Every year, Simple Homeschool's linkup leaves me inspired and encouraged (and usually with a few more books on my want-to-read list). I hope you enjoy our 2020 day in our homeschooling life! Past years are here: 2019 and 2018.
A typical day in winter 2020 looks like this (times approximate):
6:45 - I climb into bed with 21-month-old Harry. Last week he moved out of our room and into the bottom bunk bed in his sister's bed, so I spend time cuddling and nursing him after he has missed me all night. I help him and 5-year-old Sylvia get ready for the day.
7:20 - My husband lets us all know that breakfast is ready. We sit down to a breakfast planned and prepared by him and begin our simple, no-fuss morning time. This week I'm choosing our readings from the following:
- Poem: Little Blue Pigeon by Eugene Field (our poet this term)
- Gospel of Luke
- African Folktales retold by A. Ceni
- Why Glasses? The Story of Vision by George Sands, M.D.
- The California Gold Rush (Landmark Book) by May McNeer
- The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thorton Burgess (available free here)
- Albrecht Durer Picture Study Portfolio from SCM
- Survival Skills Handbook (Vol 1) by Bear Grylls
8:00 - We wrap up morning time and help clear the table together. The boys do their cat-care chores and then we scatter to finish getting ready for our day. I usually start laundry and check email, the kids play or look at books, my husband gets ready for work.
8:30 - Kindergarten time! This is when I grab some couch time with my kindergartner. Monday through Thursday, we spend about 25 minutes singing songs, reciting poems, and reading a few well-chosen books. We are sometimes joined by a toddler and 2nd-grader. This a fun and informal year before we start regular lessons around age 6. If she is immersed in play we sometimes skip this time altogether. This week we are reading Catwings and Catwings Return by Ursula K. LeGuin.
9:00 - Regular lesson time. For about the next 2 hours and 15 minutes (give or take) I focus on my two school-aged children, 9-year-old Peter and 8-year-old John. They will work through our Charlotte Mason style strict homeschool schedule of short lessons on a variety of subjects. And I will be there to read books, listen to narrations, answer questions, offer encouragement, and otherwise stave off the chaos of homeschooling with a toddler in the house.
Our current schedule looks like this:
Some curriculum highlights from this week include:
- Beast Academy (3A and 5C)
- All About Spelling (levels 1 and 4)
- Sewing School and Sewing School 2 by Andria Lisle and Amie Petronis Plumley
- The Story of Mark Twain by Joan Howard
- Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War by Albert Marrin
- Tree in the Trail by Holling C. Holling
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard L. Neuberger
- Moon of the Owls (Thirteen Moons Series) by Jean Craighead George
- Khan Academy Grammar
- Talkbox.mom German
- Magnets by Rocco V. Feravolo
- The Story-book of Science by Jean Henri Fabre (available free here)
- Folksong: Goober Peas
- Reading: High Rise Private Eyes #3: The Case of the Puzzling Possum by Cynthia Rylant and King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
As usual, I've swapped out some of my planned books for even better book sale finds, but for the most part, you can find the rest of our school books in my 2nd Grade Plans and 4th Grade Plans.
So how do I balance all these subjects for 2 very different students and also parent a 5-year-old and 1-year-old? Very carefully :-) Every year I thoughtfully consider what subjects I want to include in our schedule and how often I want to do them. Then I sit down and make a reasonable schedule for my family. I also tweak our schedule as I learn what works and what doesn't!
Other things that help:
- Often, my husband spends time with our toddler while I do an uninterrupted reading lesson with John, my 8-year-old second-grader. He then leaves around 9:20 for his 5-minute bike commute (yes, I know we are so lucky that we can choose to live so close to where he works!)
- 9-year-old Peter is a very fluent reader and works well independently which frees me up to read to my 8-year-old who is not reading fluently yet.
- My kindergartner often plays with or near the toddler.
- My little ones like to snack or draw at the table while I help the older ones with lessons.
- We take 1-2 weeks off from "formal lessons" at least every 6 weeks. And we take 1-2 days per month off from formal lessons for field trips, nature outings, or "unschooling" days.
- Working on good habits over the years means that my children can work diligently without complaining. That doesn't mean that they don't complain or that they don't burst into tears when they are frustrated. But it does mean that they are used to this type of schedule and this type of work.
I know that many people think it is crazy to run a homeschool on a schedule like this! I've heard so many variations of "go with the flow" and "don't look at the clock." This is why I've written about why I use a strict schedule and myths about strict schedules.
Our schedule is a TOOL that helps me give my children a wide feast of ideas in appropriate servings. It is not our master. If things need to take a few minutes longer, they do! And if real life or real feelings intervene, we can take an extra break or skip a subject for the day.
It is also not about getting a particular amount of work done during each lesson. When the time is up, we can wrap up and move on no matter how much or how little visible progress was made. And regardless of how the "lesson" portion of our day is going, it is always over by 11:30 at the absolute latest.
Fridays
Fridays are quite different as our lesson time is only about 90 minutes and we start at 8:30 so we can finish and jump in the van to go to our all-weather year-round Wild + Free nature group. In winter, we meet at a local rural camp where the kids will climb trees, hike through the woods, eat lunch around a fire, and otherwise enjoy the company of our best nature-loving friends. This weekly half-day in nature is a crucial part of our homeschool and we rarely miss it. This time of the year, we try to be there from about 11 to 3.
11:15 - Lessons are over so we clear the table of our school things and the children usually scatter to play or read. I usually prepare and eat my own lunch of some combo of leftovers, salad, or sardines.
11:45 - We sit down for the kids' lunch where usually I give them each a piece of homemade bread and some cheese, which they use to make a sandwich, and they grab fruit and whatever other whole foods they need. While they are eating, I read about a chapter each from our two lunchtime read alouds. Currently, Hachiko Waits and Rifles for Watie.
12:30 - Time to get done what we can before 1-year-old Harry's naptime, including 1-2 piano practices (we use Hoffman Academy), vacuuming, starting the dishwasher, and putting clean laundry away.
1:00 - I lay down with Harry until he falls asleep.
We then enjoy a quiet part of our day left open for individual activities. Most days I spend time prepping dinner, doing chores, and enjoying a break, often reading for a few minutes. But I also try to be available to help everyone with their activities--downloading new audiobooks, finding needed craft supplies, getting ready to go outside, and sometimes playing a board game. I also set aside time about once a week to do a special project with 5-year-old Sylvia.
The kids also have chores like emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash/recycling/compost, and putting away their clothes.
Most Tuesdays, the boys take turns spending the afternoon with their Nana, who takes them to the library, plays games with them, and lavishes them with one-on-one attention. Most Wednesdays, 5-year-old Sylvia enjoys her afternoon time with Nana. That day I also pull Peter-age-9 aside for a short Plutarch lesson.
2:30 - I remind 9-year-old Peter that it is time to start "afternoon occupations," basically a block of time we reserve for important activities that don't fit well into our lesson time. These activities, including piano practice, handicrafts, drawing, a nature walk, nature notebooking, and nature study, were also typical afternoon activities for Charlotte Mason's students. Peter spends about 90 minutes on these activities 3-4 days a week.
4:00 - Free time continues with Harry back in the mix, interspersed with chores, tidying up, and any remaining piano practices. We don't include any set "screen time" into our day, but devices are available for requesting library books, using websites for math or coding activities, or occasional 15-minute sessions of Reading Eggs or typing letters into Word documents. I am busy finishing up dinner and chores.
Thursdays we head out around this time for ice skating lessons for the 3 older kids. Harry and I relax and enjoy the fire in the warming house.
Evening Time
5:00-5:45 - We have dinner around the time my husband bikes home from work or when we get back from ice skating. Usually, we eat closer to the earlier side, but this week my husband had meetings every day except when we had skating so we were on a later schedule.
6:00 - The rest of the evening is spent with more of the same--books, audiobooks, playing--plus showers/baths. These days, I often lay down on the couch and read books to the kids, especially 1-year-old Harry, drink water, and rest because I'm 20 weeks pregnant and I enjoy putting my feet up at the end of the day. Sometimes I retreat to my room for 30-60 minutes because I need some introvert time.
6:30 - My husband's phone alarm goes off to remind him to ask the boys to get their nature journals so they can narrate something they observed in nature that day. These simple daily observations add up to such a rich record of the boys' experiences and growing nature knowledge. It is much easier to find things to notice when we are spending lots of time outdoors, but a birdfeeder near the window provides a lot of things to notice year-round.
7:30 - The bedtime routine for 5-year-old Sylvia and 1-year-old Harry begins with another alarm on my husband's phone and after goodnight snuggles with me, my husband puts them to bed and reads to them. They are currently reading Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachael Field.
8:00 - Most Mondays and Wednesdays (if we are all at home together), we read a scene or two from our current Shakespeare play. Only 9-year-old Peter is required to participate, but 8-year-old John often listens in. Peter, my husband, and I take different parts and read the play aloud.
We enjoy the story without much explanation and no one narrates afterward. I buy 2 or 3 copies of the play in Folger editions, which have play text on the right with summaries and definitions on the left. When we finish a play, we watch a movie version together. This week finds us beginning our third play of the year, The Taming of the Shrew.
All other nights of the week, the boys take up quiet pursuits--reading, games, showering, getting ready for bed. My husband reads to them from their current book. Now it is Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates. They are off to bed by 9:00.
I spend this time reading or working on the computer. I'm already prereading and planning for next year's homeschool. I like to plan early and often, especially when I'm expecting a new baby! I also have reading goals to help me continue my own self-education.
These days, I'm out in the evenings about 2-4 nights a month for meetings or special time with mom friends. Similarly, my husband is out about the same for work events or trivia night. Otherwise, after the kids are in bed, we work on our own projects, have a snack, and watch a show on Netflix.
10:30 (or earlier!) - Off to bed to rest up for another day full of living books and lots of together time.
You may also enjoy:
11:45 - We sit down for the kids' lunch where usually I give them each a piece of homemade bread and some cheese, which they use to make a sandwich, and they grab fruit and whatever other whole foods they need. While they are eating, I read about a chapter each from our two lunchtime read alouds. Currently, Hachiko Waits and Rifles for Watie.
12:30 - Time to get done what we can before 1-year-old Harry's naptime, including 1-2 piano practices (we use Hoffman Academy), vacuuming, starting the dishwasher, and putting clean laundry away.
1:00 - I lay down with Harry until he falls asleep.
We then enjoy a quiet part of our day left open for individual activities. Most days I spend time prepping dinner, doing chores, and enjoying a break, often reading for a few minutes. But I also try to be available to help everyone with their activities--downloading new audiobooks, finding needed craft supplies, getting ready to go outside, and sometimes playing a board game. I also set aside time about once a week to do a special project with 5-year-old Sylvia.
The kids also have chores like emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash/recycling/compost, and putting away their clothes.
Most Tuesdays, the boys take turns spending the afternoon with their Nana, who takes them to the library, plays games with them, and lavishes them with one-on-one attention. Most Wednesdays, 5-year-old Sylvia enjoys her afternoon time with Nana. That day I also pull Peter-age-9 aside for a short Plutarch lesson.
2:30 - I remind 9-year-old Peter that it is time to start "afternoon occupations," basically a block of time we reserve for important activities that don't fit well into our lesson time. These activities, including piano practice, handicrafts, drawing, a nature walk, nature notebooking, and nature study, were also typical afternoon activities for Charlotte Mason's students. Peter spends about 90 minutes on these activities 3-4 days a week.
4:00 - Free time continues with Harry back in the mix, interspersed with chores, tidying up, and any remaining piano practices. We don't include any set "screen time" into our day, but devices are available for requesting library books, using websites for math or coding activities, or occasional 15-minute sessions of Reading Eggs or typing letters into Word documents. I am busy finishing up dinner and chores.
Thursdays we head out around this time for ice skating lessons for the 3 older kids. Harry and I relax and enjoy the fire in the warming house.
Evening Time
5:00-5:45 - We have dinner around the time my husband bikes home from work or when we get back from ice skating. Usually, we eat closer to the earlier side, but this week my husband had meetings every day except when we had skating so we were on a later schedule.
6:00 - The rest of the evening is spent with more of the same--books, audiobooks, playing--plus showers/baths. These days, I often lay down on the couch and read books to the kids, especially 1-year-old Harry, drink water, and rest because I'm 20 weeks pregnant and I enjoy putting my feet up at the end of the day. Sometimes I retreat to my room for 30-60 minutes because I need some introvert time.
6:30 - My husband's phone alarm goes off to remind him to ask the boys to get their nature journals so they can narrate something they observed in nature that day. These simple daily observations add up to such a rich record of the boys' experiences and growing nature knowledge. It is much easier to find things to notice when we are spending lots of time outdoors, but a birdfeeder near the window provides a lot of things to notice year-round.
7:30 - The bedtime routine for 5-year-old Sylvia and 1-year-old Harry begins with another alarm on my husband's phone and after goodnight snuggles with me, my husband puts them to bed and reads to them. They are currently reading Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachael Field.
8:00 - Most Mondays and Wednesdays (if we are all at home together), we read a scene or two from our current Shakespeare play. Only 9-year-old Peter is required to participate, but 8-year-old John often listens in. Peter, my husband, and I take different parts and read the play aloud.
We enjoy the story without much explanation and no one narrates afterward. I buy 2 or 3 copies of the play in Folger editions, which have play text on the right with summaries and definitions on the left. When we finish a play, we watch a movie version together. This week finds us beginning our third play of the year, The Taming of the Shrew.
All other nights of the week, the boys take up quiet pursuits--reading, games, showering, getting ready for bed. My husband reads to them from their current book. Now it is Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates. They are off to bed by 9:00.
I spend this time reading or working on the computer. I'm already prereading and planning for next year's homeschool. I like to plan early and often, especially when I'm expecting a new baby! I also have reading goals to help me continue my own self-education.
These days, I'm out in the evenings about 2-4 nights a month for meetings or special time with mom friends. Similarly, my husband is out about the same for work events or trivia night. Otherwise, after the kids are in bed, we work on our own projects, have a snack, and watch a show on Netflix.
10:30 (or earlier!) - Off to bed to rest up for another day full of living books and lots of together time.
You may also enjoy:
It's a truly lovely schedule, and you're a champion for keeping it up and running! Your family is blessed to have you as wife/mother!!
ReplyDeleteAwww . . .thank you. I can truly say that I feel the same about you :-) And how you keep things rolling with everyone's needs and appointments amazes me!
DeleteSo many delightful books here that our family loves as well! I remember reading Hitty: Her First Hundred Years multiple times when I was a child. :)
ReplyDeleteSadly, I missed out on so many of these in my own childhood. I'm so thankful for the internet (and used book sales and thriftbooks!) so I can learn about and share these gems with my kids.
DeleteThis looks so fantastic! We need to get outside more for sure. You asked about Curiosity Stream. We really enjoyed the LEGO video, and the one about the Titanic. If you check out this link, she has a good list that her kids have enjoyed.
ReplyDeletehttps://my-little-poppies.com/curiositystream-recommendations/
Thanks so much for taking the time to follow up me about this! I will check out that link.
DeleteI love day-in-the-life posts! Thank you for sharing this. I would like to do something closer to a strict schedule when I have at least one independent reader. I always appreciate your booklists, too - we've picked up quite a few on your recommendation!
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome and it makes me really happy to hear that I've helped you find some great books! And it is wonderful to have a fluent reader, but it is still so nice to be the person they want to cuddle up next to for a good book :-)
DeleteSo many helpful hints. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete