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Are you new to homeschooling and wondering what a day in the life might look like? Or maybe you have been homeschooling for a while and are looking to change things up.
You may have heard that every family is different and you have to find what works for you. And that’s true. But when I was first getting started, I found it so helpful to see what worked well for other families…and what didn’t.
For a while, we tried set days for schoolwork; but only a few months into our journey, this just wasn’t working. My husband has a varying work schedule and so to get the most family time, we had to be more flexible.
We landed on a routine of doing schoolwork every day unless something gets in the way. Now in our 4th year of homeschooling, we have found this works really well for our family and don’t plan on changing anything anytime soon.
Our Mornings
Mornings start out pretty slow in our home. Our kids don’t have a set wake time but generally are up by 7:30-8:00am.
We try our best to do our family Bible time over breakfast as often as we can. While this doesn’t always go smoothly with everyone sitting nice and listening well with open hearts…we pray God would use our faithful obedience (no matter how flawed) to stir all our hearts towards Him.
We have been using studies from Not Consumed Ministries for several years now and have only good things to say. They are the perfect length, filled with heart-probing questions and actually get you into God’s word…which is what I love most about them.
The rest of the morning is usually left open. Some days, this time gets filled with things such as family trips to the aquarium, the beach, the kids museum, playdates, etc.
On Sundays we go to church and we are currently doing Barefoot University (which we absolutely love!) on Thursdays.
We generally go to the library once a week along with errands or appointments that may come up.
Most weeks, there end up being 2-3 mornings we simply spend at home. We may get some gardening or other big chores done or just have a slow morning together.
Early Afternoon
Usually around 1pm we pause and have lunch together. Majority of the time, my husband works in the evening so this is our main family meal. This lunch may be at home, or out and about.
After lunch, the kids usually go off and play some more, read, or whatever else they want to fill their time with.
Our daughter is currently phasing out of her nap and so sometimes she’s with us for school time and other times she does her “school work” after lunch or nap. This usually consists of some alphabet, shape and number practice with whatever puzzles, dry erase book or manipulative she wants to use.
She loves doing “homeschool” like her big brother.
For our son, the afternoon is when he does his formal schoolwork for the day.
Currently, he is farther ahead in language arts and so we do that and science on my husband’s days off. We do math lessons on the days that he works. History and electives are worked in through play, field trips and lots of reading.
This formal schoolwork generally does not exceed 30 minutes and some days is done in 15. Of course, in middle/high school, this may be extended some but it’s more than enough time right now.
Once we finish up our lessons, we do a little tidy up around the house if needed and they get to have some screen time. Generally we allow 30-60 minutes each day and we do movie nights every so often.
Evenings
Evenings are fairly quiet in our home. Since it’s just the kids and I most nights, they have some quiet time while I prep dinner. If we don’t have any other plans for the evening with family or friends, we will spend some more time outside or dive into some good books. We are currently working through the Little House on the Prairie series and loving it.
While it may not be for everyone, we have come to really love our flexible homeschool routine.
As Christian parents, we have the responsibility and privilege to train our children up Proverbs 22:6 and teach them to seek first the kingdom Matthew 6:33. Homeschooling gives us the unique opportunity to do this all day every day, so long as we don’t make homeschooling itself an idol.
I hope and pray that this glimpse into our day helps you to create the perfect routine for your family…one that fills your days with His joy, your home with His love, and your heart with His peace.
Happy Homeschooling!
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