Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Q&A Friday: YOUR Homeschool Day in the Life

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Written by Jamie Martin, editor of Simple Homeschool and founder of Steady Mom

January was filled with posts from each of our contributors, sharing how we fit all the pieces of life together in our homeschool day. Each day reflects much of what is going on in our lives–from work we do on the side to babies waiting in the wings.

You’ve heard us ramble on and on for an entire month.

Today, it’s your turn! So here are my questions for you:

How old are your kids? How long have you been homeschooling? What does your homeschool day look like?

Last Sunday, I invited you to write a day in the life post on your own blog to link up below. If you have a link to share, please include it in your comment here.

Even if you haven’t written a separate post, you can of course still tell us about your day just by leaving a comment.

I’d love to have the chance to read how your days unfold.

Thanks so much for sharing!

About Jamie C. Martin

Jamie is an introverted mom of three, who loves books, tea, and people (not always in that order), and avoids answering the phone when possible. She co-founded SimpleHomeschool.net in 2010 and began IntrovertedMoms.com in 2020.

Jamie is the author of four books, including Give Your Child the World (reached #9 on Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers list), and her latest release, Introverted Mom (an ECPA bestseller). Her work has been featured by LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, the Washington Post, Parents, Today Parenting, and Psychology Today.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Heidi @ Mt Hope

    I have three boys (10, 7, and 5) and a 16 month old girl. We’ve been homeschooling from the beginning. Every day is different around here. We are neo-classical homeschoolers, but have a very ‘go with the flow’ sort of (non)routine. I posted our ‘day in the life’ for three days in a row this month:

    http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com/2012/01/day-in-life-january-2012.html

    http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com/2012/01/day-in-life-day-2.html

    http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com/2012/01/day-in-life-day-3.html

    I’ve loved reading the Day in the Life series again, Jamie!!
    Heidi @ Mt Hope’s latest post: Mt. Hope Academy @ The Live and Learn Studio ~ January 2012

  5. Laura

    We’re pretty new to homeschooling with Gracie (7 yrs) in first grade and MisterMan (5 yrs) in Kindergarten. Balancing the regular needs of daily living with homeschooling with special healthcare needs has been a big challenge. This series has helped me see how every family is unique and does what they can and need to, when they can and need to and that has been very comforting and encouraging!
    Laura’s latest post: A day in the life…

  16. Nicole @ Journey 2 Excellence

    We homeschool a 15 year old 9th grader and a 6 year old 2nd grader. We also have an 8 year old public school 2nd grader, who will be coming home next year. This is our 2nd year homeschooling, and began at the request of our oldest. We have slowly brought each one home after that. Homeschooling started out as a necessity and now is a way of life. I posted my Day in the Life as part of my Weekly Wrap-up here:

    http://journey2excellence.blogspot.com/2012/02/weekly-wrap-up-day-in-our-schooling.html
    Nicole @ Journey 2 Excellence’s latest post: Weekly Wrap-up ~ A Day in Our Schooling Life (15, 8, and 6)

  23. Sara

    We have been homeschooling since September of 2011. My oldest is 11 (5th grade) and my middle child is 7 (2nd). My youngest is 4 and attends our local preschool four times a week. Each day looks a little different, but mainly our day starts with Bible (Telling God’s Story), Math (Saxon), English (First Lang. Lessons & Rod and Staff), Spelling (Spelling Workout), and History (Story of the World). I’ve decided to change Science curriculum because it just wasn’t working. We follow the Classical Education approach, so I’m back to researching the Well Trained Mind for another Science experiment book.
    Sara’s latest post: iPhone as teaching aid

  31. Jen

    I have really enjoyed reading through the variety of families you have featured on your blog. Thank you for the encouraging spirit that creates!

    Our family has been homeschooling for 8 years now. We have a 9th, 8th, 6th, 5th, 3rd, and 2nd grader this year. 3 boys and 3 girls. Our days look pretty much the same week to week, Monday’s looking the same, Tuesday’s looking the same, etc., while looking different from each other.
    A typical stay at home day (Wednesday) starts with wake up for kids at 7 am. They start their “3 B’s” : Bedroom, Body, and Breakfast, starting school at 7:40.
    Wednesday rundown: Bible reading, group history, individual math, group exercise, partner spelling study, individual English grammar and creative writing , group science, then lunch. After lunch, we do a group health class school ends with an hour of quiet, assigned reading that gives the teacher a time to work on whatever she needs to!
    6th grade and younger follow the same schedule, while the 9th and 8th grader stays on a slightly altered one. It allows maths for older grades to be done apart from younger grades, allowing the teacher to give more focused attention on the needs. Trying to answer all 6 grades math questions in the same hour gave me a headache!

    The day ends at 2 with everyone cleaning up from school, doing their household chores and then 2 hours of FREE TIME! Around 4:30 it is one child’s turn to cook with Mom, (some of the older ones basically kicking Mom out of the kitchen!), and we have fun talking, cooking, and spending one on one time with each other.

    Supper time is spent with Dad, and we share things we have learned that day, funny things that happened, and usually make a lot of noise! Clean up from supper includes everyone, and it is done quickly. We don’t have a dishwasher, so each person washes their own dishes. Works pretty well.

    After supper, we do different things depending on the need. My husband and oldest head off to youth group, and the rest of us go about for a “free night.” Often we watch something together, read, or play a game. Getting ready for bed starts at 7:30, kids in bed by 8, lights out at 8:30. I travel to the different beds, cuddling, praying, and listening while they settle in bed. Dad and oldest get home around 9:15.. and usually are ready for a late night snack and rehash of the evening. Off to bed oldest goes, and Dad and I connect and detox from the day.

    This is a sample of our Wednesdays… Of course, it doesn’t always go as planned!

  32. Ashlee

    I’ve been waiting all week for this linky party!! 🙂 My daughters are 2.5 years and 10 weeks old, because of that we’re at the very beginning part of home education, so no post from us, but I’ll be reading everyones!!
    Ashlee’s latest post: Upcycled Tote Bag

  37. Nance

    Pssst…hey, you! Quick question! What do you eat every day? What do you wear every day? What do you think about every day? Right…you do those things each day, but they vary so much from one day to the next, and that’s what I’ve tried to depict in this entry. That for us, there IS no “typical” homeschooling day. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

    http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/272709.html

    Nance, relaxed, secular homeschooling mom to Alexa, age 11, and Ben, age 6.
    Nance’s latest post: Life Without School – Awkward Conversations

  39. Marianne@AbundantLife

    I, too, love these kinds of posts. So fun to peek inside other homeschools to see how they structure (or don’t structure) their days.

    I have been homeschooling for 15 years. I have graduated 2 kids. I am currently homeschooling a 14, 13, 8, 7 and 4 year old with an 18 month old still too young for school.

    This is a link to my post about what our current schedule is like. I like the idea of writing down an actual days’ events but I am soooo busy, I keep forgetting to write during the day!

    http://abundant-life.me/2012/01/12/homeschool-day-in-the-life-with-a-1-4-7-8-13-14-year-old/

    I love homeschooling!!
    Marianne@AbundantLife’s latest post: 10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Started Homeschooling

  41. Elle Gallo

    Hi! We just began homeschooling our 12, 10 and 8 year old children at January’s beginning. Our blog is at he web address above. I am a professional singer, songwriter, a business owner (Commonwealth Computers), founder of a non-profit organization helping women in need (Eve Rising) and a member of my city’s Cultural Council. Juggling it all has been interesting, but so far I’m loving it, and so are our kids!!

  46. Lisa

    This is our 21rst year of homeschooling 5 kids- we’ve graduated 2, both of whom are getting ready to graduate again- one from a 4 yr college and one from a Cosmetology program with plans to begin an R.N. program in the fall. I homeschool my 17 ds, 12 ds, and 9 dd. My homeschool day varies by day- we participate in on-line classes, co-op and a Tutoring Center so each day is different. Check out a week in our lives here:http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/2012/02/1-landry-academy-classes-are-cruising.html
    Lisa’s latest post: Watching, Reading, Thinking

  49. Heidi

    I have 3 daughters who are 20, 18, & 16 and a son at home with me. I homeschooled all the girls. The first one went all the way through homeschooling and spent her evenings as a ballerina. The second daugther is getting a free year of college at a local university although we had to enroll her in ps to be able to do this. Last daughter is in ps for volleyball but was homeschooled most of her life. My son and I are enjoying our homeschooling time together which is a switch for me who was used to homeschooling 4 children at once.

    Although I’ve had a homeschool blog for years I’ve never written a day in the life post. These are so interesting to read. Maybe I’ll have to do that sometime. Basically I work until about 9am. Then I get ready and my son starts on his independent work or I set up some songs from classical conversations for him to listen to. We read history, Bible and Science together with some recess breaks here and there. After lunch we finish up his table time where he needs help. Ideally we are done by 1 but more often than not it’s closer to 3.

    My goal for homeschooling is self teaching so I try to have him learn as much on his own although I don’t use textbooks. We set up a schedule at the beginning of the year of what he wanted to do each day. He has some programs on the computer too.

    Fridays are fun/catch up day. It’s a great incentive to get him to finish all his work by Thursday. Then we play games, go on field trips (rarely), do experiments and do art projects on Fridays. I figure if my husband who is a ps teacher can do game day on Friday, then I can too.

    • cellista

      That should say “I’ve been homeschooling…”

      I’m trying to type with said 2yo on my lap showing me his 100 big machines book. 🙂

  55. Intentionally Katie

    I documented my day today…it was fun!

    I just began homeschooling 2 months ago: 7, 5 and 2 years old. I pulled my 2nd grader out of school at Thanksgiving and work with my 5 year old before she goes to afternoon Kindergarten. I’m loving it and would love to pull my daughter out of school, too, but my husband wants her to finish out the year.

    I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time (especially how to entertain my toddler during school hours) and I hope my post encourages others!
    Intentionally Katie’s latest post: Our Day of Homeschooling (with a 7, 5 and 2-year old)

  56. Renee Gotcher

    I also chose to write about today as our homeschool “day in the life” — not because it was typical, but because it reflected a lot of the reasons we LOVE the homeschooling life! We had the snowstorm of the season today, but we also managed to incorporate some of our normal school routine into the mix.

    Here is my post at NextGenHomeschool.com: http://wp.me/p1MH6f-rl

    I’m the mother of three girls, ages 11, 9 and 4, and we’re halfway through our second year of homeschooling in Castle Rock, CO.

    I’ve also really enjoyed reading a few of these today and discovering more new blogs! I hope to read some more over the weekend. Thanks again, Jamie!
    Renee Gotcher’s latest post: The Gotcher Family’s Homeschool “Day in the Life”

  58. Amy M

    This is my 9th year of homeschooling. I have 7 kids & #8 is due this spring. They are 1,4,6,9,11,12 & 16. The oldest is no longer homeschooled. Our days start with kiddos & me doing morning chores, I make breakfast & we usually sit to eat by 9:30. We have independent Bible reading then we all meet together on the sofa around 10-10:30. Almost all of our studies are done together, only separating for math & independent reading. Some days we finish before lunch @ 1ish & other days we might have a subject or 2 to finish up afterwards. In order to fit in everything that I wanted to we alternate subjects. Bible, Reading, Read Alouds & Math is done everyday, History is M,T,W,Th, Geography is F, Latin is M,W, Handwriting is M,W, Spelling is T,Th, Grammar is M,W, Poetry is T, Shakespeare is Th, Creative writing is F, Art is M,W, Music (Composer study) is T, Science is Th,F. I LOVE this schedule! The kids each have a white board that they check daily for all their assignments (even though we do all studies together) & daily chores & what appointments/activities they have. I feel that every year gets better & better.

  60. Kirsten H

    I have a 7.5 yr old (2nd grade), an almost 5 year old, a 3 year old (he turns three on Monday!), and a baby who is currently 3 months old. We have been homeschooling since the beginning of our parenting journey.

    Here’s my “day in the life” post: http://homeschooldiscoveries.com/2012/02/04/homeschooling-with-a-new-baby-in-the-family-a-day-in-the-life/

    Thanks for having this link-up…I’m looking forward to going and reading some of the posts that others have written!
    Kirsten H’s latest post: Homeschooling with a New Baby in the Family: A “Day in the Life”

    • Heather

      Some homeschooling challenges not mentioned on our blog… I spend every pregnancy on about 5-7 months of bedrest, I have multiple sclerosis, we have worked on the mission field both abroad and in the States, we are a dual national/ex-pat family, we live far from stores and we have no neighbors close, my oldest child has Asperger’s, we deal with multiple (over a dozen) food allergies, and since we are rural, a grocery trip takes about 6-8 hours (so a full day where we are homeschooling on the road). We also spend a lot of time in doctors offices seeing specialists, etc., and my husband travels about half of each month. If anyone wants me to blog specifically about homeschooling with any one of these challenges, I would be happy to oblige (but don’t ask for all at once, LOL)

      • Heather

        Oh, and two with dyslexia. I wish there was a way to edit our posts after we post them.

        I’ll try not to add anything more, LOL! 🙂

  64. stephanie beaty

    I’ve loved following your blog and this series. We are a military of 5 (soon to be six!)–and I have a side business as a portrait photographer (Lifeography). This is our first year homeschooling with a Kindergartner, 3-year-old, 1-year-old and baby on the way. Here is a peek at our day-to-day on our homeschool blog “No Place Like Roam”: http://noplacelikeroam.com/2012/01/homeschool-routine/
    stephanie beaty’s latest post: It’s Groundhog Time

  66. Alyson @ Rocket Creek

    This is our second year of homeschooling — our 3rd grader just turned 9, 2nd grader is 7.5, and our pre-preschooler is 3.5!

    Here is our “day in the life” post from yesterday. This morning I did a quick “day in the life” search and it luckily brought me here to link up! I look forward to taking a peek into everyone’s day.

    http://rocketcreek.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/a-day-in-the-life/
    Alyson @ Rocket Creek’s latest post: A Day in the Life…