A typical homeschool day - 500th post!

The truth is ... we are still figuring out "typical."  I try for a kinda sorta normal day, but no two are ever alike.  We have fallen into a rough routine though, so I thought I'd share that.  It's a long post, but if you're interested, this is how things go!

While I had every intention of beginning the school day at 8:30am sharp ... well that just hasn't happened.  We start more at about 9am (or 10am), depending on the day.  This gives me some time to take care of email, work stuff, phone calls, blogging (facebooking, LOL), laundry ... whatever needs to be done.  We start school with a few minutes doing the pledges and calendar, in addition to talking about weather, the season, the day, etc.  This is more for Lovebug, but Angel loves to participate and Sunshine enjoys hanging out too.  My best intentions for doing Bible study first thing have been thwarted (imagine peacefully sitting down for a Bible study only to have Sunshine making noise with other toys, Lovebug distracted and annoyed that he can't play with her, and Angel the only one still interested in learning ... oy), so I'm still working on that one.  My goal over Christmas break is to get it together and find something that works for everyone.

Anywho, Angel starts out with the work she can do by herself.  Depending on the day, it's handwriting, spelling and math.  While she's doing that work, I spend one-on-one time with Lovebug to work on letter recognition and sounds.  He'll then work independently on printouts that reinforce what we just learned.  He also works on handwriting a few days a week somewhat independently ... he is doing GREAT with that!  While this is going on, Sunshine is playing on her own, although there are still plenty of interruptions.  I keep some toys/manipulatives that are only available to her during school, and this does seem to help.

While the older 2 finish up their independent work, I'll play a little with Sunshine and/or prepare for our science/history projects (or put a load of laundry in, clean a bathroom ... depending on how much time I have).  Lovebug will then do one of a few things:  work on Ooka Island (letter recognition/phonics computer game), work with a math or reading manipulative, or simply play with Sunshine.  I'll then work with Angel on grammar, reading comprehension and writing.

This is usually about time to break for lunch - we start early at 11am or 11:30am, and this occasionally gets stretched to noon.  I didn't intend for an early lunch, but it just sort of happened and also allows us to get through the morning without another break for a snack.  During lunch, we'll review our memory work or listen to memory songs.  We review the memory work at many different times throughout the day though (like in the car or while we're playing), so I've found that we don't necessarily need a set time to do this every day.  Sometimes I will read the history lesson or try to work through a health lesson during lunch instead ... it just depends on the day.  After lunch is over, the kids play for a bit before Sunshine goes down for nap.  Unless we have a history or science project that Sunshine would enjoy - in that case, she takes her nap later.

At that point, a few different things could happen.  We will sit and read together, work on a history/geography project or science experiment, have fun with art, or the kids just play while I work or clean.  No two days are the same during this time because we have different things going on depending on the day.  And after Sunshine wakes up from her nap, we'll get outside if it's nice or the kids will play together.  If there are any miscellaneous things we didn't get done for school, I'll pull them away from playing for that too.  And then that's pretty much what happens until dinner.  At that point, I'll put the TV on for them so I can cook uninterrupted.  When DH gets home, we eat and he'll spend some time with them playing.  Then we do bedtimes and we'll read together more or I'll read the history lesson in the evening if we didn't get to it (I've even read it while in they're in the bathtub too!).

So I think that about sums up our "typical" days so far.  There are definitely some kinks that need to be worked out and I don't think we've hit our groove yet.  I work better with more of a set schedule and I know the kids do too.  I'd ideally like to start school earlier, but that ultimately falls on me, and the kids are totally content to play together until I call them to start.  We haven't started latin yet and frankly, I'm not sure if I'm going to.  I think we have enough going on as it is, and we're picking up swimming lessons in January too.  I definitely need to nail down the Bible study routine and I'd like to incorporate more memory work games for fun.  I'll also be starting the Life of Fred series with Lovebug for math later this year.  It's been interesting to see how the days have morphed on their own though, and I'm excited to see how that has changed by the end of the school year too!

Ohhhh and PS - this is my 500TH POST!!!  Woohoo!!