DD14 switches to whatever I need her to do writing related that day. For example, last week she was working on an application for a girl scout interview for something special. So we worked together researching the topic and discussing it before she filled out the written application. Other days she has assignments from her English book or from her co-op classes or I assign something from her great books study. Just whatever I need her to do. dd2 makes a big mess with blocks and My Little Ponies and gets louder as we get busier into our days and aren't playing with her. :)

 

11:00-12:00 I work intensively with dd12 during this hour on her home therapy exercises and spelling word loading. Then I work with her on her R&S English book. And I assign what I want her to do from those subjects.  dd14 is finishing up Traditional Logic I during this time period. By this time, I usually turn on some PBS for the toddler in my room.

 

12:00 lunch.

 

We get a bit more loosy goosey after lunch. :) I have each day scheduled a bit differently depending on the afternoon's extra curricular schedule.  I need to get reading, read alouds, history, and science in for both girls over the course of the week plus dd14 does her Algebra and Latin. She prefers to do Chemistry and Algebra on her own at night.

 

So usually we will do some read alouds and history together. dd14 will do her great books reading and writing and Latin. Then on days they have dance classes they go to that for 2-3 hours. Sometimes one or the other has an hour where the other has a class that she isn't in, and can do a bit of her afternoon bookwork at that time.

 

While they are gone I do library, short errands, and take toddler home for a late nap. I start dinner, fold laundry, and usually chill alone online or with Netflix for a bit.

 

On afternoon at home days, we get the baby down for an earlier longer nap, and big kids and I read together for a long time on a variety of subjects. This is when we also do any messy projects that they have for outside classes or discuss and do research for bigger projects. It kind of depends what is going on with all of our other subjects what we need to do on our long afternoons. But they involve a lot of reading, discussing, coloring together and hot tea and chocolate under soft blankets on the couch. Then they break off to finish anything left (finish math and science paperwork, play with friends, talk on the phone, etc.)

 

I always have a dinner plan, so depending on what that is I might have done some prep earlier in the day or I might start it at this time. After dinner and clean up big kids finish up homework, shower, lay out stuff for the next day, etc. I or dh bathe baby, do dishes, general clean up, etc.

 

I clean in small bits throughout the day and hopefully don't have a ton left on the weekends, but I definitely do a bit more on weekends. Today is Saturday. dd14 cleaned up some windows and glass doors, dd12 dusted. I swept and folded laundry and changed the sheets on two beds. DD12 did her own. Then I took two kids to dance and ran a couple of errands. DD12 stayed home and finished straightening up while we were gone and did a great job.

[deerforest]

Every day is different here. DH and I both work full time. I have to do all her 1:1 work before the bulk of my coworkers wake up and start their days (yay for global companies!). DH drives her to things. She spends a lot of time doing aerial training and volunteers quite a bit too.

 

Monday: School 1:1 somewhere between 6-10am; independent work, free time, chores, somewhere between 10-3, teaching assistant for 2 aerial classes and then aerial troupe class

Tuesday: School 1:1 somewhere between 6-10am; independent work, free time, chores, somewhere between 10-3, aerial private lesson, teaching assistant for aerial class, group aerial class 

Wednesday: changes biweekly

- School 1:1 somewhere between 6-8am; volunteer at preschool from 8:30-12:30, do independent work, chores, free time somewhere between 1-bedtime

- School 1:1 somewhere between 6-9am; head to private aerial training from 9:30-12:30, do independent work, chores, free time somewhere between 1-bedtime

Thursday: School 1:1 somewhere between 6-9am; outdoor homeschool program from 10-3, do independent work, free time chores from 3:30-bedtime

Friday: School 1:1 somewhere between 6-10am; independent work, free time, chores, somewhere between 10-12:30, pottery class from 1-2:30. Sometimes park or aerial classes after

Saturday: Aerial stuff from 9-1, some school (varies)

Sunday: some school (varies)

Edited November 19, 2016 by deerforest