Up until now I really haven't posted much about our homeschooling experience, but in the last few months I've had several curious friends and family members ask me about what a typical day in our homeschool is like, so I thought I would share our schedule and a bit about our curriculum/methods in this post and then try to remember to post a bit more about our time spent homeschooling in the future. For those of you who don't know Alexis is 6 1/2 and Emily is 4. Technically they's be in 1st grade and preschool, but we really don't assign grade levels. So here's a peek at a typical day, with times only being approximate. We don't really do any of this by the clock. It's more like a general order of what we do:
7:30 The baby wakes us all up. :) She's very happy and babbles loudly to ensure everyone is awake. We go downstairs and I get the girls breakfast.
8:00 We get dressed and I shower on a good day. :) Sometimes we just start right in on homeschooling and the getting dressed and showering happens sometime mid morning in between activities.
8:30 We do circle time. Basically that means we all sit together and sing a few songs, do our calendar and weather, share anything we want to share, and read a value stary. A value story is any story that has a moral or good lesson taught. It can be a scripture story or just a good book, such a "Uncle Arther's Bedtime Stories". We love these and each one had a good lesson on values and choosing the right. During this time the baby is usually right there with us, playing with her toys.
9:00 Math happens next. I teach Alexis her lesson using hands on manipulatives and then she does 2-4 pages independently with me checking. We use Singapore Math with her, which we really like. It not only seems to teach them math but it really helps them understand it and apply it. We also have a critical thinking math book we supplement with that has different problems to solve such as puzzles and logic problems. Meanwhile I do a Math activity with Emily which is usually some sort of hands on lesson, although we also do these little books from Singapore which are Nursery Rhyme Math books each with a different topic especially for 4-6 year olds. Emily LOVES these. We also supplement with a critical thinking book for her age. We also love the book "Family Math" and we do activities from it quite often with both girls.
9:30 By this time the baby has gotten fussy and I take her upstairs for a nap while the girls play.
9:40 I get an activity out for Emily such as puzzles, stringing beads into patterns, tangrams, etc. while I work on grammar and spelling with Alexis. We used a program called Happy Phonics to supplement teaching her how to read when she first learned a couple of years ago, which is basically just a bunch of games that teach them all the rules of phonics. Well, this program also has a spelling part to it that we are now doing which we really love. For grammar we use "First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind". We really like it.
10:00 I do phonics with Emily. We play a phonics game and do a page in the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons" It's a great book we used with Alexis when she was 4. We just started it with Emily and so far she loves it.
10:15 I listen to Alexis read me a story from her Reading book. We use the "Reading to Learn" series. It's a bunch of old fashioned stories that teach morals and value lessons in each one. We really enjoy them.
10:30 The girls practice their writing now. Alexis copies a short sentence or two from a scripture verse or from a classic children's book, such as "Charlotte's Web" or "Little House in the Big Woods". Emily does 2 pages in her writing book. We use "Handwriting Without Tears" and she's in the preschool level which has her tracing fun designs on one page and then writing the letter 4 times on the next page. It also comes with wooden sticks to help her build the letter and playdough to form it's shape.
10:45 Usually the baby is waking up now. I nurse her and then put her with some toys or hold her while we do our subject of the day. On Mondays it's History/Geography, Tuesday is Music Day, Wednesday is Science Day, Thursday is Art, and Friday is Life Skills. We spend the next hour or so exploring whatever subject we have chosen for the day. Now, this doesn't mean this is the only day we learn about this subject. It just means this is our main day to learn about it. For example today was Science day and we talked about what a cell is and about parameciums. Then they did a cute replica of a paramecium using construction paper, shoes, and glitter. But in a couple of days we might be at the library and find a book about Kangaroos and read it and talk about marsipials. So we always keep our minds open for learning and exploring, which is my main goal in teaching them.
12:00 We are now done with our "official" homeschool time of the day. We have lunch time and then clean up. The rest of the afternoon and evening is spent doing various things. The baby naps again around 2:30. We tend to the house, play, go outside when the weather permits, read, etc. Also whatever time Don is home, he will do Chinese lessons with the girls. He has a neat program on the computer and the girls are really picking up on it fast. I also throw in a few educational activities throughout the afternoon here and there. For instance I might print off a fun word hunt for Alexis to do and maybe a maze for Emily. Or I might get out scarves and put on some mozart and talk about the pitch going up and down or the tempo and let them dance. Or we might read for a while out of a classic children's book. I also love to get the full unabridged version books on tape and play them in the background while the girls play quietly or in the car as we drive somewhere. I also make sure to do a "brain" activity with them. Basically these are just short fun little activities to get them thinking. Like I might have a tray of items I let them look at and then go into another room and take one away and let them figure out what's missing. I also spend plenty of time playing with the baby. We walk around the house and I point things out and name them for her, we sing songs, read books, play baby games, dance to music, and just have fun. The girls also are good at playing with her so I can get things done around the house.
As for our evening, we eat dinner around 5:30, clean up toys and straighten up around 6:00, do PJs and baths around 6:30, and we do family scripture study, sing a few songs, and family prayer around 7:00. Then Don or I will read the girls a few bedtime stories and tuck them and say goodnight around 7:30. The baby will also go down around this time. Then Don and I enjoy the rest of the evening together.
It doesn't always go perfectly like this, but that's basically what we do. I am really enjoying this journey homeschooling. Most days I feel I'm not getting everything done I want to get done in my life, but I just try to remind myself there's a time and season for everything, and the Lord has blessed me with this opportunity to have, raise, and teach these little ones. So when my house is a cluttered mess, I just try to take a deep breath and say, "This too shall pass..." :)
