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Monday, August 27, 2012

2012-2013 A Day in the Life of our Homeschool

Not Back to School Blog Hop

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.

Also linking up at:

Meghan Tucker

10 comments:

  1. MAJOR KUDOS to you for homeschooling. I could not do it. Great post :)

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  2. Sounds very, very busy to me! Good luck!

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  3. wow, it is a lot of work but rewarding at the same time. setting up a routine will so help out. -Anita

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  4. Wow! It is a lot of hard work and rewarding at the same time. Keep up the good work and remember have a schedule is good to keep.

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  5. I could never homeschool but I definitely give props to those Mamas who can and do!!! I can't imagine trying to teach my older three while my 2 year old runs around the house. Yikes. LOL

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  6. what a full day! My husbands mom homeschools her children and i think its a wonderful idea but not something i could do

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  7. You got it down girl. What a great teacher and mother.

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  8. My hat goes off to you. I think Home School is a wonderful thing. I am seeing more "moms" home schooling their children. Your a blessing!

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  9. Awesome! We are starting our homeschool year on Thursday, but I don't feel nearly as organized! haha It can definitely be tricky with smaller ones because our toddler does tend to shake things up for us! haha

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