A day in the life of a not so organized homechooler.
Our homeschool days differ depending on the day of the week, the season, and the weather. One day of the week we have online classes, and one day of the week we have in town classes, usually art. So for the days we are at home. This is what life looks like for me, the mom and major instructor of children. This year my children are 10 years, 9 years, 7 years and 3 years, just for reference.
I wake at 5:20 am. Usually I attend a 6 am yoga class. It is my way of self care. I brave the cold morning, move my body and prepare my mind for whatever may come. If I am not in yoga I am attending the LDS temple, or sleeping in. When I arrive home I meditate using Kundalini yoga. Then I sit back and study. My usual subjects are scripture, personal development, spirituality, or business. I may jump on Instagram to post something i find inspiring.
My kids wake between 8 am and 9:30 am. Really. I am a firm believer in letting them sleep as long as they need. Sadly, my youngest is almost always the first to wake up (and she doesn’t go to bed until the older kids do, so she NEEDS the most sleep). Now, my kids are pretty self sufficient for breakfast, mainly because I have 2 that like to eat right away and 2 that like to wait and hour or two after they wake to eat. I am not making 2 different breakfasts, but I will share whatever I make for myself with whoever wants to eat. I vary between fruit/veg smoothies and various types of toast and tea, to oatmeal or cream of wheat, or even left overs. I don’t like to eat the same thing everyday, so I eat what I feel like. Intuitive, that is what it is.
We sometimes start school right away. Some days my kids play so nicely in the morning that I don’t want to disturb them. Some days I am just not feeling it, so i don’t start them until later. My kids always have to unload the dishwasher in the morning, make their beds, get dressed and brush teeth. I don’t even consider these chores, just morning tasks.
When we do start school, I like to start with scripture study, we have been studying this Come Follow Me manual. It goes through the New Testament and includes insights and deeper teachings. I like the guidance, and how it opens up the study for deeper discussion.
My older two kids do ½ hour of Saxon Math every day (almost). A whole lesson takes them a couple hours, so we break it up to make it easier (for me). They also work on their Language Arts assignments from their online class they take on Monday. Then, one day they will work on a Lego Engineering class, or have a Science lesson, or go explore in the mountains. One day a week we spend the afternoon at the library, stocking up on new books to read. I do have one child who loves the Libby App that the library system uses, so he doesn't have to wait to check out books.
I usually make lunch during school time. We will take a break and eat, then get back to work. In the afternoon when they are done with their assignments and have their rooms clean I will let them have “technology” time, where we bust out Minecraft, or a movie, or funny Yutube videos. We play outside, run errands, go to the climbing gym. We have friends over, or play at friends houses. This year we bought passes to Thanksgiving Point, so we will spend afternoons at the Dinosaur Museum, The Museum of Natural Curiosity, The Butterfly Pavillion or the Farm Museum. By the evening Dad is home and we have dinner together. Then we have Daddy time, which usually involves wrestling and someone getting hurt. It can involve movies or random trips to the grocery store. In the evening we pick up toys that invariably get scattered throughout the house during the day.
Evenings are quiet with books and family prayer (and loud with another bedtime wrestle or two). Teeth are brushed and goodnight hugs are spread around. One day a week I give myself for clients and classes. These days I will be gone from around 1 pm to 7 pm doing energy work at the Yoga Underground, or teaching aromatherapy classes at homes across the valley.
Not every day is ideal. Few, if any are really ideal and there are many days I want to give up the whole homeschool endeavor and just unschool in the wilderness, or traveling across the world. It is usually then that my kids are frustrated by my uptightness and i have to back off and breathe, reassess and regroup. It is a journey after all, and all I want for my kids is a healthy curiosity and love of learning new and fascinating things.