Monday, April 27, 2015

Ask A Home School Mom: {A Day In The Life, Part 2}

Thanks for joining in for part 2 of my homes school mini series.


 Y'all were so sweet and encouraging with your comments on part 1. I am so excited that there has been so much interest on this topic. I have heard from those who want to home school, know for sure that they don't, or are still undecided. I love it.

Several of you asked about what our daily schedule looks like. Part two is a glimpse into a day of our life. I put together my first "Day In The Life" post so you could see exactly what a pretty average day looks like.

Next week I will finish up answering your questions and give more details on what our daily school schedule/year look like.

Enjoy!

April 22, 2014
Russ -35
Beth -31
Marissa -6
Emily -4


1:42 a.m. I woke up for some strange reason feeling very alert. Assuming I had slept in I grabbed my phone, nope. Then I heard it, a storm. Go figure. I thought I was past these days but I guess not. It wasn't anything severe so I spent the next bit convincing my body to go back to sleep eventually succeeding.

4:23 a.m. My alarm goes off, I lay in bed check Facebook and emails then convince myself to get up and ready to go hit the gym.

4:56 a.m. I am ready to go, let's do this!


5:06 a.m. I arrive at the gym ready to put in my last training run before my half marathon on Sunday. It always feels so weird doing your last training run. After I'm done I walk a bit and do some stretching.

6:21 a.m. I leave the gym to head home just as the sun is starting to rise.

6:31 a.m. I'm home. Russ is getting ready for work, the girls are asleep. I make the bed. 

6:36 a.m. The bed is made, and the girls are still asleep so I get dressed for the day. 

6:43 a.m. I go to the kitchen to get Russ' coffee & breakfast ready for him to grab and go. Yes, he is spoiled. I open the curtains, turn on a few lights and stop trying to be quiet.

6:47 a.m. It worked, Emily is already awake.


6:56 a.m. Kiss Russ goodbye, fix Emily some cereal then make myself a cup of tea. The laundry is starting to pile up so I thrown in a load and put away some dishes. 

7:11 a.m. I discover that Marissa is awake, but still in bed. I tell her it's time to get up and make her bed then I go fix our breakfast. 


7:20 a.m. Emily is coloring and Marissa and I sit down to eat. I do a little "blogging business" on the lap top. 

7:50 a.m. I Reheat my tea for the first time, have the girls brush their teeth and clean up the breakfast dishes.
8:03 a.m. School starts. We pray then have Bible class where I talk about justification and sanctification with a 6 year old. The end of this book is getting pretty theologically complicated for a 6 year old, but we do our best.

8:15 a.m. Emily starts some school in a number book while Marissa works on a crossword puzzle for Bible class.


8:25 a.m. I Switch the laundry around. 

8:40 a.m. Bible class is finished, we move to penmanship/writing. I reheat my tea for the second time.

8:50 a.m. I head to the kitchen to mix up some wheat bread dough.

9:00 a.m.
Marissa finishes her writing so I give her a 10 minute break. Emily chooses to help me bake instead of go play and that leaves Marissa pretty annoyed. 


9:10 a.m. I get Marissa working on her math. Emily is playing "maker" in the kitchen and I finally finish my tea. Then I clean the kitchen, again. 

9:45 a.m. Marissa is finishing up her math. I get on the computer to sign Russ up to receive text alerts for tracking my progress at the OKC half. Emily is playing with the magna-doodle.

10:00 a.m. It's Snack time & math speed drills on the computer for M.

10:05 a.m. I realize I haven't filled out My Fitness Pal at all today so I catch it up.

10:10 a.m. I force myself to chug a glass of water.

10:15 a.m. The girls do yoga and I get their clothes laid out and ready.


10:30 a.m. Yoga is over the girls are getting dressed and ready for the day, finally. Marissa goes to have her quiet/solo reading time and I attempt to fix the craziness that is Emily's hair.


10:40 a.m. Marissa finished her Junie B. Jones book and she moves onto her phonics work book. Emily has computer game time.

11:05 a.m. Emily is still playing games, Marissa works on writing dictated sentences. 

11:20 a.m. Sentences are finished. The girls get another 10 minute break and I begin lunch prep in the kitchen.

11:30 a.m. We sit down together to work on our "my body" project. This weeks body part is the intestines... which means LOTS of giggling. 

11:45 a.m. The girls are coloring their sheets and I fold some laundry. 


12:00 p.m.
I am waiting on Russ to text me that he is headed home for lunch so I work on finishing lunch prep. I put the girls to work straightening things up. 

12:15 p.m. Russ walks in the door, he forgot to text me. LUNCH TIME!

12:40 p.m. Lunch clean up begins and the girls play. 

12:53 p.m. Russ heads back to work. I reply to a few email, check Facebook and sit for just a few minutes.

1:05 p.m.
Start piano lessons with Marissa. Then form the dough into two loaves to rise again.


1:30 p.m. Piano is over. We get shoes on and get ready to leave.

1:35 p.m. Leave to run errands.

1:44 p.m. Arrive at the Library. We look for books, play, and have computer time.


2:26 p.m. Leave the library.

2:39 p.m.
Arrive at Aldi. Go inside to pick up milk and egg whites.

2:53 p.m.
Leave Aldi with milk, egg whites, popcorn, cheese, lettuce, yogurt, bananas & cream cheese.


2:56 p.m. We're home.... yes, we are that close. I even got stuck waiting at a light.

3:00 p.m. I put the bread in the oven to bake. Then we grab our snacks and sit down for science/story time. We are currently studying about seasons. We read books about animals during the winter.


3:20 p.m. Finish reading books, have the girls work on an art project to go with our story time. I sit down by them with the laptop to answer email, and read some blogs.

3:40 p.m. The timer beeps, the bread is done. It looks a bit darker than usual then I remember that I failed to follow my own recipe. #Fail

4:00 p.m. The girls finish their pictures and school is done! I send them to their rooms to clean.


4:15 p.m. I wrap up my blog reading time, start the girls bath and get dinner going.

4:22 p.m. Russ comes home from work and is doing some stuff out in the garage.

4:50 p.m. The girls are bathed. Marissa is ready for Awana and I am finishing up dinner.

5:15 p.m. Dinner time.

5:46 p.m. I take Marissa to Awana and drop her off.


6:00 p.m. I get back home and finish up cleaning the dishes. Russ and Emily look at our new library books. I check my email and catch up My Fitness Pal.

6:30 p.m. I straighten things up around the house and once again find myself folding some more laundry. 

7:00 p.m. I pop some popcorn and watch T.V. with Emily. Finally time to relax. 


7:55 p.m. Russ leaves to pick up Marissa, I put Emily to bed.

8:10 p.m. Marissa and Russ get home. We talk about Awana and she gets ready for bed.

8:25 p.m. Marissa is in bed, I go out to the garage and hang out with Russ. 


8:40 p.m. Shower time for me, yay!

9:00 p.m. I watch some Property Brothers, send emails and play around on Instagram.

9:30 p.m. Snacks and an episode of Friends in bed with Russ.

10:05 p.m. Brush my teeth, lay out my gym clothes, set my alarm.


10:10 p.m. Lights out. 

And I fall asleep thinking about only getting 6 hours and 7 minutes of sleep before I do it over again. 


post signature


26 comments:

  1. ha so you answered my question - your day is as crazy as mine! :) I think I am now remembering a post from long ago when you first started blogging about only needing 6 hours of sleep or so - man I still wish I was that person! I got 7.5 last night and I still feel like I've been run over! If I only I had 90mins more in my day what I could get done :) Anyway I love how you can do so many things while teaching - the girls do so well at working on their own (with supervision clearly). How fun Russ comes home for lunch - that's a nice break in the day. Do you like shopping at Aldi? I've considered it to save some $$$ and there's one sorta near us (nothing is really near us). Have you always been a shower at night person? Or does that just work for you now? Man here I am being so nosey with 20 questions! I am just very fascinated by other people's days! I love how school and play flow together for you. And the yoga time too. It's your PE time! Great idea!

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  2. Lol. Yeah I prefer closer to 7 but it just doesn't usually happen. I do make up a bit of sleep if I have an off day from the gym or on the weekend if I don't have an early long run. But that usually means I get 7.5 to 8 hours.

    Russ coming home is nice. Joplin is so small for being a "large town" compared to the others around us. You can be on the other side of town in about 10-15 minutes tops. His work is just under 5 minutes away so it works great.

    I LOVE Aldi. I have learned there are a few things that I won't buy there because we don't care for them but for the most part it is amazing and saves us TONS.

    I am / always have been a shower at night person. Unless I do a long run. Or I run outside in the summer I always just wait til night to shower. I don't really have time to squeeze that into my morning anyways.

    Ask away friend, I don't mind :) and thank you so much.

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  3. oh I didn't know you got to have a family lunch too! I love that we do that too, nice break in the day for all. I haven't been to aldi in a while, have you done a post on what you get there? I've gotten some pretty miss items so I got lazy and haven't been back. I should it is a good place to save. I wish we had a TJs too. I think my fave part is that you made bread during the school day =)

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  4. I love that your hubby comes home for lunch! I wish we could do that once in a while but our jobs are way too far apart - different cities :) That bread looks delicious! Loved reading about your day and how you manage the different subjects. I also love that you can do things like laundry and bread without having a little one attached to your leg :)

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  5. I like that your phone tells you how long you will be sleeping for. Mine would always have to say "not long enough" lol.
    I loved this post! I don't know if I'm just nosy or what but I liked finding out how you spend your days. I like that you incorporate Emily and Marissa but when it's time for Marissa's work, then Emily gets to play. But they both get to color. And then you get to do some stuff around the house and you take them to the library. Sounds like the best of both worlds for everyone!

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  6. Phew! You are an early riser! It's cool to see how you spend your day!

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  7. Desiree @ Macke MonologuesApril 27, 2015 at 3:25 PM

    So impressed with your early morning dedication. I woke ONE time at 4:30 for training, and was like, "Nope, never again."
    You three keep so busy during the day! Loved seeing your day laid out!

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  8. I must reheat my coffee 10 times a day, you sound like me!

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  9. It is pitiful isn't it?! Those rare moments when I can drink a whole cup without reheating make me so happy!

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  10. Thanks friend. I hate it if I am being honest. But it is my only option, so it works. If it was easy everyone would do it, right?!

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  11. Yes ma'am been waking up at that time for about a year now. Before then I thought 5:30 was early. Sheesh!

    Thanks!

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  12. Lol. It is nice but SO annoying. I just lay there thinking about those hours and minutes ticking away.

    It is so nice. It takes us a while to get into a rhythm sometimes but when we figure one out, we're good!

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  13. I do too! Sometimes I really need that "break" in the middle of the day. Joplin is SMALL even though it is the largest city for an hour. It only takes 10-15 minutes to drive across town. His work is about 5 minutes away depending on traffic. It is so nice to get those chores done quickly while they are distracted.

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  14. Yes! His work is only about 5 minutes away so 95% of the time we all eat together. It is really nice to get that break, you know? I never have done a post like that. I buy A LOT there. I won't buy mac & cheese and a few other things but for the most part that place saves me a TON! We make bread at least once a week, generally multiple kinds at once :).

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  15. I love this so much. Now I really want to do homeschool! I just love that you get to do laundry and bake bread during your day!!

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  16. So. Early. I hope to one day e ale to wake up that early by choice. Looks like a great day. It's so interesting how quickly you can get through lessons with only one child. I'm used to a classroom of about 22 and you never get through anything in under 30 minutes. Thank you for sharing this!

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  17. What a busy, but good day! I love that you get to do this with your kids. Be with them all day all the while teaching them! And 4:23...SO early! My hubby's alarm goes off at 4:45 every morning! But you know what? If our gym opened that early I would go then, too! Nathan leaves at 5 am every day and that's when our gym opens! Also, your girls seem so well mannered and disciplined with the school work. I don't know if I'd be able to corral Mason for homeschool!

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  18. You really can figure out how to carve out time for all the regular stuff and get the school work done too. It just takes some practice at finding a good balance.

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  19. It is so early.... but it is the only time I have free. Baha ha! I used to get up at 5:30 which felt a lot more sane, but the hubby's work schedule changed so my sleep got cut :(.

    It is CRAZY that is one of the HUGE down falls to home schooling though. In Missouri once a child is 7 they require you to track hours to match the public education standards. Sadly what a home school child accomplishes in 30 minutes does not evenly exchange out to the chaos of a public school class room. So home school kids end up with A LOT more learning time. I can't wait until I have to start tracking hours in the fall.... #sarcasm.

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  20. Our days are very long and busy most of the time. But really, whose aren't?! My gym is supposed to open at 5:00 to, but there is always someone there no matter how early I arrive, lol.

    They are pretty good girls, but don't let the pictures fool you. We definitely have a system in place to keep them in line ;).

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  21. WOW! Really?? That seems crazy. She's going to be so far ahead. Can she graduate early?
    Ashley

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  22. A lot of home school kids end up taking basic college classes at a community college during their senior year. But we will not technically graduate her early. She is already going to be 17 when she graduates! She has a June birthday, so she is a young one for her grade.

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  23. Maren Hall ArnoldMay 1, 2015 at 1:55 PM

    We shop Aldi here in Germany and spend way less than when we shop at the bigger store. It is great for basics. I do have to be careful with produce but that could just be our location. Also, you seem to be doing a great job homeschooling! I am really impressed by how well planned your day turns out.

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  24. YES! Aldi is a German based company, right? You probably have lots of them?! It is SO great for basics. Somethings I don't love so much the produce is hit or miss here.

    Thank you so much.

    Glad you found me and said hello!

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  25. What is the yoga the girls are doing?

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  26. They are doing Cosmic Kids Yoga. They are free videos on Youtube and we LOVE them. It is our PE of choice when the weather is to cold to play outside.

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