day2day joys: A Day in the Life of... A Homeschooling Mom

For this series each week of August, I invite you to take a sneak peak into a few moms' lives and then on August 29th, I hope you'll join us by linking up "A Day in the Life" of a fill in the blank post about you & your season of life! Today please meet April... aka a the a homeschooling mom.

Written by April, Contributing Writer

Hello everyone! My name is April. I have been married 9 years, 3 months, and 6 days to the love of my life. My husband works as a campus minister in an outdoor/adventure program. It’s a pretty awesome job. Together, we have three children {see below} and a child we lost due to miscarriage. We live in a 100+-year old house in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania {go Steelers}. We are in our second year of homeschooling.

Homeschooling is one of those things we never thought we would do {read our story here}, but it has proven to be the best decision for our family. I am learning daily that homeschooling is nothing like I once perceived it to be, it’s far better.

When approached about writing a post for this “A Day In The Life” series I thought it would be fun to give you all a little glimpse into what our life as a homeschooling family looks like. Pull up a chair, grab a hot beverage and enjoy …

My husband usually works Saturdays, with Mondays off, so we have a Tuesday thru Saturday school schedule. Monday mornings our homeschool co-op meets. We head home afterward and let “Little Man,” my 2-year old nap. The remainder of the day is unstructured for the most part {Mondays are like our Saturdays}. Sundays are our church and relax days.

Our Daily Homeschool Routine {Tuesday – Saturday}

I have a confession to make. I usually don’t get up before my kids do. I have tried to be a morning person, but this 30-something night owl just can’t do it. Our day normally starts between 7:30 and 8:30. We get dressed and brush teeth before we head downstairs.

We eat together and prepare for school time. While I am getting everything together the kids play or do some of their chores.

School time starts with all three children and myself going over our calendar activities for the day {day of the week, current month, date, weather, and days in school}. From that point my two-year old son is stationed in the living room where he plays gladly with his tool set or Thomas the Tank Engine trains/tracks.

This year we are using My Father’s World curricula, Kindergarten for our 4-year old and First Grade for our 6-year old. I get my first grader started on her work and then read to our 4-year old and start her assignment. From that point I help my children as they need it. If they are doing fine on their own I go interact with my son. Most days we are finished with our seat-work {reading, worksheets, etc} by lunch time.

Lunch is usually sandwiches or leftovers from the night before. My son goes down for a nap after lunch, usually around 1:30. He sleeps about an hour, an hour-and-a-half if I am lucky. While he naps my girls have their down time/rest time until my son wakes up.

The next hour is spent working out {thank you Jillian}, checking e-mail and social media, blogging, reading or de-cluttering/organizing {which is actually enjoyable for me … I know. I’m weird}.

By the time rest time is over the kids enjoy a snack and then spend the remainder of the afternoon playing inside/outside, watching TV, or playing games while I do chores. Sometimes we take field trips to a park or hiking trail for a nature walk, to a zoo or museum, or to a friend’s house.

Around 4/4:30 I like to start dinner prep. My 4-year old loves to help with meal preparation {she helped me prepare our entire Thanksgiving meal last year. She refused to go play}. Once dinner is cooking I try to wash a load of dishes {yep, we are probably the only family in America without a dishwasher}. This is my 6-year old’s new passion, which I gladly let her enjoy. About this time I remember the load of laundry I started after breakfast. I go transfer that load to the dryer and start another load in the wash. If anyone is going to have a meltdown and fall apart emotionally this is usually the time it happens. My goal from 4:00-5:00 every afternoon is to survive.

My husband arrives home around 5:30 and “Happy Hour” commences. Everyone rushes to greet our hero. The kids take turns crawling on daddy and telling him what they learned that day while I enjoy some solitude in the kitchen. We eat together as a family between 5:30 and 6 each evening.

Post-dinner activities included one or all of the following: TV & snuggle time with dad, a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood or in a nearby park, backyard Frisbee or baseball games, or a game of chase. Once the kids are nice and exhausted we start their bedtime ritual {around 7:30 or 8}.

The kids get clean, brush their teeth, tidy up their rooms, and get PJs on before coming together to read {story books and Bible} and pray together. Lights are out by 8/8:30. My husband and I head downstairs and collapse on the couch. We spend the next couple of hours watching TV, working on our computers, or having meaningful conversation. Our heads hit the pillow by midnight {usually}, and we start all over the next day.

If I have errands to run {usually once or twice a week} I sometimes have to shuffle the plan a little. Most errands end up in disaster if they are done after 12-noon {we are all in tears or about to be}. The only exception to this is when we make a trip to the library. That always seems to go just peachy. So on an Errand Day I have to try to get our running around done before lunch. School time gets moved to while my son naps. Sometimes I try to get errands done the days my husband is off. This gives the kids some time alone with their dad and I can blast through my list of things to get done.

Our schedule is unique, but it works well for us.

April is editor and author of Holistic Homemaking, a blog dedicated to intentional living and the multi-dimensional life of homemakers. She is the wife of a campus minister and the homeschooling mom of three children. Her passions are photography, herbal remedies, frugal living and the outdoors.

In addition to her blog you can also find April on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.