Friday, July 31, 2009

A day in our homeschool...

One thing I love to read on other homeschooling blogs is what a day looks like in their homeschooling world.

So I thought I would have a go...

5:30am Dd (4) hops into bed next to me and wakes me up by singing and talking.

6:00am Dd & I get up together and first thing now is to give our puppy Zac a BIG cuddle. We then make porridge which we have been having everyday this week with honey and bottled pears from Dave's parents orchard. This week I have done well by emptying the dishwasher first thing ready to put breakfast dishes in.

Between 6 and 7am I usually find quite time to read and maybe watch the headline news. Ds(8) tends to fall out of bed in this time, he gets dressed and then most mornings cooks himself poached eggs (from his chickens).

7am-8am Time to make a latte, the computer goes on and I begin checking and answering enquiries for our B&B http://www.thewaveoasis.com.au/ , read some blogs, check personal emails and spend a few minutes on face book, longer if I am chatting to family and friends.

8am-9am Both Dd and Ds sometimes watch 'Friends and Heroes and God Rocks' on Smile of a child, the Ds goes and lets the chickens out and usually stays outside until I call him for school.
I Put washing on, clean up breakfast mess and prepare the table for this mornings school lessons. I print off any work I need. Oh yeah, this is when Dh usually falls out of bed and we get some time together to chat about the day ahead.

9am-10am We start lessons! First thing the children have blank paper and their lyra pencils and begin drawing whatever they imagine.
First memory verse, which both children LOVE, then we discuss what the memory verse means and how we can apply the words to our lives. Devotions next - we have started Annie's book of Etiquette and good manners, so far so good and the children are enjoying it.

This term Ds has started MEP maths and truly this program is much, much better than what I even imagined and Joshua is really enjoying it (well so far anyhow). Dd loves maths and does any book or pages I print for her.

10-11am We have a 10-15 min break after maths where both children go outside, have a drink and something to eat, I make another coffee and prepare for our next lesson.

After break we start off with Poetry memorization and learn 'ooey, gooey'...the kids love it! We then start Language arts, both Ds & Dd work on their phonics page in Read, Write & Spell and most days we do art & craft afterwards.

11am Read Aloud and narration, today it was ~ The Adventures of Robin Hood (only 3Ch to go)
Ds has a five min stretch before we start Fitzroy spelling. Ds then does a page in his Cursive book while Dd is playing on the floor or coloring in.

12pm Around this time we have lunch, which today was left over vegetable lasagna (which was a break from for me for I normally have fruit and greek yoghurt) from tea the night before...YUMMY!

After lunch the children are outside making up games with sticks and stones and giving the chicken a walk and a scratch. After tidying up lunch dishes, today the children had a cooking lesson, and requested by Ds was shortbread. Ds, under my instruction made the dough and both Ds and Dd roll out the dough and have a lot of fun using the cutters to form biscuits.

During the time of making the shortbread we were listening to Johann Sebastian Bach.

After cooking Ds has violin practise just for 5 min and leaves me once again shocked in how well he can play.

2pm-4pm The children play and I check emails again and do an aerobics workout for 55 min.

4pm-5:30pm Prepare and make tea, the children have their bath/shower and Dd goes to bed between 6 and 6:30pm and we read her choice of book. Ds follows usually around 7pm!

Time for Dh and I to talk together about what he has been busy building up stairs and any other things.

This was just one day this week in our lives, as you would know everyday is different and I make sure I am flexible for any changes that may occur.

From Spring through to April when the B&B is very busy, I usually clean in the mornings with Dh and the school lessons start anytime between 11am - 1pm.

13 comments:

  1. Wow - that's great Sarah. It gives us readers such a good insight into your school classes. Sounds fabulous too I might add. You're doing a great job!
    Thanks for sharing...

    PS. Give Dd & Ds a big kiss from their Dc's! LOL

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  2. Thanks Jen for your encouragment! Would love you write a day in your life...:-)

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  3. Sarah, I followed you from a comment you left on my blog:) wow, you sound so organised, I am encouraged reading your post, thanks for that!
    Might I also add that your b&b looks amazing!

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  4. Sarah, One of my new goals is for my husband and I to visit your B and B! It looks absolutely amazing.
    Thanks for sharing your day. I will have to attempt something similar myself, although this week has been so chaotic that it is one I would rather not share openly.........incase the education inspector is reading!! LOL

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  5. Joyfulmum ~ thanks for dropping by and I am glad you are encouraged. It has taken me a few years to get organised..lol, but with some great mentors and woman who have gone before me I am now on my own two feet...Praise God. x

    A modern day Essene ~ Some days are are chaotic arn't they, but I guess that is part of the journey. If you do book in, please mention who you are and we will look after you! Thanks for encouragment! x

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  6. It's great to read of your day, Sarah! Your little ones get to bed nice and early. Make the most of that while they are young.

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  7. Thank you Ruby! Yes, it is nice to get a couple of hours to relax.

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  8. I really want to reply in detail - will do this soon...but I noticed that you've decided to give MEP a try! Good, eh?

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  9. Hey Jeanne...thanks to you I have now started MEP, we just had our first week and both Joshua & I like it so far. Guess what I have been doing this morning? Printing off the scheme of work and later I am going to watch the interesting video of how they do maths in Hungary. A lot of otday will be spent printing, I think Grace is ready to start aswel! I started Joshua at year 2 just to revise what he already knows and if it is too easy I can skip pages which is great! Sorry for the long post, just got excited!

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  10. Sarah,
    Just stopped by from Ruby's blog... nice to meet you!
    I have wanted to try to get into an earlier routine, but I seem to lack discipline to rise early! (Though I would certainly love some alone time with my husband before he goes to bed.) I plan to browse through your blog as I have time...
    Thanks for sharing your routine with us! It is great to get insight from other homeschoolers!
    Bethany

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  11. Hey Bethany...thanks for dropping by! I appreciate your comment!

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  12. I've loved reading this post. Your day sounds really peaceful - which is always one of my aims. There is heaps in your day that I hope you'll post more on separately (like what Smile of a Child is, for eg.)

    I always like scheduling posts like these too!

    Sorry I can't write more this busy week - maybe next??

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  13. Sounds lovely - relaxed yet productive - not sure I could cope with the 5.30am start though :o)

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