By request

Yesterday I was asked if I would do a blog describing the ins and outs of a typical day in our house.  Of course, since we just finish our first week of the 2013-2014 school year, we are still trying to come around to our typical day.

I get up between 2-2:30 a.m. to make coffee, breakfast and lunch for Eric.  I use to go back to bed after he left but have found over the last several days that going back to bed actually makes my mornings feel more rushed (even when I still get up an hour before the kids wake up) so I've started just staying awake.

After Eric leaves I have my coffee and breakfast, play around online checking my email, Facebook, etc.  Then it is a shower, throw in a load of laundry and printing worksheets, making sure that supplies are ready, any Youtube videos we are going to watch are loaded and ready to go, etc.

The kids have been getting up between 7 and 8:30.  While I am making their breakfast they work on chores.  We do not have a specific chore schedule, they just help with whatever needs to be done.

After breakfast and clean up the kids grab their backpacks and we start our day.  Our storage space is limited so we've found it easier to keep what the kids use on a daily basis in backpacks that hang in the laundry room.

I do not have the subjects we'll cover scheduled out.  I usually try to get a feel for the kids' temperament or take a look at what needs to be done for the day and go from there.  For example, if someone is particularly cranky I will start with science because they all love it and is a good mood changer. If Bryce has something he needs some one on one with a particular subject then I will have Abbie and Noah work on something independently while I work with Bryce and vice versa.

I've allotted 40 min. for each subject but some (like spelling) do not take that long and others (like science, art and music) can take longer.  It all balances out at the end of the day.  If there is a subject that is taking a really long time, we will stop, go on to our other subjects and then come back to it.

After each subject, we take a break.  During the breaks the kids clean up from that subject, grab a drink (I don't let them keep them at the table because they inevitably get knocked over), go to the bathroom, grab a snack and do some sort of physical activity (run around the house three times, yoga, jumping jacks, walking the length of the house several times, etc.).

We do not have lunch until after we are done our work.  I previously would break for an hour at lunch but I always found it difficult to get us all motivated again afterwards.  Waiting until we are done seems to be working better for all of us.

Once we are done for the day and all the school work is cleaned up it is chores/free time for the kids.  We have dinner once Eric gets home and hang out for the remainder of the evening.  Before bed I read to the kids.  Right now, we are reading a book called 'The Witches' Kitchen'.

Once the kids are in bed, I go throw and check the work they've done independently and make any necessary notes so that I can go over it with them the following day.

Of course, this is assuming we are home for the day.  Things get switched up slightly when we have play dates, gymnastics, etc.

On Tuesdays (gymnastics), we have breakfast and try to fit what we can into the morning before we head out to the gym (around 11:20).  When we get home we have lunch and then more school until we head out again around 4pm.  Once we are back from the gym (around 6:20 pm) it's dinner and then finishing up anything that's left over.  The kids usually bring their school work to the gym to work on while they are waiting for each other to get out of class.  Admittedly, the kids do not get a whole lot of free time on Tuesdays but they love gymnastics and they have 6 other days where they have plenty of free time so I'm not too terribly worried about it.

Yesterday, after Abbie's playdate we completed 20 min. of schoolwork for each subject and we will pick up those remaining 20 min. on Sunday when she gets back from her sleepover.

The flexibility that comes with homeschooling is a beautiful thing.

I hope this was helpful to those who asked for it.  :-)  If you have any questions/comments, please leave them below.  Like what you are reading?  Please feel free to share!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!