Never let your schooling interrupt your education.

Your turn to share your own homeschool day in the life

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Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool and Introverted Moms (which reopens to new members tomorrow!)

Our 11th annual day in the life series is wrapping up, and if you’ve missed any posts along the way, you can catch up with them here:

Now it’s your turn! Tell us about what’s working in your homeschool, and what your family has learned so far this year.

Remember, each of us does things a little differently, and there is no one perfect way – we want to know what makes your family and homeschool unique!

How to take part

Please leave the link to your personal day in the life in the comment section of this post. (No official “linky” this year – If you don’t have a blog link to share, feel free to write the details of your day in the comments for us to read!)

In your comment, feel free to share your title/link this:

Jamie’s homeschool day w/ a 15, 16, & 17-year-old: https://simplehomeschool.net/jamie2021/

That will help readers find the posts that interest them most.

Thank you so much for joining us (again!) for this series. I can’t wait to take a look at what each of you share.

“The routines that shape our days locate us – from the places we visit to the small rituals that give us pause.” – Louisa Thomsen Brits, The Book of Hygge

If you’re reading this post in an email or reader and want to check out everyone’s links or add your own, just click here to head to Simple Homeschool — enjoy!

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

      • Elaine Fepuleai

        Hi Jamie, I am homeschooling my grandson who just turned 14 last Dec. When he finished Primary School, I could see he was going backwards if anything. He is mildly autistic. He had real issues with writing, putting his thoughts on paper. He dreaded physically writing anything, but not anymore. Still struggles with spelling though big improvements, yet he is a good reader. Spelling problems made him less keen to write. He felt stupid and slow. He was bullied. I have been teaching him the last three years. He is a happier more confident boy.
        This year, I have told him he is older now and has to learn to work on his own so currently, I have Shaun research a topic online then draw a picture of the topic first (he loves art) then writing about it in his own words. He does all this unsupervised. To begin with, I have chosen topics he loves. He has covered 4 types of whales and the Asian and African elephants. He is presently researching penguins. We will do more animals like sharks, maybe wolves then make a booklet of all his work, calling it. “The Animal Kingdom”.
        After this we will move onto doing the same thing with countries, splitting the topic into the Seven Continents.
        He enjoys it, does his work well with some small distractions, but good distractions as he is still learning. I am teaching him to work unsupervised, research and decifer the information then put the information on paper in his own words. He is feeling more confident with his writing and spelling. We spent much time last year with phonics, sounding out words, using a dictionary, not worrying about making mistakes.
        We have done a lot of maths, but I concentrate on maths that will be useful. I keep everything he does relevant and practical. I dont give him a structured life because real life will not be that way and he has adapted. We have studied evolution and how animals have to adapt to their environment, even humans. I teach him that all topics whether maths, English, etc offer us problems that we must find solutions for because that is what we do everyday in real life.
        We started off with the importance of a a topic like photosynthesis then moved onto pollution, conservation, water cycle, plant and animal respiration, food chain, food web, one topic moving logically and relevantly to another. We have studied the heart and circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system and will study more about the body so he understands his body. Same time, compare to plants and how they carry out similar functions in order to survive.
        I am preparing Shaun with tools to deal with real life, whatever challenges come along so he wont panic, but just deal with it. I have told him he has to learn to be less emotional about matters, but stay cool and deal with whatever comes along. He is immature for his age, but I let him be himself. However, we have taught him how to behave when in public out of respect for others who may not be comfortable with some of his behaviour. He understands and is fine with it.
        He comes out to a lot of restaurants and functions with us. He goes wherever Grandma and Grandpa go.
        I go by my instincts and what I truly feel he needs. As I have explained to him, he is a smart boy, but has some issues we are working on. He does easily get emotional and takes things literally and to the heart so we have to talk about things alot so he understands what is happening with himself and other people. There is a need for patience and love and awareness you have the life and future of a young person in your hands. My son and his wife have totally entrusted Shaun to me and I am committed to my grandson.
        This is how I have approached homeschooling for my grandson. I do try to keep things interesting, to keep his attention and curiosity alive. I want him to always love learning and life. Hope this helps someone.
        Elaine

        • Anne Guarnera

          Katie, just wanted to say that as another mom who stepped away from an intense career track to homeschool her kids (and whose kids have some of the same gifts and challenges), your posts have given me special encouragement over the years! I really admire how you have continued to use your medical training to minister to others over the years while homeschooling your two littles—I know that it is NOT easy to do that! Thank you for sharing your journey, and for how you’ve helped me to see that it is possible to homeschool AND steward God’s giftings of education and career at the same time.

  6. Amie PARHAM

    I don’t have a blog, so I’m typing it all out. 😁
    Amie’s homeschool day with a 9-yr old, 8-yr old, 6-yr old, and 4-yr old.
    I’m awake around 6, coffee, Bible time, prayer, and journaling or planning the day.
    Kids wake up around 7, and breakfast is first on the list. After breakfast, we work on a few urgent chores, like tending to our pets and chickens, then we jump into schoolwork at the kitchen table. My 4 year old enjoys playing with play-doh or doing her dollar store workbooks while I work on the challenging subjects with the older 3. I try to keep school as close to first after breakfast as possible, as the attitudes are much better if we start it earlier in the day.
    We usually try to do work for about an hour, and then have a snack break. There are always interruptions fro our dogs or pets, but we do our best to focus on one task at a time.
    Ideally schoolwork is done by lunch time, and after lunch the kids play outside when it’s nice, and I work on house work or my hobbies during the afternoons. The kids do their chores as needed during the day. When the weather is poor, kids will read books, play card games or board games, play toys, or if it’s rainy they enjoy playing hide and seek in the dark, while I sit in my room with the door closed for ultimate darkness. 😂
    Around 5PM I start dinner, and ideally we eat at 6PM. Bedtime starts around 7,brushing teeth, pajamas on, and bathroom breaks, then all the kids gather on the couch and one parent reads a book to them while the other cleans up the kitchen. We’ve been reading through the “Little House on the Prairie” series since November!
    After kids go to bed, my husband and I will either enjoy a movie or show together, or he will play video games while I sew or knit with him.

  8. Shevaun

    I don’t have a blog, so here’s a long post 🙂

    We are a modified Waldorf family. We do use workbooks for phonics, math, and foreign language, but everything else is hands-on, nature, or living books:
    7:30: Morning coffee/hot chocolate/breakfast/get organized discussion
    Morning chores/home and body care
    Exercise and Main Lesson (sometimes this is an outing to the library, volunteer work, a hands-on science or math lesson, church in pre-pandemic times, a nature hike, etc.)
    12:00 Body care, Lunch, and tv (yes! we eat with the TV. It works for us, and we have tons of time together throughout the day. Meanwhile, I do laundry, prep dinner, and clean one room of the house)
    Free Play then Read Aloud with Fidget Play
    Depending on the weather, more free play or workbooks or audiobook with a fire in the fireplace
    5:00 pm Dinner and TV (yes! TV. Sigh.)
    6pm: Jammies, body care, and slide into bedtime
    Bedbooks
    8pm Lights out

    • Sarah Takehara

      Shevaun, I love that you include the word modified. 🙂 Your “day in the life” looks so rich and lovely. I feel like we often get ourselves into trouble when we try to adhere strictly to any one philosophy or program. I’ve always loved so many of the Waldorf elements and art, nature, and music have always been priorities in our homeschooling. I’ve become much more relaxed about TV and screen time over the years as I’ve seen how it’s benefitted our family and helped transition from a subject or activity to the next. I used to feel a little embarassed/ashamed about our screen time but I fully embrace it now!

    • Jamie C. Martin

      Yes! I love the TV time at lunch idea. A nice break for everyone, and like you said, you guys have plenty of time together all day long!

      Thanks for sharing, Shevaun!

    • Shevaun

      I should add, DH runs the family business from home, so sometimes Main Lesson is apprentice-style tasks. Our kiddos are 6yo girl and 4yo ex-ed boy.

  11. Lucy

    I don’t have a blog so I’ll pop our typical day here:
    A day in the life with an 11 and 9 year old.
    We get going slowly – hubby works from home so he’ll get up and eat breakfast while listening in on a work meeting, I’ll potter around getting laundry going and suchlike and the boys will go straight from bed to reading on the sofa. We’ll eat breakfast and get ready for the day, then get out our morning basket. The first thing to do is personal devotions, so we will each grab our Bibles and devotionals and find a private spot. When we’ve come back together we’ll read another Bible passage aloud and pray, then get through a couple of chapters of our read-alouds (we always have a fiction and non-fiction read going), poetry, exercise, and personal growth. After this we break for tea. We might read our own books or watch something interesting together on You-Tube. Then to the dining table for maths and language arts, followed by lunch, usually also eaten while everyone reads. After a bit of a break we’ll get into whatever other subjects are scheduled for the day: either science and handwriting, Afrikaans and self-study work (11yo is doing a high school chemistry course and 9yo sometimes elects to research a subject of interest, or else goes back to his book), or geography and Cub/Scout badge work. We’ll have some tea and the boys then generally head outside for some playtime while I get a couple of chores done and begin on supper, then I’ll call them in to do their own chores and to eat. Hubby is usually done with work by this time, so after supper the boys will have some time to play on the computer, followed by whatever outlandish bedtime story they have requested I invent, and bed. Hubby will spend the evening playing computer games and I’ll catch up on some admin for my Cub Pack, do some writing, or text with a friend, or we might watch a movie together and then head to bed, probably late, as usual!

  12. Donnesa McPherson

    Hello Jamie and families 🙂 I haven’t blogged about a day in the life of an 11 year old diagnosed with Autism and a 9 year old who has some difficulties with sensory processing yet! We have a very eclectic homeschool style that is heavy with Charlotte Mason and Waldorf influence!

    *Our day starts with our morning walk and talk. We get out and get our early morning sunshine and talk about what we see, how we are feeling and what we look forward to in our day!
    *Next we work on memorizing our Bible verse of the month. This has increased verbal communication and understandability with my eldest! This is in part because we participate in the monthly Animo Bible Verse Challenge and get to make a fun video of my children reciting their memorized Bible verse and watching it over and over again! It’s amazing and helps with concentration and understanding in our class because there is a lot that goes into memorization and recitation.
    * Next we work on copy work, I use ‘100 Easy Bible Verses’ by funschooling because it is written in the dyslexic script and has helped with English, which is next!
    *For English/Language Arts we are using ‘The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading’ with raving success! My eldest is reading and enjoying himself! With that we also use ‘The Good and the Beautiful’ for my youngest, as well as their amazing science curriculum.
    *Lunch and outdoor time happen around now because although we take breaks in between lessons, we need to be able to get up and get moving outside for a little while. This is definitely an unstructured play because both of my children work so hard during lesson time.
    *Finally, Math U See has been a God send for both of my children because they don’t enjoy handouts and they get manipulatives that help solidify the concepts being taught.
    *History, Geography, Civics, Social/Emotional Competency and Character Development all come through storytime, which is influenced by Charlotte Mason’s living books concept!

    All children learn differently and have different ways they enjoy learning. One of the many blessings of homeschooling is finding out how our children learn the best! We get to have fun and that amazing feeling when the curriculum meets their educational, sensory and unique learning styles! Thank you so much for this opportunity to step in and see how other families are homeschooling! There are no two that are alike, like snowflakes and fingerprints!
    Donnesa McPherson’s latest post: How is reading your Bible like gardening?

  13. Jenn

    Homeschooling an 8 yo with OCD and high anxiety, a 6 yo with extreme behaviors and a 5 yo

    I drag myself out of bed at 5:30, even though all my children have kept me awake since two am. get ready for the day, pray and meditate, do some tai chi for the bulged discs in my neck.

    6:30 all the kids are up. Oldest checks her “to do bin” (a modified chore chart that is in an old bandage tin with magnetic chores), Somehow it is easier to do them when the schedule tells her to. Everyone brushes teeth and eats a hot breakfast by 7. Then we all have hot tea and we read from a Christian devotional, a Buddhist book on kindness, a poetry anthology of whatever we are into at the time, and a section of Bedtime Math. I love this book because it is leveled, but not by age or grade and each child has the chance to answer.

    Usually by eight, the 8 yo has started on her studies ( we decided to call them that because “schoolwork” caused panic attacks in the oldest, “sit down work” doesn’t work for the 6 yo, so we called them studies so that we would be elevated to the level of scholars). We then spend over twenty minutes calming her down because the work is “too hard,” and reminding her that she hasn’t learned it YET and we read some growth mindset books. Calm is restored for about twenty minutes or so until the 6 yo has an absolute meltdown for an unknown reason (I document in A-B-C Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence and the antecedent is not always clear, but this child has a seizure disorder and migraines, so sometimes the reason might not be outwardly visible). When these meltdowns happen, the biggest order is to keep everyone safe because things like chairs get thrown, people are bit, hit, and kicked. It can take more than an hour somedays to restore calm. Since I am an introverted single mom, and I don’t have anyone to spell me out, i usually need to recover by doing something with my hands, like crocheting or carving wood, after holding that much space. We talk, pray, and draw about it afterwards.

    Then about 12, we make lunch and finish up studies. About 1:30, we all get a book (or a stack of them, since there are many ways of reading) and we have SSR (silent sustained reading) for about 15 minutes and then i read aloud from the current chapter book we are all in at the moment. After that we go for a walk or head to the forest for some time around the trees. Home for dinner at five, then bedtime jobs and more reading aloud at seven. Then they all get tucked into bed and prayed over, but usually one or more comes back to me to read and cuddle.

  16. Lori

    Day in the life with a 10, 9, 7, and 4 year old:

    Recently my kids have been rising earlier, which means Mama is struggling to adjust and wake up even earlier to get her “quiet time” in before the house comes alive!

    6 – alarm goes off; on a good day, I finally roll out of bed by 6:30. Read my Bible, read a chapter from a book in my “mother culture” basket (currently the second CM volume, a slim book on caring for others, or “Raising Your Spirited Child”); drink coffee

    7 – kids start waking up, daddy makes them hot chocolate and cuddles with them while I get breakfast started (we alternate between eggs and bacon, oatmeal, and healthy muffins/pancakes/breakfast cookies). I exercise for 15-30 minutes using a loop schedule of videos I enjoy on YouTube.
    7:30 – Husband starts work (he works full-time from home, a permanent change brought by Covid) ; if only littles are awake, we start school with “Circle Time” – a pile of picture books, calendar time, nursery rhymes, ABCs, counting, etc. We also rotate through reviewing colors, shapes, continents, and address (we sing our address and my cell phone number to the tune of Jingle Bells – it works surprisingly well!) Then I do a reading lesson (we are using All About Reading 1) with my 7 yo while the 4 yo plays nearby.
    8ish – By the time we finish, breakfast is ready, the big kids are upstairs, and we move to the table for breakfast and morning time. During morning time we do our memory work (Bible verses, catechism, poem using IEW’s Linguistics through Poetry program, and our hymn of the month and Bible reading (we are reading through Philippians). Then we do either a picture study, read a poem or picture book related to our current studies in Exploring Nature with Children, or draw in our nature journals.
    8:30 – The older three do their “independent work” while I clean up from breakfast, start a load of laundry, dump dinner in the crockpot, etc. Independent work includes: only Math and copywork for the 7yo, then she is free to play with the 4 yo. For the older two, in addition to math and copywork, they practice piano, do math (we use Math-U-See), Latin vocabulary from English from the Roots Up, work on their current writing project with our Brave Writer program, do1-2 pages in their Beowulf Grammar workbooks, do book basket (perusing a special basket of library books focused on our current history and science topics), and do their personal daily Bible reading. I often have to keep my 9 yo on task, but my 10 yo works quickly and keeps me on my toes!:) I do spelling with them individually, feed multiple healthy snacks to the younger kiddos as well as keeping tabs on their whereabouts and noise level (see above – husband.working.full-time.from.home. 😬) Then around 10 we move to the living room for “Big Kid Block”. Splitting our day up this way has been so helpful. It took us about half a year to figure out this new groove, but it’s working well not to force the younger ones to listen in on the longer history and science passages and read alouds. Big Kid Block currently includes Apologia Astronomy combined with Beautiful Feet Books History of Science, God and the History of Art, chapter book read aloud (We just started “The Apprentice” by Pilar Llorente and we are loving it!), and curated history selections from several sources (we use My Father’s World as our spine and are wrapping up Rome to the Reformation). We also do any Beowulf Grammar review orally and/or go over grammar and literary elements from our current Brave Writer Arrow. I give them guidance on their current writing project (hero’s journey), and then release them to finish any leftover independent work, do chores, or help me in the kitchen.
    11:30 or 12 – It’s lunch time and we’re all getting hangry! Several days a week my 10 year old prepares lunch for herself and her siblings (Annie’s Mac and cheese, grilled cheese and tomato soup, quesadillas), while my husband and I have leftovers. After lunch we’re supposed to have “rest time”, but that rarely happens any more. I’m contemplating eliminating rest time and just jumping straight into our afternoon activities, especially if I can squeeze in time with the littles outside before lunch and they can play while I read and recharge as an introverted mama in the middle of a busy homeschool day! But for right now we clean up from lunch then they know to head off to their rooms.
    12:30 -1:30Currently rest time, each child in a separate room of the house reading, playing quietly (it’s rarely quiet 🥴), making messes, etc
    1:30 – Kids finish up chores if they didn’t finish in the morning (they have a schedule of daily and weekly chores); all chores and schoolwork must be completed before they are free to play with friends
    2 – we have an “afternoon loop” that I’m really enjoying to help us get through some of the “extras” I felt like we were always neglecting – at-home badgework for our American Heritage Girls troop (we have been working on the “Social Skills and Etiquette” badge, so this week they learned how to properly set the table, answer the phone, order at a restaurant, etc); plugging away at our “Kids Cook Real Food” e-course (today’s lesson was making ranch dip, which my 10yo made to go with lunch); using the Raddish kits my 7 yo received as gifts. One day a week my two older girls have piano lessons at this time and the younger kids and play outside

    2:30 – the neighborhood comes alive! Lol It’s not unusual for there to be 12-14 kids playing in our cul-de-sac at any given time. Football, kickball, tag, hide and seek. It definitely counts as P.E.!!!!!

    4 – Several days a week my very active 10yo has volleyball, or sewing lessons. Like her daddy, she’s a “Jack of all trades”. 😍While she’s at practice or lessons I take the other three to the park or watch them outside

    6- 6:30 Dinner, which I’ve learned comes much easier if it’s a crockpot meal or something I’ve prepped ahead. Freezer meals are life-changing!!! Now that the weather is getting nicer and the days are getting longer, the kids beg to stay outside as long as possible. If we’re home in the late afternoon, my 4yo will sometimes watch a show while I finish dinner.

    6:30-7:30 – time hanging out as a family; we love to play Scrabble; recently my husband has introduced the older 3 to Mario Brothers on his computer so a couple nights a week they take turns rotating showers and game time.
    7:30 – bedtime for the 4yo; my husband or I read him a Bible story, pray with him, and put him to bed
    8- “bedtime” for the older three; only the 7yo actually goes to bed at this time (she shares a room with her little brother). The older girls sleep downstairs so they go downstairs at 8 to read, play, sew, etc. This is another area of our day that needs some tweaking, as they often stay awake until 10 or later talking, being silly, etc. I recently read that they need 11-12 hours of sleep, still. So I’m trying to figure out how to make that happen! I’m thinking of having a nightly read-aloud in addition to our morning read aloud. But English is not my husband’s first language so it would be me, again. And quite frankly by that time of night I’ve had a very full, active day with my kids and I just want to veg, scroll, read, or stare at the wall lol!!!

    What I’ve described is our typical schedule Monday – Thursday. Friday is different, and I love it. My Father’s World intentionally leaves Fridays free for nature walks, so on Fridays our schedule is much looser. We skip our regular morning basket and read from a devotional (Indescribable by Lou Giglio). We do a MadLib. The older girls do a FreeWrite on whatever topic they choose. We do music on Fridays, using History of Classical Music from Beautiful Feet Books. Then we pack our lunches and head out to explore nature with our local Wild + Free group. Another successful week of homeschooling. Ahhhh – it feels so good!

    My heart was overflowing this afternoon thinking about the blessings of homeschooling. I nearly shed happy tears as I realized that my kids have thrived – THRIVED – in the midst of an entire year of a global pandemic! The world has been in tumult, but they have been happy, safe, growing, learning, loved. I am so thankful this is our family’s journey and calling.

  18. Anne Guarnera

    These posts have been such a treasure to me over the years, Jaime—thank you! I started reading them before I even had my first, and I’m pretty sure they were what convinced me to homeschool. They gave me a vision for what homeschool COULD look like for our family—a wonderful mix of ideas that I’ve seen here!

    I have now been homeschooling my boys bilingually for the past three years (and we also study a third language as well). Languages and literature are my passions, so this is what it looks like for us to homeschool in English and Spanish with a 7, 4, and 1 year old:

    https://languagelearningathome.com/blog/bilingual-homeschool-typical-day

  21. Janet

    Janet’s Day In the Life with a 10 year old

    Some days I get up early for exercise or Bible study. Other days I stay in bed until my daughter pokes me at 7:00 on the dot to tell me it is time to get up and start the day. She has already been up for a while reading to herself. We eat breakfast together, send my husband off to work (he has already been up for a while too), and immediately jump into our school day with a stack of books. We spend about 45 minutes reading a middle-grade novel, some poetry, a history or science book, and a picture book or two. We also do a little memorization during this time. Then my daughter reads aloud to me (we just finished All About Reading Level 4 – yay!). Next we work on math fact fluency, practice a new math concept together, do a lesson from All About Spelling, and play around with some writing or grammar concepts. We finish our time together by writing a “to do a woo list” like the kids from the Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Usually this includes her Bible study, copywork, a project or activity for the afternoon, piano practice, and a few chores.

    My daughter and I are both introverts, so after our time learning together we are ready for some time on our own. I take our dog for a walk and exercise if I haven’t already while she heads to her room to listen to an audio book and work on a craft or art project. After an early lunch we work together on our project or activity for the day. If we are staying home, it is usually an art project or a science experiment, but other days it is a history book club at a local museum, a zoom Bible class, or a nature walk with a few other families.

    Afternoons are also when we walk our dog together, she finishes the other items on her to do list, and I get some housework done and my Bible study if I haven’t yet. We often have time to sew, play games, do more crafts and art projects, read more books or audiobooks, meet up with friends outside, garden, volunteer at church, etc. Around 5:00 I start dinner, and we usually eat around 6:00 when my husband gets home. The evenings are spent with books, a TV show, or some games or puzzles. Then it’s time to tuck her in bed and lazily hang out with my husband.