What Do You Do All Day??
As I’ve been talking with various friends and new homeschoolers, I’ve noticed a common question that comes after the Letter of Intent has been sent and curriculum has been decided upon and purchased. That question is “What do you do all day?”. It’s kind of funny to me because one thing about homeschooling that really seems to appeal to people is that it’s not an 8-hours-of-school-each-day kind of thing. You have freedom to make your own schedule and when kids are taught in such a small group setting, it’s amazing how quickly their lessons get finished. I think to many, that really sounds wonderful…until you’re literally with your kids all day, everyday. No one else is telling your kids what to do and when to do it. If they’ve been in school for most of their lives, that can be a really difficult transition to make. I had one friend tell me that she’s not a cruise director and has no intention of becoming one! Sweet friend, neither am I! Usually what follows is a question about what our typical day looks like and although no two days really look the same, I thought I’d share an average day in our homeschool.
I’m more of a morning person, so I get up early, before anyone else and have (the start) of my coffee, quiet time/bible study and try to get a run in before the kids are up. If they’re not up by 8:00, they get woken up.
8:00-8:45 Breakfast & get ready for the day.
8:45-9:15 Bible Study & Read Aloud
9:15-9:45 Independent Academics for older kids while I read/play game/do puzzle with the youngest.
9:45-10:45 Individual Academics (Math/English/Reading/Literature). I rotate from kid to kid for instruction and help.
10:45-11:00 Free time (legos, games, low maintenance art projects, outside play, etc.) while I take care of work around the house. I feel very productive when I can have laundry, dish washer, Roomba running all at once! Terrible for the environment, I’m sure, but getting things done!
11:00-11:45 Group Academics (Science or History)
11:45-12:15 Individual Academics (Rotating whatever wasn’t done earlier)
12:15-1:00 LUNCH and free time
1:00-1:45 Group Academics
1:45-2:00 Finish up what wasn’t done
From 2:00 on is where I feel like most new homeschool moms feel the need to be the director of all activities. What I’ve learned is that less is more. We use this time to practice musical instruments, play outside (or inside when it’s 10,000 degrees outside) with no real direction. I know it sounds cliche, but when they don’t have specific instructions to follow, their imaginations take off!! They also tend to get along better…not perfectly and not always, but better when they don’t have all the structure that I think we often feel we need to provide. I will also let them try new art or cooking projects during this time where there’s no real time restraints.
In a typical year (when things aren’t closed because of a pandemic), we have multiple kids in multiple sports, music lessons and bible study that takes up nearly every afternoon and evening. During this season though, as with everyone else, we have a lot more time at home and I’m using that to my advantage! I have taken this time to take care of some things that we wouldn’t normally get around to doing. My oldest took an online babysitting class, all three kids are all helping make dinner on a more regular basis and guess what, they are all learning how to do laundry and other household chores that is actually helping to lighten my load. These all seem pretty simple, but when we are rushing from one thing to another every afternoon, these are the things that can fall by the wayside because, quite frankly, it’s just easier if I do it.
So, I guess that even though I would not consider myself a “cruise director” by any stretch, my kids do keep pretty busy…sometimes doing not much of anything, and often that’s when they’re the most productive!
