Written by Jamie Martin of Simple Homeschool
Our 9th annual day in the life series is nearly over (wow, next year will be a decade!!), but first, we want you to share YOUR day – Tell us about what’s working now and what rhythm your family likes to follow at home.
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 13, 14, & 15-year-old” – that will help readers find the posts that interest them most.
Thank you so much for being a part of this series. I can’t wait to peek behind the curtains of your day!
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!
Weekend homeschool links
Maura’s Homeschool Day with 13-year-old Chronically Ill Teen
Two years ago my world shifted.
My 11-year-old fifth grader was sidelined with high fevers and vomiting frequently. Her older sisters and I never caught this bug that she seemed to have on-and-off for months. Doctors repeatedly said it was viral.
Then she lost her sight.
Wasn’t a virus, after all.
It was a brain tumor squeezing the life out of her optic nerves and pituitary gland.
After emergency surgery and daily radiation, we settled into schooling. Public school sent five tutors to help her in sixth grade. We also did Classical Conversations simultaneously. It was too much. Waaaay too much.
Now, she is 13. We bowed out of the public school and focus only on CC.
She usually is ill from midnight until 4am. I wake her at 7 am for meds, and again for crackers and meds at 8am.
She sleeps until noon or 1pm, when I wake her from a deep sleep.
She eats and we use Jesus Calling devo. She does one math lesson in Saxon 8/7. She reads or listens to a Newberry award winning book for an hour. She eats again. (She has gained 60 pounds since surgery due to the meds and inactivity.)
After lunch she draws maps of the world, labeling countries, capitals and bodies of water. She works on Biology by drawing anatomy and labeling.
In the afternoon she takes more meds.
She usually practices the cello before dinner.
After dinner she takes more meds.
We listen to the Timeline Song on the way to CC (hour drive) and doctor’s appts. We talk about history from the historical novels she reads and current events.
She has time to play with Legos and does Origami in the evening. We play word games and complete anagrams when she is awake in the middle of the night.
She injects herself with hgh and takes more meds at night.
She likes to spend time on the weekends with her public school friends.
Not how I imagined our homeschooling day. But, yours is likely not ideal, either, right?!
My heart goes out to you, Maura! Blessings on you and yours, and thanks for sharing your day.
Here we are again at the beginning of another school year. I am excited; I love starting things! Fresh notebooks, colorful pens, and the routine of structured learning are needed. Summer was wonderful, but we need some focus back into our days. This year will have a new challenge. We will be covering pre-k through 5th-grade topics – so ABC’s through Algebraic thinking. Easy-peasy(also the curriculum base we use) – No pressure!
Carrie’s Homeschooling Day with a 12 year old
My daughter usually wakes up around 9am and spends some time playing and/or drawing. We then have breakfast and then we start our World of Adventures unit study–currently we are studying Ancient Rome. We read the Bible chapter that my daughter is memorizing. We read the book recommended for literature–currently the Bronze Bow and discuss the comprehension questions. We review some of the Greek/Latin roots and vocabulary words we have been learning. Next, we would do any grammar/writing assignments–today was make a list of things you would see/experience if you lived in the Ancient Roman empire and tell whether verbs in sentences are present/past/future tense. Then I read aloud 45 minutes of library books about Ancient Rome–currently we are in the 15th book of the 17 book series of Roman Mysteries and we have so enjoyed this series. While I am reading, my daughter draws or rides her exercise bike or uses her balance board or swings on her swing. Then I read aloud 45 minutes of library books about volcanoes, rocks/minerals, and earthquakes which are the science topics of this unit. While I am reading, my daughter works on her mosaic made out of egg shells which is the current fine arts project after the many mosaics found in Ancient Rome. By that time, it is time for lunch. Often while eating, we watch a video about the social studies or science topics of the unit. After lunch, it is time for math (we use Beast Academy), learning math facts which my daughter has struggled with and we are trying something new called Mathhacked, spelling (we use All About Spelling as spelling is also a struggle for my daughter but she has made slow but steady progress with this program), flute practice, practice song for voice lesson, and practice worship dance she is working on to perform at church on Easter. I let my daughter choose which order she wants to do these various things. Usually my daughter has time in the evening to do whatever she wants (she often asks me to read more to her while she draws or plays). However, currently, my daughter is involved in a production of Oliver and the performances are next Friday and Saturday so most evenings, we have to had an early dinner and then drive 50 minutes to Oliver rehearsal. In the car, my daughter works on Beast Academy if we didn’t have time to finish earlier. When we get home, it is time for bed—I read aloud to my daughter from a fiction book of whatever we are studying as she is getting ready for bed. Then after I have said good night to my daughter, she reads silently for 30 minutes and then goes to sleep.
Thank you for offering this opportunity, Jamie! It is so fun to get a peek into the lives of other homeschoolers. 🙂
Sharon’s day in the life with a 15,14 and 12 yo.
Sharon’s latest post: February 2019 Wrap Up
Let me try that again. Lol.
https://lakenormanprep.wordpress.com/2019/01/29/a-day-in-the-life-2019-monday/
My day in the life-15,14 and 12 yo
Belinda’s Homeschool Day with a 10 year old
Our day is probably a bit different to some, because I work outside of the home, so we have to schedule around that.
I wake up at 4:30am to exercise, have my GodTime and a shower. Then it’s time to wake the family at 6:00am. Hubby leaves for work at 6:30. My 10 year old son has 10 – 15 minutes to wake up, and then we start school (this might sound harsh, but he chose to do it this way, as the way we were doing it previously wasn’t working – I’ll explain more later!!).
We use the ACE curriculum for all of his subjects, and it works great for him and for our family set up. I work out his goals for the week on a Sunday (i.e. how many pages he needs to do in each subject each day), so when he’s fully awake he’s good to go.
We don’t follow a formal routine for the day, as in do Math first, then Science, then English, etc. He has his list for the day, and he’s free to work through it in any order he wants, as long as he gets it all done before he asks for screen time 😉
Our aim for each morning is to get three subjects done before I leave for work at 7:45am. The past two years we weren’t doing any school until I came home from work, and it was a battle every day to get him motivated to start. So he suggested we try doing some school early, and it’s working great!
When it’s time for me to go to work, my son has a choice – he can come to work with me (I work as the secretary for our church, so it’s a small office and the pastor is easy-going), or I can drop him off at his dad’s work (dad is an auto-mechanic with his own workshop, so he doesn’t mind), or he can stay at home with his gran, who runs a small pre-school from my house.
I work until 1:00pm, and then when I get home my son and I have lunch together, before we carry on with whatever school he still has left to do for the day. If we start working by 1:30pm, we’re usually done by 3:00pm at the latest, and the it’s free time. On a Thursday afternoon my son has a music lesson at the church (he’s learning to play the drums), and on Friday afternoon he goes to Cub Scouts. On a Friday morning he comes with me to the church – we have a ladies’ Bible study, and there are quite a few other homeschool moms in the group, so my son does an arts/crafts lesson for all the children who come.
Bedtime for my son is between 7:30 – 8:00pm, and dad reads him a chapter from whichever book they’re reading together every night (even on weekends my son wants his bedtime story, which is super special for my two guys to do together).
My bedtime is around 9:00pm.
Michaela’s Day in the Life with a 13, 12, 8, and 4 year old using A Gentle Feast and Math-U-See
This is our 9th year homeschooling. We started when my 13 year old was 5. I look back at those first few years and cringe, and apologize to my first born, and sometimes 2nd born, but we are learning together and are getting more and more settled into this homeschooling thing. Plus, those first few years when the naysayers made comments, it resonated with the fear inside of me that they were right. Now, I just laugh because I have years of watching my kiddos thrive and I KNOW we are doing the right thing! Keep on trucking!
6:00 Get up or hit snooze. 😉
6:15 Quiet time
6:45 Exercise
7:15 Watch a show with my 4 year old while I get some phone time (emails, FB, Pinterest)
7:45 Get ready/swap laundry/clean kitchen
8:30 Morning time (Bible, Beauty Loop, Language Arts)
9:00 13 year old starts an independent subject, younger kids get ready and practice their instruments, do “school” with 4 year old if he’s interested
9:30 ALGEBRA – I do every step with my 13 year old because I am very rusty in this subject, but we’re making it!!
10:00 12 and 8 year old start independent work
10:15 or so I start working with 8 year old
11:00 Older kids give narrations as they finish their readings, younger two play together, I have a minute to help with school or do housework or other work
12:00 Make lunch/eat
12:15 Table time while kids eat [Conversational Spanish (Duolingo or Talkbox.mom) and read aloud]
12:45 Read a naptime story to 4 year old while older 3 straighten
1:00 Rest time for all (reading independently or something else QUIET)
2:00 Chores (loosely follow the Flylady ideas)
2:30 Older girls finish up school
3:00 Afternoon activities (quilting, drawing, playing outside, etc.)
On Tuesdays, we volunteer, eat lunch with my grandmother, and have music lessons, so we follow a 4 day schedule.
Sometimes most of this falls into place, and sometimes it does not, but I have found that having a schedule guarantees that we will be more productive than letting things fall as they may. It may seem full and stressful, but this has been our most relaxed homeschool year ever, and our first year to just be at home doing our own thing in several years. Some days, or weeks, I can’t physically or mentally make myself be so productive before I get started with the kids. My body needs the sleep and a relaxed morning. This is usually when there are external stressors weighing on me. My motto is “Make hay while the sun shines.” On high energy days, we make lots of hay. On low energy days or seasons, we do what we can and don’t worry about it. The kids are always learning, whether or not we are using books. So this schedule is for those high energy days. The low energy days consist of math, outside time, and tv. Or even less. I have learned that if I get burned out, the whole family is in trouble, so I listen to my body and take careful tabs on my mental energy. We rest when we need to. And the kids are still alive and thriving.
FYI- We follow the clock instead of trying to get a specific amount of school done in each subject. This gives the kids the opportunity to move at their own pace. The clock is a reminder to move on, not to hurry up.
I currently work part-time at an NGO on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings while my older son attends local 2nd grade and my younger son and daughter attend kindergarten. (Kids begin 1st grade at 7.) We primarily home school in the afternoons. For the last 3 years we have been local schooling, and it works because the local school day is about 4.5 hours. It can be a bit challenging to manage our schedules, but growing competency in the host language makes it worth it, for now.
7:00 am- I wake up my oldest for school. Make coffee. Sit down with my son while he eats breakfast. We chat about his day. Slowly, the younger ones trickle in for breakfast. We chat with my husband who is traveling with work for 3 weeks.
7:30- I pray over my oldest, hug him, and wave goodbye as he walks up the hill to our neighborhood school. Once he’s out of sight, I head inside to begin household chores. I play a recorded poem on my phone for my younger son to listen to on a loop while he plays. He has a program at school this week.
8:15- I work on an important email, but the internet is not cooperating today, so I move on.
8:45- I begin “Morning School” with my first grader. He has the most enthusiasm in the morning so whenever we can, we get his work done in the morning. I start him on Math, which is his favorite.
9:15- We work on Spelling-U-See together, and I help my 3 year old navigate a preschool workbook.
9:30- We practice reading, using The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading and then take turns reading a Magic Tree House book together.
10:00- After my son completes handwriting, we begin a game of “Sorry!”
10:45- I hang clothes to dry, while the kids play.
11:15- My son and daughter are playing happily, so I seize the opportunity to take a shower. (It’s all about survival right now! 😊)
11:45- I begin lunch prep. My kids help with tasks like filling our water filter and putting silverware away.
12:30- My oldest arrives home from school. He changes out of his three piece school uniform and joins us for lunch.
12:45- We play a game of charades before my boys complete afternoon chores like washing dishes, vacuuming the kitchen, and taking out the trash. I read to my daughter and put her down for a nap. My boys are free to read or play for a few minutes. I take a short quiet time with a cup of tea.
1:45- I get my oldest started on his independent work like Math, Spelling-U-See, and handwriting. I play a game that my younger son has made up. Then we do an activity to practice his speech.
2:45- We complete today’s group work: a lesson in First Language Lessons, Level 2, and a chapter in Story of the World.
3:30- My daughter is awake. We gather up our books to return and walk up the street to the American Corner. They lend English books! It’s so fun to have a “library” available to us.
4:15- We check out some new books. Then we walk to the grocery store to pick up a few essentials for dinner.
4:45- We arrive home. The kids pull out their new books as I begin to prep dinner. My 6 and 3 year old “help” me make muffins. 😊 We’re keeping it simple tonight, because we have an online speech therapy session at 7 pm.
5:30- Eat Dinner.
6:30- We clean up after dinner. I get my 8 and 3 year old set up with games and puzzles to stay entertained during their brother’s speech session.
7:00- Speech.
7:30- My oldest and I sit down to complete his local homework. (Typically, his dad or I would have done this while the speech session was happening.) My second son reviews his poem a few more times to make sure he knows it.
8:00- Everyone is rewarded for a good speech time: two episodes of “Jeopardy! All-Stars” and an episode of “Wheel of Fortune.”
9:00- I read to my daughter and put her to bed. Then I listen to my sons read their devotional book and the Bible.
9:30- Lights out! They are listening to Tales the Troy on audio, tonight.
What’s missing? My husband. He plays a huge role in our homeschooling. He teaches Math and Science. He leads our family devotions and a Christian biography at dinner, in addition to reading nightly to our kids. They just finished the Princess the Cat trilogy and loved it!
Each day feels like a balancing act. Most days are not perfectly balanced, but over the long-term, we find time for the most important things. Thanks for reading!
I started homeschooling my son Luca in the 4th grade after I learned he was being passed grades and had not learned basic math. It surprised me because I was involved in his school conferences and volunteered. He had a massive anxiety attack at the end of third grade. I spoke with his pediatrician and found that he was dyslexic and had discography. Around this time I discovered I had severe PTSD (military) and had to stop working. I am now a disabled veteran. We have learned to take things day by day. We practice a lot of gratitude.
I have tried several styles over the years and have figured out that a balance of unschooling, videos and lots of conversation with hands on approach works for him. We don’t have a definitive schedule except Wednesdays and every other Friday where he goes to a local homeschool enrichment program offered through a charter school (and free). He does a lot of hands on real world work with my boyfriend whom owns several businesses. On any given day he is either helping with a construction site, helping to guide hunting and fishing expeditions, doing community service projects, or helping his grandparents out. We are currently working on a book called “The 5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins and reading the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu. In his homeschool enrichment program he and two friends have entered a competition called Destination Imagination and have won 3rd place in the regional competition for Service. They are now going to the state competition. He practices boxing and jiu jitsu for an hour every day (his choice). He is also writing a book. He has decided that math is important and has agreed to let his brother tutor him and we use the mathantics.com site, which he loves. On Sundays we discuss what he would like to learn for the week. Based on that, I work a curriculum up for him and also include the mundane tasks (basic core items such as math, English, science, etc.).
He recently learned his scoliosis has to operated due to the impact it is having on his heart and lungs. He has informed me that he will now learn anatomy and physiology so he can be better informed of what the procedure will entail and how he can help himself recover. Makes me laugh! I’m so proud.
We practice our particular kind of faith everyday.
I’m going to be honest, at the beginning of this journey I was terrified! I thought I would mess my kid up. The opposite has happened. He has become self confident, community oriented and just a really good kid.
Thank you for reading
Our Day In The Life up on my blog Beachwood Schoolhouse
https://beachwoodschoolhouse.com/homeschool-day-in-the-life-9-6-5-year-old/
A Day In The Life Of Our Homeschool Family (ages 5, 9, 11 and 13) in Canada.
https://www.plumcheekysolutions.com/homeschool/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-home-school-family