What’s A Typical Day Like?

by Erica of homeschoolerconfessions.com

What is my typical day like?

I had someone ask and didn’t think I could fit it in comments LOL! So here goes…please keep in mine that we are flexible as we have a baby, and unforeseen events daily it seems that cause us to veer off course, but Steady as she goes is my moto! Often you’ll hear “Back to boxes!” coming from me (every few minutes it seems)…especially with the boy who has taken to ‘disappearing’ between boxes, or when we have to stop an activity because the baby has opened a drawer and emptied its contents all over the school room. Wednesdays are different as the girls have dance from noon-2, so we just start earlier to accommodate this. And I’ve kindly spared listing the billion times a day I save my baby from choking hazards and falling off the stairs to her death. Oh and the 3am feedings that we still do because I can’t stand to let her ‘cry it out’. But…with all that said, here’s our ‘plan’ for each day, and I really DO try to follow it! Okay, are you ready?

8:00: Read 1 Psalm & shower for mom as I can’t function with out one

8:30: Breakfast /dishes/toss in load of laundry and/or start dishwasher

9:00: School bell rings (yes, I really have a bell courtesy my mom! They LOVE it!)

9:00 – 10:00: Group time, we all do the following together:
• Calendar, days of week, months of year, counting calendar/hanging pattern chains by each day, put up new weekday discuss yesterday and tomorrow.
• Bible: Pray, Sing songs, do bible study, discuss, review
• Science: Read from Studying Creation with Astronomy and Enjoying My Father’s World (Abeka)

10am – Workboxes, everyone starts at the same time…this is immediately followed by what I like to think of as organized chaos ;o) (It typically takes us 2 hrs or so to go through our 10 boxes, some days more…)

12noon: Lunch! Followed by outside play, and a few moments for me to do dishes and gather what little sanity I have left before moving on…I also load boxes for the next day during playtime and swap out my laundry to the dryer. Baby goes down for nap.

2pm: Afternoon fun stuff, I usually save crafts, art projects, science fair stuff etc for this time. (We may also run errands if needed around this time after the baby wakes up of course!)

4pm: Chores like laundry, we have LOTS of laundry, It should be done by now, so we all fold and everyone puts away their own stuff! I usually have my 6yr old help my 3yr old, if she doesn’t want to I will, I don’t make her. (This is different for each family, but I have a chore chart posted in my kitchen and I pay .25/chore. So if someone wants to make money, they’ll go see what needs to be done and do it! This has helped me out a lot! Friday’s are prize day and we go to the dollar store and let them buy something with their earnings,then some goes to Jesus and some goes to savings.

Some kid friendly tasks:

• Swapping clothes from washer to dryer
• Setting the table for dinner
• Emptying the dishwasher (5 and 6 yr old)
• Making their beds
• Feeding the dogs (2 of them!) and cat (1 of them!)
• Sweeping the kitchen floor (my 5 yr old is excellent at this!)
• Cleaning dishes after meals (my 6 yr old just started this, everyone brings their own plate from table to counter and she washes and puts in dishwasher)
• Vacuuming (Really more for the 6 yr old, but I’ll let my 5yr old do his room…he likes it)
• Dusting: Give them little dust rags, or Clorox wet wipes and turn them loose!

5:45pm: 10 Minute Tidy: This is where I set a timer and everyone runs around like maniacs cleaning up anything can they find so when Daddy comes home the house is a clean and serene oasis, and he thinks its like that all day ;o)…sorry honey, the secret is out…please don’t come home any earlier than 5:50 unannounced or my reputation will be ruined forever.

6:00pm: Dad enters: & asks “So, what did you do all day?” I say “Not much, just lounged around and ate bon-bons.” Dad quizzes kids to make sure I’m kidding.

6:10ish Dinner: /dishes/sweep kitchen floor (Seriously, how does it get destroyed after 1 meal?)

7pm-7:30: Bath, family devotions & bedtime: – Clean up playroom, take baths, go to bed! My 2nd grader saves her reading assignments to do with Dad after the others have gone to bed so she stays up an extra 30minutes or so. If I didn’t get to box loading earlier, she’ll help me now since she likes to.

8pm: Free time: for mom and dad….sit down, sigh…blog…laminate…work for church etc. and praise God we made it through another homeschool day without burning down the house! Aside from hanging out with my husband here are some of the things I do during my “free time”, I also try to do this during playtime if there’s a lull. I know this sounds a little crazy but I was definitely spending too much time on school stuff etc, so having it broken down has helped me not only get it done, but have actual FREE time at night with my husband:
• Mon: : Work on letter stuff for next week
• Tues: : Print letter stuff
• Wed: : cut/laminate/photograph letter stuff…then wonder why I’m doing all this work for prek ;o)
• Thurs: : Work on workbox schedule for following week, make list of items needed while I watch “The Office” :o)
• Friday: : Post new letter for you all! Yipee!
• Weekends: : Family time!

10ish: My devotion time. :..nice and quiet, and I’ve settled down from all the madness of the day.

Then I go to bed and pray for God to order my steps for tomorrow that I might get everything done HE wants me to do, and not spend time on stuff that wastes my precious time!

So that’s our schedule for what its worth, hectic, but ordered. Hey, you asked!

For more fun blogs from Erica on her family and homeschooling, visit her website at www.homeschoolerconfessions.com.