(I thought I would post a typical homeschool day for us from a few years ago, and then I will post a typical day for us in 2008 in the near future.)
This originally was posted on my other blog on June 28, 2005.
I have long wanted to write about a day in our school. Thank you, Gena, for the opportunity to share a day in our homeschool.
Our day typically starts out with me rising about an hour before the children. This gives me time to spend some quiet time with the Lord, and also gives me a few minutes to prioritize the things on my list that I need to accomplish for the day. I will write a daily chore list on our dry-erase board for the children. That way they know who is supposed to do what chore, and I have a way to monitor the chores being completed.
I wake the children around 8:00, and while they eat breakfast, I start the laundry and any other chores that I am responsible for starting. Then I will shower while they finish breakfast and get dressed for the day. They know to start their chores for the day after they are dressed.
We usually begin our school morning at 9:00 with a Bible verse or verses that pertain to our KONOS lesson for the day. Then we will spend the next 45 minutes to 1 hour on our KONOS plans for the day (see below in my blog for my plan sheets). After that, the children being their grade-level work in math and language arts. The younger ones typically end before the older ones, so it has worked best for us to start with the one thing we all study together, and then move into other subjects.
Normally, we will work on schoolwork until lunchtime. Then we will have a lunch break and do a few more chores for the day. Usually, I am running back and forth from the laundry room putting clothes in the washer, then the dryer, and then folding. The children will help move things along in the laundry room, too. We try to share in this monumental task.
After lunch, my youngest will take a nap, and we will do any big hands-on projects that need to be worked on while he is otherwise occupied. After this, the next two younger ones will have a quiet time. Then the older two children will have time to work on other educational things that interest them, such as computer time or foreign language time. They also can use this time for reading any books related to our KONOS lesson for the week, or they can work on their writing assignment for the week. The afternoons change a lot for us, since they have so many things they like to do.
Around 4:00, we try to go through the house and pick up anything the littlest one has scattered about and vacuum the kitchen and living room. We like to have an orderly house when dad arrives home from work. I will also start dinner at this time, and each day, I have a different child assigned as the kitchen helper. This child will help set the table, as well as clear off the dishes at the end of the meal.
After dinner with dad, the children will have a read-aloud time with Dad, and a family devotion. Sometimes, I use this time to work on something that I could not attend to during the day, or I will use the time to spend some one on one time with my youngest.
Then we will spend time together as a family until bed time. Sometimes we will watch a family movie or play a board game.
That is a typical day in our school. We also go to some support group functions during the month where we get to have PE together. And we also attend a 4-H meeting once a month. So we have some outside activities, but they are not a daily or even weekly part of our schedule. This fall we are planning on particpating in our first KONOS co-op once a week.
Have a blessed day! Tami
