As I mentioned in previous posts, I homeschool my children. Since my oldest is 5, this has been my first more formal year of homeschooling. Our schedule is always different, and the amount we accomplish varies from day to day, but I thought I'd share a little bit of how we structure a typical day at home.
Being the night owl that I am our mornings are pretty laid back and slow to start! I usually wake up around 7:30 or so (as does Megan) and have coffee! :) Luke wakes up around 8:00 and Adam around 8:30. Luke usually plays (educational) computer games in the morning until Adam is awake, while Megan has breakfast. Around 9:00 the boys and I have breakfast. Sometimes I read to the boys while they eat. After breakfast the boys have time for free play until Megan goes down for a nap, usually around 11:00. There is no TV during this time, but they are free to do whatever they wish. After I clear away the table and get dressed I play with Megan one-on-one until her nap.
Once she goes down for her nap I do focused table time with the boys. This varies greatly from day to day, but I try to make sure we hit all of the core subjects (reading, writing, math, religion phonics, spelling). We open up with prayer, move onto the cores and then delve into other activities. We often do art projects, read books, play educational games, do science experiments and occasionally watch movies related to whatever we're studying. The boys do a lot of worksheets and other hands-on activities while I read/teach them the secondary subjects. (This works well to avoid a bad case of the squirmies lol!)
What and how much we accomplish completely depends on the day. Sometimes we'll read a story that has a yummy-sounding recipe in it and we'll scrap the rest of our plans and bake instead! Or sometimes a story we read will give us an inspiration to delve into an art project or other activity. It doesn't take long to get through the core subjects so that leaves plenty of time for other fun. During table time the material sometimes gets a little too detailed for Adam (he's only 3!) and he loses interest. Since he's still so little he's free to leave the table and play whenever he seems "done." :)
Once we're finished with table time the boys are free to play again (Megan wakes up). If it's nice out the boys will usually play out in the yard. (They have LOTS of energy to burn after all of that focused table time!!) Lunch is around 1:30 and after that the boys have a rest (i.e. quietly watching TV on the couch.) We have a variety of DVDs and recorded shows they can choose from such as Disney and PBS cartoons. This is the time that I can get in my chores, emails, bible time etc. (LOVE this time of day!!) I also manage to squeeze in some exercise when I can (usually a DVD of some sort). When rest time is over the boys have more free play time unless there's schoolwork we didn't get to in the morning. (Megan is always an "x" factor in our productivity LOL!)
After that it's just a typical evening: dinner, playtime chores, story time, prayers and bed.
That's how we do things over here! Our schedule is ever-changing but it makes me feel better about myself to think that we at least strive have some semblance of order. :p I'd love to hear about your typical day!
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