Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool
This was a milestone year – our 10th annual homeschool day in the life series! Before we wrap it up though, we want you to share YOUR homeschool day with us.
It’s special to me that in our current social media driven lifestyle, many of you still ask for this old-school link up each year. I love seeing your posts as well!
Remember, each of us does things differently, and there is no one right way – we want to know what makes your homeschool unique!
How to participate
Please link to your own day in the life post using the linky below. (If you don’t have a blog, feel free to share the details of your day in the comments section.)
In the “name” section, write your title like this: “Jamie’s day w/ a 14, 15, & 16-year-old” – that will help readers find posts that interest them most.
Thank you so much for being a part of this series again!
If you’re reading this post in an email or reader and want to check out everyone’s links, just click here to go to the blog — enjoy!
Melissa’s homeschool day in the life (with a 16-, 13-, 12-, 9-, and 6-year-old)
Thank you so much for hosting this series every year. I think I’ve been reading all the Day in the Life posts almost as long as you’ve had the series running. 🙂 It is always such a delight and encouragement to see the different ways families homeschool, and to see that no matter our individual challenges or perspectives, we share more in common than we might think.
I didn’t know y’all were doing this or I would have had something prepared. I am trying to use Instagram less and blog more. I miss those days 🙂 Here is an excerpt from our first day back in January: “Very first day back and guess what? I have to wash hair! This isn’t your regular 5 minute hair wash. My daughter and I get in our swimsuits, get in the bath together, and continue the process that was begun the night before (untwisting her hair, brushing it out, and then retwisting it into bigger twists). Once in the shower, section by section, I wash with shampoo while brushing out the twists, rinse, add conditioner, and retwist. Then once all sections are complete, the conditioner has to sit, before rinsing it out, and brushing through each twist again with a leave in and retwisting. Then once out of the bath, the real work begins. Styling her hair. Mini twists or braids while she does her work or we watch a documentary. So not the best start to our back to school week, but such is life. ”
Megan’s latest post: New Year Homeschool
Good morning! I have one child who turned 3 in November. We do our Morning Basket over breakfast (devotional, free reading, song time) then break for morning chores. Next comes the daily worksheet (numbers or letters) and sight words. We never work more than 30 minutes each day.
We start usually around 9am. Reading, for at least 30min. Then writing about what was read. We move on to language, currently covering the writing process for reports. Math is next, decimals and fractions. Spelling list, with test each week. Health & science currently studying planets and stars along with atmosphere. Follow that with history, England this week. Lastly beginning spanish. We usually are done somewhere around 2.
7am: Morning Meeting: Mom and Dad have coffee, kiddos (5yo and 3yo) have hot chocolate. We discuss the agenda for the day and modify plans as necessary for weather, etc.
Breakfast: 5yo helps to make breakfast, then both kids eat. Dad begins home-based business work out in garage. Mom starts dishwasher, laundry, and lays out supplies for morning chores.
Morning Chores: Kids clean up breakfast, do bathroom self-care, tidy rooms and make beds, get dressed, and fold their skill-appropriate laundry (3yo gets rags and dishtowels, 5yo gets washcloths, hand towels, socks for matching and kid-pants). On shower-days, kids get a bath then choose a special toy to play in their bedrooms alone while mom showers.
Outing: Today we bundle up to hike to our climbing tree. On other days, we might do volunteer work, have a playdate, go grocery shopping, go to church, visit the library, do land stewardship on our large rural property, or have appointments.
12 noon: Lunch, Movie, and Mom Chores: Kids get to watch one movie per day and eat lunch in the living room. Mom picks movie that is appropriate and occasionally relates to our reading or current interests. Once a week we watch a documentary, and that frequency will increase with age. Mom deals with mail and paperwork, email and online tasks, folds laundry while separating out kids’ laundry to be folded tomorrow morning, and sets out ingredients for dinner prep or baking.
Cooking Time: We prep dinner ingredients or bake. 3yo can dump pre-filled measuring cups, etc. 5yo can use a small sharp knife, peel veg, mix and stir, crack eggs. 3yo is learning to dump compost *into* compost heap instead of in the middle of the lawn.
School Reading: Kids get lollipops or popsicles while Mom does school reading. Currently: one poem from Good Poems, one entry from Scholastic Children’s Encyclopedia, 5 pgs Harry Potter, 3 nursery rhymes, 1 pg Bible, 3 hymns. Plus 5yo does memory work, currently address, phone number, important people’s names. Will begin written work soon.
Crafts or Handwork: Depending on the day, this might be playdough, painting, knitting, wood carving, gluing stuff to other stuff, pounding nails into scrap wood….
Daddy Books: Daddy reads picture books while Mom cooks dinner.
Dinner: Um, eat dinner. And Clean up.
6:45pm: Bedtime Chores: teeth, jams, bedtime books (3yo gets two picture books, 5yo gets one chapter each from two chapter books), and prayers (3yo is learning the Lord’s Prayer, 5yo is almost mastering the Rosary).
7:45pm: Mom collapses in bed and reads a grown up book.
I enjoy this series every year! Thank you for continuing it!
Thank you for hosting this series again! I always love reading these as you share them throughout the year, but his was my first time writing a Day in the Life post, and it was so much fun.