Brietta's homeschool day in the life (with a 3-, 4-, 7-, 9-, 11-, 12- & 13-year-old)

(This post is inspired by years of reading this series at Simple Homeschool.)

I grew up homeschooled and have now been homeschooling my own children for nine years. I love homeschooling and I am a firm believer in how good and healthy an option it can be for parents and children!

But this many years later, I'm still frequently daily astounded by the fact that the most constant thing in homeschooling is the need to constantly adjust, tweak, and change things: expectations, priorities, routine, curriculum, methods, and more.

I shouldn't be surprised. My children are growing. I am growing. We are not the same people we were nine years ago. There are more of us! We don't live in the same house or the same town. My husband's job doesn't look quite the same. No two of my babies has been exactly the same or needed exactly the same things. Learning to transition with each season-- some that are amazingly short-lived-- is, I think, one of the keys to an even remotely peaceful homeschooling experience.

I am learning that needing to adjust is not a sign of failure and doesn't necessarily mean I got the last plan wrong; usually, it just means that my children and I are in a different place than we were a year (or two weeks) ago. If I cheerfully adjust, it usually goes better for all of us than if I stubbornly cling to my goals of what life should look like.

This year-- with the exception of Fridays, which is the day our church's homeschooling ministry brings about 150 K-12 homeschoolers together for extracurricular classes like physical education, choir, art, and Biblical studies-- our days start a little later than previous years. My older children have more evening commitments this year and I have been battling fairly severe anemia for over a year, which makes us a bit more tired. I treasure that homeschooling means we don't have to just grit our teeth and get exhausted, but can adjust our morning routine to better accommodate our needs.

My husband is the early riser in our home. By the time the chorus of alarms goes off in bedrooms all over to wake the rest of us at 6:45, he has been up for quite some time with the two youngest (boys, who are 21 months apart in age but are almost the same exact size and are together a force to be reckoned with). He's an all-star dad, managing his personal time in the Word & prayer, starting the coffee, working out, and getting ready for the day all with the boys underfoot.

Showers begin for some while others go through their morning routine: wash hands & face, brush teeth & hair, get dressed, make your bed, pick up your room. I throw on leggings, a T-shirt, and sneakers and hop on the stationary bicycle in our bedroom while they are busy with their morning routine. When the weather is nice, I prefer going out for a short run, but even just 20 minutes on that bike makes me feel more awake. I am not a morning person. A little exercise followed by a quiet time and cup of coffee goes a long way.

Our goal is to be eating breakfast at 8:00, but true confession: it's usually 8:15 or 8:30. In addition to getting ourselves ready for the day and having personal quiet times, there are chores like making breakfast, taking care of the chickens (we have 14 laying hens), feeding the cats (3 outdoor ones), collecting laundry from all the hampers, etc. We do our best, but since about half of us aren't morning people, we're not the fastest bunch. If we're going to have a breakdown in attitudes, 9 out of 10 times it's now.

Breakfast (usually oatmeal for most, roasted veggies with poached eggs for others) is followed by family devotions right around the table. We are working very slowly through The Purpose Driven Life. Some days we have time to only read a very short portion before each praying aloud and then moving on with the day.

Today we actually sat down at 8:06. Miracles do happen.

At 9:00 we move on to our housework. Years ago I found that I resented doing school work in a messy house, spending time in the afternoon cleaning, and then only getting to enjoy it for a brief time before "play" has created a fresh whirlwind. I found that if we all take time first thing for our chores, we reap the benefits of a clean house during our school time-- and then we play. Chores vary based on age/skill of each child. The younger ones have about 30 minutes of work while the older ones have about 60 minutes.

During our chore time, I have my own tasks. I used to have a rotating schedule for myself, but now I just make lists in my planner. The list is usually longer than my day.

Today I made bread and granola. I will do anything to put off dealing with that mounting number of phone calls I need to make.

At 9:30 I call my 4-, 7-, and 9-year-old to the kitchen table for an hour of history while the oldest 3 keep working at their chores and the youngest runs laps around the kitchen island plays. The younger ones are using Story of the World Volume 2: Middle Ages this year. It's our first time trying SOTW and so far I really like it. I purchased the audio CD, textbook, and activity book. We listen to the audio together and while it's not my favorite voicing, it's so nice that I don't have to wear my own voice out! Additionally, letting someone else do the talking means I can be photocopying the accompanying activity pages while the reading is happening. I pick and choose which activities we do to best accommodate the children, my time, and our interests. I like that part of it very much.

Meanwhile, at 10:00 my two oldest have started science at the kitchen island. They are only 17 months and 1 grade apart, so they've always done history and science together. At this point, they are fairly independent. Occasionally I get brought in when an experiment is going south and always for tests, but otherwise they keep each other accountable. Their polar opposite personalities actually helps make them perfect study buddies, although it's taken a lot of years for them to even somewhat appreciate their differences.

Simultaneously, my 11-year-old has started his own science at the dining room table.

This year, I implemented small clipboards for each student with his/her daily plan plus a list for each day of the week that itemizes their assignments. They check these off as they go. It helps the older ones work more independently while allowing me to easily follow up, and it helps the younger ones take ownership of their day (they've stopped asking me "When am I going to be done?" because they can see for themselves).

At 10:30 we switch spots: the 3 younger school kids begin phonics, handwriting, and math around the kitchen island (today so that I can do the next step in bread making) while the oldest 3 all start in on history around the table. We've used Beautiful Feet on and off for years. If I can't be writing my own history curriculum, it's my favorite thing to use. I do my best to "float" between my six students, but this requires a lot of discipline on my part to not spend the entire hour doing history-- my favorite subject-- with the older kids. I would get lost following every bunny trail if I could!

The 3-year-old is still running laps around us playing. I do my best to get him set up with toys at intervals throughout the morning, but after a short time, he usually resorts to something more active (and loud) than GIJoes or Legos. Occasionally I get desperate and put in a DVD. I comfort myself with the idea that it's educational???

At around 11:30 Bronwyn, my oldest daughter (12), starts making lunch. She has a rotation of simple recipes she cooks through. Today while the onions are sautéing and the rice is cooking, she does some Scripture copywork in a simple leather bound journal. The 13-year-old does his copywork and then practices guitar, the 11-year-old does math and typing, the 9- & 7-year-old keep chipping away at math, phonics, and handwriting, and the 4-year-old has joined the 3-year-old in watching the movie.

12:30 is lunch. We all eat together. I check in with everyone to see how things are going.

1:00 my middle 3 clean up while I lay the youngest down for his nap and my oldest 2 start math, which usually takes them about 40-60 minutes (especially my oldest, who has begun his first year of algebra and has realized some equations just take a while!), followed by some writing and other extra-curricular homework assignments.

1:30 I do science with the 4-, 7- & 9-year-old. My 11-year-old works on some writing assignments.

Around 2:30 or 3:00 we are all done. If we don't have anywhere we need to be and the weather is decent, I'll send them outside. Often they do some nature journaling.

I've done my best through the past few years to schedule all music/dance lessons for Monday afternoons, although this year my 9-year-old is starting a violin program that schedules lessons for both Mondays and Wednesdays. Thursday afternoons we have a collaborative literature study group with a few other families. I try hard to only schedule things (even doctors appointments, etc) for after 2:30 on school days. It doesn't always work out that nicely, but we do our best.

Today we had literature group and left a bit early in order to run a few errands. This meant that the 13-year-old had unfinished math waiting for him when we got home a bit before 4:00.

I start making dinner sometime around then. It depends on the menu. Roasts take longer but the prep is done sooner (like in the morning). Tonight, because of literature group, it's celeriac and potato soup with homemade bread and jam. As I chop and stir, I work on helping my 9-year-old memorize lines for an upcoming medieval history display night presentation.

My husband is a pastor and often is gone during the couple hours after dinner. Additionally, our two oldest have more commitments/activities during the evening hours than previous years. Those of us at home generally keep it simple. The truth is, by this time I don't have ambition for much besides tying up loose ends (like that load of laundry I forgot about in the washer) and taking a shower. The kids play games, do a challenging puzzle, or watch a show (a friend lent us The Andy Griffith Show and it is by far the current favorite). Occasionally we'll have people over for dinner and to spend the evening with us when my husband is home, but due to an illness my 11-year-old was diagnosed with in late September that makes him very susceptible to bacterial and viral infections, we've had to limit that-- and anyway, we generally prioritize hospitality on the weekends.

If we're all home, my husband is the fun coordinator. He always jokes that God put him in my life so that I have a life. Haha.

Reading is very important to us, so even our oldest kids head to bed between 8 and 8:30 to spend time with a book of their choosing. Some recent in-bed reading has been the Little House collection, the Jack Staples books, the Anne of Green Gables series,  and The Wrinkle In Time boxed set. My husband has always been a morning person and likes to go to bed earlier rather than later, and I have learned that I function better during the day when I'm well rested, so even if he's been out with meetings we are both usually lights out between 10 and 10:30.

Right now, all our kids sleep through the night. This feels rare and precious. It's been the first year since I started homeschooling my children that I can say that. I don't take it for granted! Especially the next morning when the alarms go off and we start a new day.

This is the general flow of our Mondays - Thursdays.

I hope you don't think that it is all smooth sailing. There are many bumps. The time frame is general and loose. We have a lot of fun, but we also have a lot of challenges. I think most all of us could say that, no matter what our lives look like! Today didn't happen to include a moment when I called everyone to an abrupt halt and emphatically declared, "Things are not going well. Our attitudes are not glorifying the God who we love and serve. Let's pray!" but many, many days do. Often, I have to call kids back to re-do chores and/or school assignments that were done haphazardly, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes my kids cry. Sometimes I cry. And then an hour later we might be laughing about a funny story, or discussing what true freedom is, or exulting in an exciting science project gone right (for once!).

One of my favorite things about homeschooling? We do all those moments together.