Day in Our Homeschooling + Work-at-Home Life
/Do you ever see glimpses of another mom's life and wonder what her days are like? Whether we think she has life all figured out and wonder "how she does it all," are feeling overwhelmed by our own days, or are entering a new season and want to glean wisdom from a mom ahead of us, seeing another homeschool mom's daily schedule can be really helpful, encouraging, and eye-opening.
(Here’s a video chat about this topic, but feel free to skip it and read the info instead!)
Before I get to the nitty-gritty, know that I have a few "schedule rules":
My schedules are highly detailed. This gives me a sense of "I can do this" when I'm looking at all there is to accomplish and feeling overwhelmed.
However, I view my detailed schedule as a guideline that I can honor or ignore. Setting the schedule is honestly an anxiety-soother… but I'm just as likely to feel freaked out if I don't feel like I have flexibility as well. So I never actually feel *controlled* by the schedule.
I assume life will happen. The schedule is great, but some days we will change plans because we just feel like it. That's ok. No one is the boss of us ;)
As a busy, work-from-home family of 4 with teenagers who work outside the home and have events, sports, and classes (and don't yet drive)... Our mornings are pretty tightly scheduled… and our afternoons are all over the place.
So here is my daily(ish) schedule with my kiddos who are currently 17, 15, 6, and newly 5! (They are respectively a Senior, Freshman, Kinder, and Preschooler.)
Mom's Morning Schedule
(This is an overly idealistic plan, and I accomplish all of this only 50% of the time. However, I like creating challenging plans that, even if I only accomplish half, still leave me feeling productive.):
6:00am: (minutes in parenthesis)
Prayers + Journaling- Give Me Jesus Journal (15)
Add intentional love touches or discipleship for a family member to Sacred Ordinary Days planner (5)
Bible Reading (20)
Review day's plan and events, jotting down top 3 priorities into SOD planner (5)6:45:
Shower/Dressed (30)
Straighten up (10)
Load of laundry into washer (5)
15min video workout (15)
Breakfast (15)
(During this time, my boys have usually emerged from their room. They grab bars for breakfast or make toast if they want it with some fruit. They watch TV and play, then do their chores before school. More chore info below.)
Start my repeated wake-up call on my teens.
8:00
Plan/Thaw supper (5)
Pull out menus and rally everyone for Morning Virtues (15)
School Time
8:30
Gather in the school room (teens still 80% asleep) for our daily Morning Basket time. (We use Morning Virtues with all ages which includes literature, art/music, Bible reading, catechism, hymn, scripture memory, poetry, etc.)
9:15
Big two start chores, little two get school with mom.
Quick Note on Chores: My teens (both girls) handle the following chores: dishes, garbage, some laundry folding, and sidewalk leaf blowing. My boys will have done chores before school which includes feeding our dog and cat, making their beds, putting all toys around the house in their place, leaf blowing the patio, and putting their laundry away as needed. My regular chores include making sure everyone does their chores well, constantly putting things away or telling the responsible party to do so, washing everyone's clothes (except the teens), and keeping my Shark floor robot running so my floors stay clean which = sanity for me!
During this period of time with the boys, we do reading and math first so we stay consistent on those. We also do memory work from Primer, the Kindergarten Morning Binder, and Handwriting Without Tears. (For math we use Kindergarten Math with Confidence but are finishing soon and moving into First Grade. For Reading we use All About Reading Level 1.)
I finally created a super simple planner that works for our family’s 5-day “chore” week, for both readers and pre-readers. If you utilize Canva and want a template to edit for your own family, enter your email below, and I’ll send you a link!
10:00
This portion of the day with the boys rotates.
Monday: Story Day- We read our story from Primer and do an activity from Storybook Soiree or a Raddish Kids recipe. We also read The Ology this day (from Primer).
Tues: On Mission- This day we read a portion of On Mission and add whatever other books, printables, or activities compliment today's reading. We also read a Bible story today.
Wednesday: Science Day- We work on the Recitations and poem from Gentle + Classical Nature, do a Student Notebook page, and/or read an additional book. We sometimes add experiments from Sonlight's K Science (because someone gave it to me). From Primer, we read Everyday Graces for Manners/Hygiene. The boys also attend a nature class 2x a month on Wednesday afternoons.
Thursday: Co-op day so we aren't home 8:00-1:00. One teen works during co-op and the rest of us attend.
Friday: Story Day- Friday may mean we make up for anything we missed during the week, go on a field trip, or just have another day of reading + activities!
10:30(ish)
Boys head off for free play outside, unless the weather doesn't permit, and they play inside. I take my first "renewal" of the day here which is a 15 min break with a liturgical style prayer over our home education and reading an education-focused book. (I'll share more about these renewals in a post later).
I may grab a snack, and the boys may also need a snack.
The girls are doing school at this point independently in their room or getting showers. I give them a checklist each week of their work, and they complete it. They sometimes work in the evenings. One kid gets it all done asap each morning, and the other would rather work at night. (At their ages, we let them control their schedules unless we see they aren’t managing them properly.)
11:30
The boys have played at least an hour, hopefully outside. I've piddled in some manner around the house or potentially wasted time on social media. I may have also completed any pressing work assignments.
Time to prepare lunch for the boys. The girls fix their own most of the time.
12:00
My boys have eaten and are finishing up. They either head to their bedroom or outside for "quiet time". This is just a time they must entertain themselves, electronic free, and basically leave everyone else alone 🤣.
Once they're occupied, I straighten up from lunch, move the clothes to the dryer, potentially do something related to supper, and do my mid-day renewal which is marriage focused.
12:30
My hubby is now "home" from work. In reality, he's been packaging and shipping orders in the shop or working on any number of projects like repairing a truck with our daughter, repairing something on the house, making knives, etc.
We spend a few minutes together before I head to work.
1:00
It's time for work! I head out to my office (which is on the back of our property).
I start my work time with emails and all the smaller tasks for the first hour or so.
Hubby is potentially leaving with a kid or kids at this point in the day. Between co-ops, appointments, dual enrollment classes, nature classes, tutors, and jobs, he heads out with someone to go somewhere 4 out of 5 afternoons.
Sometimes he takes them all and other times a big girl watches the boys for a few hours.
After I finish the smaller details, I dive into a larger project. Current large projects include On Mission (ongoing), Morning Virtues (ongoing), History: In Grace & Truth (ongoing, releasing Fall 2022), and Nature Volume 2 (releasing Summer 2022).
3:30
Time for my third renewal of the day. This one is work/business focused. I take about 30 minutes to really rest. I pray over GCP, listen to a great business podcast, and ideally relax in the swing by the pond with a cup of coffee.
After the renewal, I head back to work.
6:00
Dinner is a mixed bag in our home. I try to prep, slow cook, or instant pot something twice per week.
Often my husband will cook and feed the boys, and the girls will make their own preferred meals.
We're working to implement a plan where dinner is planned and cooked by someone for everyone every single night. I recently bought the Roots & Boots meal plan, and that's helped a ton!
Everyone eats at 6:00.
7:00 Boys bedtime
Evenings
Our evening routine is simply a time for everyone to chill. Our girls talk to friends, play video games, or watch TV. Hubby and I usually watch TV separately but have a few shows we watch together. We all head off to bed at various times, whenever we are tired. Then we are back up and at it again tomorrow!
That's our general schedule for a typical or ideal day, and it's actually a quite new one. Up until very recently, my husband had a totally separate career, and I handled the homeschooling, taxi-cabbing, and GCP work by myself, and he would do all he could in the evening and on weekends. Needless to say, we are so thankful to be shifting into this new season and "lighter" schedule!
I hope you'll find some type of inspiration for tweaking or planning your own days that will give you more joy and freedom!
