Written by Pam Barnhill
I woke at 4:30.
No, I don’t do this every morning — not at all. But there are a number of mornings each month where I wake early, my thoughts whirling in my head, and I know it is futile to lie there and try to go back to sleep.
My first stop is the coffee pot and then I tiptoe upstairs and start to work. The thoughts won’t even let me have quiet time first thing.
My husband is the first to arrive. He is newly semi-retired and he cracks a joke about us being old and not able to sleep. He recently came home from his day-job to help me with the business and the kids. He still moonlights as a National Guard officer and that keeps our family hopping sometimes.
By the time the first boy stops in for a hug around 6:30 I am halfway through my to-do list for the day and feeling like a champ. If only I didn’t need sleep. Every day could be like this.
Around 8 a.m. I go in to wake Olivia, our oldest. She is not an early riser like the boys. In fact, she is the exact opposite. It is harder than ever to get kid-free time around here.
The boys and dog head off for a walk to the park with Dad while I get dressed and chat with some team members about work for the day via a phone app. Every few minutes I stick my head in to make sure Olivia is moving in the right direction.
Great! She is breakfasting and reading. Moving along she actually does her handwriting and math too. Yay, for older kids.
The boys return around 9:00 and we spend a few minutes doing chores — tidying the living room and bedrooms, emptying the dishwasher, and starting a load of laundry — before beginning our school day about 9:15.
We start with Morning Time
Morning Time is everyone’s favorite. Today it will be a little shorter than yesterday, but we begin with prayers.
I light a candle and we go around the table naming everyone we want to pray for — a deacon at our church on the first anniversary of his wife’s death, my stepdad who recently had surgery, far away friends, and “all the dogs in the world” (that last one so we don’t have to name them individually).
We recite a litany of prayers because Thomas is preparing for First Communion this year and Morning Time is where we review the ones he needs to know.
From there we move on to memory work. We start with “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. The big kids will be reading that in co-op later this semester.
From there we move onto a collection of memory work from math, Latin, science, and other subjects. As I play the memory work on my phone the kids sing or recite along while they draw or play with kinetic sand.
After memory work, we read a poem from our Middle Ages Morning Time plans — Thomas Hardy’s “A Cathedral Façade at Midnight.” I show the kids a picture of statues on the outside of European cathedrals.
I know they don’t “get” what the poem is talking about, and I resist the urge to explain. We talk for a few minutes about the personification of the moon in that poem and they really enjoy that part.
Finally, I read about half of You Wouldn’t Want to Work on a Medieval Cathedral and save the rest for tomorrow. We were excited to make some connections between the book and our IEW writing lesson from co-op on Tuesday.
We end Morning Time by blowing out the candle (today was John’s turn) and singing “The Doxology.” Normally there is a flurry of tidying the table, pulling out books, and stalling as our table work begins. They plead and we actually begin the day by listening to our audiobook of Adam of the Road for a literature class. It buys them some extra drawing time.
I sneak away and finally get in the quiet time I missed that morning. I spend a few minutes reading Scripture and my current book (an advance copy of The Read-Aloud Family — good stuff).
Next is table work
This is the time of day when each of the kids is working on more independent subjects. I try to finish with the 8-year-old first. My logistical secret is to get him done and off playing so I can focus on the other two. It works some days better than others.
Today goes pretty well. He does Math-U-See, All About Reading, All About Spelling, Song School Latin, and steel drum practice. I am at-elbow or directly involved with many of his subjects. When he wants to, he can be done and gone in a little over an hour.
While we are working, the other two kids are at the table doing their independent studies. My 10-year-old does Math-U-See, All About Spelling, All About Reading, and handwriting. My oldest does Math-U-See, Phonetic Zoo, piano practice, A Sentence a Day, and handwriting. Together they do IEW, Famous Men of the Middle Ages, literature, and science for co-op.
So table time is a dance between working with the kid who needs me to teach a lesson and simply being there and available as they work independently. I make it a point to stay engaged during school time and not wander farther than the laundry room or a quick trip to load the dishwasher.
Late in the morning, Olivia heads off to the kitchen to make a lunch of quesadillas and applesauce. I love having someone else who can do that while I finish up the day with her brother. The kids eat while I read science to them.
Play and work
Finally, we are done around 1 p.m. Normally we would head off on Thursday afternoon for a playdate at my friend Jessica’s house. I enjoy that time to unwind and chat with a fellow homeschool mom. Since Jessica lives on a quiet cul-de-sac the kids have free reign of the neighborhood to ride bikes and play. Today Matt takes the kids and drops them off without me since I am under a deadline for work.
I spend the afternoon working on book launch tasks for Better Together, my new book about Morning Time, and I prep for my weekly Instagram and Facebook Live videos. Meanwhile, Matt gets the kids from their playdate and runs them to dance and Ninja Gymnastics.
Fortunately for me, I remembered to thaw an extra pasta and cheese casserole I made a couple of weeks ago as part of my proactive homeschooling plan. I put it in the oven about 5 p.m. All I have to do is throw a salad together about 6 p.m. and dinner is done.
The evening is dinner, baths, bedtime routines, and then some TV with Olivia. She and I are binge-watching Once Upon a Time on Netflix. I am glad — that’s all I have the energy for.
The great thing about homeschooling is that every day is different. Jessica has already texted me asking if we would spend tomorrow morning at our local nature park. (Temps in the 60s with sunny skies? Ummm, yes, math can wait.) Tomorrow afternoon is our bi-weekly family cleaning session. Different days keep it all fresh.
The rewards of homeschooling are getting to spend your days as a family, experiencing the moments when wonder and learning collide. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
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My kids are 17, 15, 13, and 8. I love the idea of morning time with all my kids, but my teens do NOT want to sit down and do things with their little brother. For fun this winter, we moved to Sicily. 🙂
Our kids are now adults 25 and 23 with my oldest now married and we have our first grandson. Even though the times are now different than when we were homeschooling, we make it a mission to sit down together for dinner at least once a week and will try to play a game or just chat and catch up.
I have 7 children ages 24, 19, 17, 15, 11, 8 and 7. I homeschool the youngest 3. Winters can be longgggggg, dark and cold here in MA. I try to break things up with Family movie night, games, video games and trips to the local bounce house. Getting out of the house is not only good for the kids but helps this mama from crawling up the walls.
Two kids aged 6 and 11. We love audiobooks, warm museums, cooking new things and card games together in the dark days of winter.
My kids are 8 and 11. We love reading, art, and playing games together.
My kids are 7 and 5. Right now we are watching and talking about the Olympics. But other weeks we have been building Lego forts, and even real forts out in our woods. Bundle up and get outside! 🙂
Wow! Sounds like a great book you have coming out! Thank you for the chance to win! My children are 15, 13, and 7. We got a puppy for Christmas so that has kept us busy keeping him from chewing everything in our house. He especially loves the library slips that stick out the top of the requested books! He grabs one and runs like the wind while 3 kids chase after him to get it! 🙂
My children are 8, 8, 6, 3, and 1. We’ve had a lot of fun playing with lego this winter, but this week we are all about olympics!
Pam, I always wondered how you do so much. This was wonderful and encouraging to read. As a working homeschool mom, it is always neat to get ideas from those also in the trenches. Thanks so much for sharing!
My kids are 15, 12 & 7. And this winter we’re spending a lot of our school hours on the couch under electric blankets!
My kids will be turning 3, 8, and 11 soon. We started a new tradition this year taking a vacation to a warm and sunny place late Jan/early Feb to break up the monotony and gloominess of winter. It was a huge success and we are already thinking about next year.
My kids are 8, 6, 4, 3, and 1 month. We have been enjoying lots of outside time (it’s bern in the 50s here in Oregon) and games inside when it’s chilly.
Kiddos are 5 and 3 and we are just getting going in some homeschooling this year! Loving it so far. For Winter fun we are getting outdoors as much as possible, learning some new games, and making field trips. We have also started planning next year!
My kids are 9, 7 and 3. My kids love to be outside, so as long as it isn’t below zero (which unfortunately has not been often this winter), they go outside. Otherwise we do a lot of read alouds inside on the couch, and it is one of our favorite things!
My kids are 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 6 months. I’m having a bad day and it is hard to think of what we do that is fun together. This is such a tough season with some significant health and learning issues that we are facing as a family. We did go to the movies yesterday. I love to read aloud from our history books, we are fixing to start Adam of the Road! Basically, we are jut holding on for dear life and looking for joy in the chaos
My kids are 14, 10, 8, and one coming in May. We have been waiting over a year waiting to serve as a family. This is our familie’s thing to serve together.
My four daughters are 18, 15, 13 &11. We just got hit with a lot of snow, so we have spent some time playing outside. We also love playing board games together.
My kiddos are 11, 10, 5 and 6 months. This winter we have really started to enjoy our morning time together – to include nature study, art, bible, poetry and more read alouds. Currently reading Charlottes Web and we just started some bible journaling! Besides school we have been (finally!) enjoy the snow that we missed all of January!
My gals are10, 6 and 2. We are having so much fun with the Winter Olympics—Ancient Greece, Greek mythology, modern Olympics, and lots and lots of Geography.
My sons are about the same age: nearly 8, 10, and 12. And being boys they like competitions so sometimes I’ll have a pushup competition or a balance competition (to give the youngest a chance at winning). Other times we break out the board games. Game day is always met with much enthusiasm and we will have those types of days more in the winter than in the summer.
My daughter is about to turn 12, and my son is a newly-minted 8. We escape outside to hike in the state park lands that border our neighborhood, and it is a wonderful break!
My 9 kids range in age from 17 to 2.
I homeschool the 15, 13, 12, & 9 year old. This winter for fun we are watching the Olympics together!
My kids are 12, 9, 7 and almost 1. Here in upstate NY winter seems to last forever. We use this time to slow down and enjoy lots of fires in the fireplace, cozy blankets and fun readalouds.
My kids are grown and have kids of their own. 2 of my grandkids are in TN., but one is nearby. His parents will put him in school but I get to love on him and teach him until then .
Two girls, age 4 and almost 2. Just general silliness and laughter keeps the fun alive around here. Tickling, making funny faces or sounds, chasing each other, dance parties, etc. ????