I have been wanting to do a “day in the life” post for a long time. I’ve done a couple vlogs that show part of our homeschool day, but never a blog post. … Until now! First, off, let me thank Nothing But The Fruit NBTF for sponsoring this fun project! I decided to spend a day photographing our homeschool routine so I could share it here on my blog.

I say “day” but really homeschool for us, when we stay on track (and I don’t stop to reply to emails/Facebook comments/ answer phone calls), only takes about two and a half hours. On a day where we only get slightly offtrack we’re usually still able to finish before lunch. But we have piano and art at lunchtime each once a week so we’re usually trying to beat the clock so we can eat before heading to those activities.

Ok enough rambling. Here’s how it goes…

7am-8am: Wake up

My son is my alarm. He’s usually up around 7 but I live for the days he lets us sleep until almost 8.

8am: Breakfast

My daughter usually makes something simple in the toaster for the both of them. If her chores are done (her room and the playroom is clean are the main ones) she can listen to an audiobook or podcast while she eats. I’m usually trying to straighten up a little and pull out our binder for the day.

The kids get dressed and ready for the day after breakfast.

8:30-9am: “Morning time”

We will sometimes do this at the table, we did this day, but 90% of the time we actually usually do this in the living room snuggled on the couch (like we do here in this vlog). We sit and I’ll read history while she colors a page about the time period we’re reading about and then we’ll discuss it, and practice a scripture verse that’s either one from the week in our curriculum or one she’s suppose to say in Primary at church.

What is my son doing during this time? During the school year twice a week my son goes to a gymnastics preschool but on days like today he’s usually playing independently in the playroom. Building bridges and train tracks.

9-9:20: Math

We use Math-U See and we usually spend about 20-30 minutes either learning something new, or reviewing. We’re about to take a break from doing new lessons and spend the rest of the summer reviewing and nailing down a lot of mental math. If my son is home and interested I’ll invite him to play with the unit blocks. This is a subject he does seem to enjoy.

9:20-9:45: Language Arts, spelling and handwriting

It doesn’t take too long. We practice 10 words a week and every few weeks we’ll review. On Fridays we usually have a grammar lesson. We study a poem each week and she will copy a few lines for copywriting or “handwriting” practice. She’s improved a TON this last year working on it daily.

9:45-10:10: Phonics

My most difficult subject to teach, but my daughter says it’s her favorite. I think because I try extra hard to make it fun. I really try to be careful as much as I want to, not to push it too far or we both get frustrated. Sometimes we just spend the time reviewing sight words and making a fun game out of it where she tries to read a word before I do (I close my eyes and count before reading it, giving her a head start). If she gets it right first she gets a treat, if not, I (or her brother) does. A fun little snack to break up the day.

Sometimes we’ll use mini candies but I prefer something like the Nothing But The Fruit snacks. Both my kids like it and they’re made with 100% fruit just picked, pureed and pressed into little cubes.

At this point my son is usually craving some attention too so I’ll work on word puzzles and I’ll give him a NBTF cube once he finishes one too. Yea, ok, kinda like puppies but it works!

Sometimes she’ll practice her tumbling while we do word review. She’ll do some flips on the mat and I’ll set up a sentence for her to read.

Once we’re done with word review we’ll practice new phonics skills and/ or she’ll read a story to me. All of this we still try to keep within that 25 minute timeframe.

10:10-10:30: Science Experiment or Geography

We have several world and USA maps, sometimes we’ll review states but our Heart of Dakota curriculum usually has some kind of activity for the day to teach about equators, weather, or something of the sort. This summer we’re about to take a break from our HOD curriculum though and dive into unit studies (study based on interest/particular topics) and go through a lot of our Magic School Bus science experiment kits. I’m really excited for that!

10:30-11am: Read aloud

I spend 30 minutes a day during homeschool reading aloud from either the book we’re reading as a part of our curriculum.– Which could be a biography, a fantasy book, adventure, or something else. I read, then she narrates back what was happening in the story. We’ll discuss characters, plots, protagonists and antagonists etc. Our curriculum guide book gives me a good idea of what prompts to ask but as we’ve gone along we’ve come up with some of our own.

DONE! – Maybe.

In a nutshell that’s it. Of course if we add in breaks or go long with some things, or take breaks from a subject one day, the time may get stretched or cut a bit. This isn’t a steadfast rule. Sometimes we say “screw it all” and take a field trip or even just lounge in our PJs and read books all day. Reality is we have that freedom and we take full advantage.

Usually we are done by lunch then we head to our early afternoon activities afterwards, or we grab a quick snack to take with us, and have lunch after. When her brother is at preschool we can have an hour or so of free time before picking him up.

After school, the rest of their chores, and extra reading time we allow them to have some screen time. But on our busy days a lot of the time the iPads stay packed away.

I’m hoping in the next month or so to show more of our new summer homeschool routine using unit studies… Maybe even go through the rest of the day including piano lessons/practice, cheer practice and hair routines at the end of the night.

If you have any other questions about our routine or how we homeschool, let me know and I’ll address it in an upcoming post.

What’s your schedule like? More or less laid back than ours?

This is a sponsored conversation written in partnership with Nothing But The Fruit. Available at Starbucks, Target, Meijer, Winn Dixie, BI-LO and online at amazon.com

Tags: homeschool, homeschooling, nbtf