Kari’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 3-, 5-, 15-, and 17-year-old)

Kari’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 4-, 5-, 15-, and 17-year-old) ~
Written by Kari Patterson

This is my 11th day-in-the-life post for Simple Homeschool! As I look back at the early years, one thought fills my mind:

I don’t regret a bit of the homeschool journey with my Bigs; I just wish I’d enjoyed it more.

Now my Bigs are restlessly scurrying about this nest, readying their wings.

Well, one is restlessly scurrying, asking how soon she can fly, the other is asking if he can have just a little more time before launch. (smile) 

Turns out, at two-years-apart, they’ll graduate the same year: yet another reason I love homeschooling.

As they prepare to launch, I do as well: Launch back into homeschooling, with our Littles. So with our Littles and our Bigs, here’s a bit of what one of our days might look like:

Kari’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 3-, 5-, 15-, and 17-year-old)

No more early mornings.

When our Bigs were Littles, we were early to bed and early to rise. Now nights are when we connect with our teens, and I wouldn’t trade that time for the world.

So morning alarms are a thing of the past.

Now I awake to the pitter-patter of small feet on the hardwood floors. They slip under my covers to snuggle. Is it morning time, Mama? There are no clocks in our room, so I tell the littles to go to the kitchen and check the time.

If it starts with a 7 then we can get up.

“It’s a Seven-One-Eight!”

And so we begin. They help me make my bed, and we head off for coffee, breakfast, getting dressed, Bible reading and prayer, chores, all the things. Eventually Heidi (15) shuffles out, dreamily smiling.

“Hey Loenig.”

I can’t keep track of all the nicknames she has for me, but MoaLoa, Glernick, and Loenig surface most often. I hug her and hear about her sleep and any late-night conversations she may have had, since she outlasts me every evening. If Dutch (17) hasn’t surfaced by 8:30am I send the little boys up to his room. They love being his alarm. (smile)

Morning

On Mondays the Bigs and I leave the house at 8am to attend a once-a-week school for homeschool teens where I teach Literature & Composition, and my husband Jeff teaches PE. On Tuesdays Heidi has a 7am Algebra class, and weekends require early-ish departures due to theater rehearsals and church classes, but Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays we can begin at a leisurely pace.

At this point, Dutch and Heidi do all their school on their own. Although this is technically Dutch’s third year of high school and Heidi’s first year of high school, we are adjusting their paces to allow them both to graduate in 2026.

We recently enrolled them in a Diploma Program through a local Christian Academy. This means we have an academic counselor who oversees Dutch & Heidi’s homeschool curriculum and transcripts, and they’ll both receive an official diploma from this academy.

So far it’s been amazing. I highly recommend getting help of this kind for high school homeschooling! 

Dutch also took his SATs this year, which was a great way for him to gauge his strengths and begin to think about possible college/major options.

Mornings are when the Bigs have their online classes. Together they take six classes through HSLDA online academy, then several other classes taught by me or studied independently.

The Littles and I do chores, play, and sometimes a little bit of “school” because Justice (5) asks for it. We do Letter Lessons and lots of various printed-off worksheets. Or color. Or read the Dr. Seuss anthology, the Usborne Illustrated Classics for Children, or the Usborne Illustrated Stories from the Greek Myths. (afflinks)

Without fail, Ben (3) will request one from each: “The Grinch,” “The Canterville Ghost,” and “The Minotaur.”

Afternoon

After lunch, the Bigs continue on school and the Littles usually ask to visit Papa. My dad lives next door, and it’s awesome to have him close by! They slip on shoes and coats and head out the door.

I call after them, “Remember, be a blessing!”

Now, I’ll admit, winter can be rough. A lot of dark, cold, rainy days. A lot of littles cooped up inside with nothing to do but roughhouse and whine for screen-time.

And because each day’s a bit different, I never know exactly when (or if) I’ll have a moment to myself. Some days I don’t, and I teeter on feeling like I might go insane. But on the days I do, I seize it!

If the Littles are off and the Bigs don’t need me, I pull on my puffer jacket, slip in my headphones, and head for a walk. I live for walks!

Even if it’s raining or in the winter, the fresh air feels so good and the worship music floods my mind and I find myself praying and musing and musing and praying, and peace settles over my soul once again and in less than an hour I feel like I might be okay after all.

Evenings

Mondays Dutch & Heidi have vocal and theater classes, Tuesdays I have Bible Study, Wednesdays Dutch & Heidi have Bible study, Thursdays we spend together as a family, Fridays Dutch & Heidi have theater rehearsals, and weekends are when we connect with friends or have someone over for dinner.

In other seasons, Dutch runs Cross-Country or Track with our local high school, so that fills his evenings and Saturdays. Heidi does theater year-round.

The littles don’t nap, which means they can go to bed promptly at 7pm (we start bedtime routine by 6:30), which frees us up for evening time with teens (when they’re not away at activities).

Our favorite ways to connect are Conversation Cards (Hygge and Talking Point versions are our favorites), playing dominoes or Nertz, relaxing in the hot tub, or watching specially-chosen-by-Dutch The Office clips. Then we read one chapter of the Bible together (we just finished Psalms and are in Proverbs now), talk about it, and pray.

I’m no night owl, but our evenings with those Bigs are priceless. These days we laugh alot, at each other and at ourselves, and talk a lot about their futures, where they see themselves headed, possible careers, relationships, their hopes, and the details of their daily challenges.

I see it as the greatest privilege that both teens let us so deeply into their lives.

And then every night Jeff and I drop into bed exhausted and exhale, “We did it.” A few moments later one of us usually says: “We have great kids.”

Each day has its challenges, but we both are so incredibly grateful God entrusted us with these four.

Thanks so much for following along today!

My, how the days have changed:

• • 2023: Kari’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 2-, 4-, 13-, and 16-year-old)
  • 2022: Kari’s Homeschool Day in the Life (with a 1-, 3-, 13-, and 15-year-old)
  • 2021:  Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a newborn, 2-, 11- and 14-year-old)
  • 2020: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 1-, 10-, and 13-year-old)
  • 2019: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 5-month, 9- and 12-year old)
  • 2018: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 9-and 11-year-old)
  • 2017: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 7- and 10-year-old)
  • 2016: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 7- and 9-year-old)
  • 2015: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 5- & 8-year-old)
  • 2014: Kari’s homeschool day in the life (with a 4- & 7-year-old)

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