Day in the Life
In all my years of blogging, I’ve never done a Day in the Life post. I’ve shared our routines and peeks inside our day-to-day to day, but I thought it would be fun to share what a typical homeschool day looks like in our house.
As I’m sure you’ve probably experienced in your own home life, each stage and season tends to look a little different for us – okay, sometimes a whole lot different as we make adjustments along the way – but I’m hoping this general overview of our day will give you some inspiration as you seek to establish rhythms in your own homeschooling life.
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A couple of disclaimers:
- Some of these photos were taken by my photographer friend on a day when I had fixed my hair and put on mascara. Oh yeah, and we cleaned up the house a little bit for her.
- The stages when things may look especially different in our house: the newborn stage, the sleep regression stage, the teething stage, the PMS stage.
Now that we’ve had that little chat, here we go with a Day in the Life.
On a normal day, I wake up before my kids. (Moms of newborns, ignore this part.) I start the day slowly with a cup of coffee and some reading – usually from my Bible and another non-fiction book I’m reading. At some point, I have a piece of peanut butter toast. I am a terribly predictable person.
Next up, I get dressed. Most days, it’s leggings or jeans and a t-shirt. I wear mascara on Sundays and Wednesdays…when I’m going to the Lord’s house.
Then I prep breakfast. For years now, I’ve prepped milk cups for my little ones the night before – I’m not sure why this is so helpful to me, but it just is.
When I’m ready for the day, I call my kiddos down for breakfast. Yes, they stay in their rooms until I call them downstairs. When they wake up, they know to read quietly, work on their AWANA verses, listen to music or Adventures in Odyssey, make their bed, tidy their room, etc. I like for them to learn how to start their day quietly, too.
Yes, this takes some training when they’re little, but this is just how we’ve always done it. It’s never been an option for my kids to come barreling out of their rooms at 6am, jumping on me and my coffee cup. I’d cry and drive home to my mama.
My suggestions for you if you have little ones you’re hoping to train in this way: Try an extra tall baby gate. Experiment with an OK to Wake Clock. If those two things don’t work, honestly, I’m out of ideas.
Okay, so once I call my kiddos downstairs, it’s time for breakfast. This is when I hand out the elderberry gummies and such. Once they start eating their breakfast (Remember, I’ve already eaten and had my cup of coffee…okay, sometimes two cups of coffee.), I start reading to them.
We usually read the Bible or something Bible-related. Currently, we’re reading through a collection of missionary biographies. The stories include Scripture verses and character conversations.
This is also a fun time for us to do Brain Quest Cards, Mad Libs, various trivia games, etc. Mercy, the sky’s the limit with what you can do during this time.
I don’t overwhelm our Morning Basket. I really try to keep it simple with encouraging resources and engaging brain starters for the day.
When we’re done with those couple of things I’ve used to start the day, we chat about our schedule for the day.
- Does Aubrey have a therapist coming to the house that day?
- Is today the day the music teacher will be here?
- Are swim lessons today?
- Maybe someone has a dentist appointment or a haircut scheduled for that day.
- Do we have plans that afternoon or evening?
We talk about all of those kinds of things! This helps everyone know what to expect and brings a certain calm as we get started with the day.
After we discuss the day ahead, we pray over the day. This is probably my favorite part of the morning!
After prayer, the boys grab their To-Do Lists:
and get started with their independent work for the day. Take a peek here to see how we use these To-Do Lists.
It is during this time when I work with my younger kiddos!
I love this time of reading and exploring new things with the little ones, and I ask the older kiddos to try to hold their questions until I’m finished with their younger siblings.
When I’m finished with what I had planned for the younger kiddos, it’s time for them to play independently while I begin going over work with the older kids: new material we needs to discuss, questions they have for me, corrections we need to work on together, etc.
At this point, it’s usually time for lunch. We keep it simple – usually sandwiches and fruit or something like that.
While they eat, I usually play some kind of school-related media for them. Recently, we’ve been watching some of the Drive-Thru History videos!
Other Ideas We’ve Enjoyed Over the Last Couple of Years:
- Liberty’s Kids
- Awesome Science on Right Now Media
- Wonderful World of Science on Right Now Media
- Made in a Day Series
- Wild Kratts
- Martha Speaks
After lunch is finished and the kitchen is tidied a bit, we head to the living room to read together! This is when – all together as a group – we read for Science or History.
For our history learning, we’ve been busy with The American Adventure Series (saved here for you) for quite some time now. Sometimes, my kids lounge on the couches while I read, and sometimes they draw in their sketch books – I usually give them a choice on this.
I love this time of day – love, love, love this time of day. Reading with my kids is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling!
After we’re finished reading, the little ones run off to play, and the older kids finish up any unfinished assignments from the morning.
As we move on through the afternoon, the younger ones usually take some type of rest time or quiet time – depending on their age/stage.
During this time, the older kiddos do a variety of different things – again each season has looked a little different. It’s quiet time for them, too, and this may include:
- Osmo
- Minecraft
- Keyboarding without Tears
- Teaching Textbooks
- Adventures in Odyssey Streaming Club
- Lego (or other STEM toys/activities they love)
- Reading (You can check out our favorite chapter books for kids here.)
When rest time is over, it’s play time – either outside if the weather is cooperating or inside if it’s yucky outdoors. I’m usually finishing up dinner and David usually finishing up work for the day.
We eat dinner together every night, do a quick tidy of the main living areas together, and then hang out together as a family until bedtime.
When the weather’s nice, we love taking walks, playing outside, going on bike rides, going the park, etc. If it’s rainy or cold, we stay in, play games, and watch Wheel of Fortune. ha!
Our bedtime routine includes all of your typical bedtime routines like making sure everyone has brushed their teeth, but this is also the time when daddy leads us in Bible time and bedtime prayers.
We’ve used lots of different resources during this time. I’ve saved a lot of them here for you.
Another fun idea we’ve used over the years during this time of day is the Bedtime Basket. This idea can be adjusted to suit all different ages!
Our kiddos have some quiet reading time before bed and then they fall asleep to either music or Adventures in Odyssey Streaming Club – their choice. If you’re like us and you don’t allow screens in bedrooms, you can Bluetooth these things into a simple speaker setup in their room.
After the kiddos go to bed, the truth is that mom and dad both hop online and work for a little bit – at least Monday through Thursday anyway. (Yes, this is when I do the work that keeps This Little Home of Mine going.) The weekends usually look a little different with mom and dad doing less work and winding down in the evenings with episodes of Dateline and any clips from Tucker Carlson we may have missed earlier in the week.
Want a closer look at some of the things mentioned in this post?
Check out:
- Our Homeschool Morning Time
- Homeschooling Multiple Kids
- Organizing Homeschooling Supplies
- How I Prep for a New Homeschool Year
- Homeschooling : Down Syndrome
Interested in learning more about our family’s homeschooling lifestyle?
This was such a fun read, with so many resources too! Your disclaimer about mascara is hilarious. Thank you for sharing!
This is so helpful!! Thank you!! The link is broken for the afternoon reading aloud—can you please share that resource?
Hey Julie! That was for The American Adventure Series – those are really great for history! We’ve saved them here, too: https://www.amazon.com/shop/thislittlehomeofmineblog?listId=1P219R4TZBHOU Hope you’re having a good week!