2012-2013 A Day in the Life of our Homeschool

Our days have not been very consistent so far. I am trying to get us into a routine, but the baby is making it a little tricky. The days that have gone the best are the ones where daddy has been here to help hold the baby. Daddy works night shift so some days that is a possibility, other days daddy is in bed sleeping. I am so thankful for the days when I have some help. I am hoping, as we get further into the year and baby Harold gets older, that our routine will flow better. So, without further ado, here is what our homeschool looks like.

Wake Up

We do not have a set wake up time, which I am going to work on. I wake up most mornings and nurse the baby. When the children wake up they do their "Morning Routine."

They have 10 minutes to finish the routine and they check it off as they go. If they finish in 10 minutes they get a sticker. 

Bath Time

While the girls are working on their routine I will be giving 1 or 2 of them a bath. I finally got a schedule down and they get baths 2 times a week. It will be Harold and Hannah (they get done on the same day because I can wash the baby in the baby tub while she plays, then he will lay there or sit in his Bumbo while I wash her), Amelia or Tabitha.

Breakfast 

When baths and morning routines are all done we come down stairs and the table gets set (we have a schedule for this too; right now we alternate between Tabitha and Amelia). Whoever didn't set the table will say prayer.

As they eat I try to get their hair done, which doesn't happen as much now because I am also feeding the baby cereal. If he finishes before they do I will do their hair, otherwise we get it done after breakfast, usually while they count their money for their cup.

(We use these cups for discipline purposes. They get 10 pennies each day. Depending on the offense they will lose 1 or 2 pennies. If they have no pennies left at the end of the day they do not get a sticker. If they have a certain amount of stickers at the end of the week they can get a small toy from the thrift shop. They do have the opportunity to earn pennies back by doing extra chores. I love these for counting one-to-one and for exchanging money)

When they are done eating they clear the table and I clean up. 

Lesson Time

When mommy is done with cleaning and organizing (and probably nursing the baby again) we will sit at the school table. Here is our Lesson Time Routine:

Prayer

Pledge of Allegiance and Pledge to the Bible

Sing the B-I-B-L-E

Memory Verse

Morning Chart (sing "This Is the Day the Lord has Made" then hang up our day, month, date, year, season and weather (when I get it made). 

I started something a little different. I lay the calendar cards on the table and when they tell me which one we need I will have them try to figure out which one is the correct one. Easy for Tabitha, but a challenge for Amelia. I still hand Hannah the correct one.

We sing a What is the Weather song I made up.

"Is it a sunny day or a cloudy day, someone tell me please

Is it a raining day or snowy day, someone tell me please

Look out the window and what do you see

What is the weather today"
As I sing this they get out of their chairs to look out the window. 

They will sing the weather, for example:

"A sunny day, a sunny day, a sunny day"

And I finish with an appropriate line:

"The sun is shining down to day, it is a sunny day."

One of these days I may be brave enough to post a video of it. I can't sing though so I am a tad embarrassed to share.

We fill in our calendar and sing "There are 7 Days in a Week"

Then do our Hundred Chart.

After our calendar routine we move into the actual lesson, following the directions in the My Father's World Teacher Manual. Tabitha will help me read the Bible Verses.

Then we do our projects.  Hannah will join in with us most days. So far I have just let her wander if she loses interest. I have got to come up with some things for her to do that are a bit more structured. But with trying to keep the baby happy I sometimes figure I will be less stressed if I let her go for now. It is definitely harder than I thought it would be with the four little ones. 

Lunch time

While I prepare lunch the children will watch a show. They get to choose between Sid the Science Kid, Super Why!, Dora the Explorer and Leap Frog. Usually on Sunday they watch a VeggieTales movie at this time. When lunch is ready they need to pause the show if it is still on (though most days it takes me too long and the show is over). 

Rest time

After we are done with lunch I put Hannah upstairs for her nap. Before she lays down we have "Hannah/Mommy Time" where we use the Teach My Toddler. Then I read her two books or have the girls read to her. At this time the older two may have computer time or workbook time or reading time (where they read to me and I read to them). Some days...I fall asleep. They also have outside time while Hannah is sleeping.

Dinner time

We have dinner by 5:00 so daddy can go to work. I have got to get into a habit of having dinner at the same time whether he works or not because some days we don't eat until 7 or 8 o'clock when he is off.

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