Diary of a homeschooled kid

A friend asked recently if I'd share our daily homeschool schedule. I must admit that it was not uncommon for our days to vary quite a bit. Still, we definitely had a routine. We'd start each day with oatmeal for breakfast, and I would read a Bible story aloud to the kids at the table. Then we'd do some Catechism questions.

While I did the breakfast dishes, Anna would generally start on her Handwriting book, and do a couple of pages, while my other kids played--outdoors if it was warm enough (bikes, in the playhouse, trampoline), indoors if it was cold. (They love dressing up, coloring, playing with toys and puzzles.) My kids are *generally* very good at entertaining themselves and playing together, so this aspect of homeschooling (what do I do with my other children while I'm schooling Anna?) was really not challenging at all. Most days. :)

After Handwriting, we'd usually move on to Math. Depending on the lesson, we'd do two or three.

Then, Anna would spend some time reading independently--sometimes science (I love the Usborne books), sometimes classics, sometimes The Berenstain Bears. :) Sometimes she would read for hours on end.

In nice weather we'd all go for a walk or a bike ride around the neighborhood. Then it was time for lunch...and "school" was over!

Honestly, I think the words "education" and "learning" are often misused and misunderstood. Children are learning and educated any time they pick up a book, go for a walk, or help in the kitchen. Yes there may be specific "work" to be done on any given homeschool day, but there are also many (most?) days when the best "learning" is done during a discussion sparked by the breakfast-time Bible reading, or while snuggling a new baby sister. They learn at the grocery store...when we meet Daddy for lunch...when we play games. Anna really enjoyed helping me bake desserts for our weekly small group each Wednesday. Homeschooling affords us lots and lots of these "natural" learning opportunities intermingled with the book work and instruction.

And next year will be a bit different. We will be starting our exciting study of History, and there will be THREE little ones in school. I will have more to juggle. But I know we'll find our groove and fall into a routine that works for us. Some days that routine will fall apart. Some days it will work. (Right??!!)

I'm currently brainstorming ways to keep everybody organized. I'm thinking one basket per child, that will contain their respective schoolbooks and a pencil pouch to hold pencils, pens, glue etc. and a box of crayons. That way everyone will have their respective things in ONE spot, and when they know it's time to do Handwriting, they can go grab their book and pencil.

We have a schoolroom in our home (that's connected to our kitchen/dining area) that used to also be a playroom...but I've recently moved the toy bins downstairs in hopes of JUST using the upstairs room for school. There's a table in there with four chairs and I'm looking for a computer desk on Craigslist to hold the computer my dad gave to the kids. Between the table in the schoolroom and the dining table, there's lots of space for kids to work.

But some days, the best place to work is on the back of your younger sister's tricycle. Yet another joy of homeschooling.