It was Andrea’s great suggestion that we compare our days side by side. Like she said, many people want to know what a “typical day” looks like. Like Andrea’s family, we would also consider ourselves “relaxed”. However, our state mandates that starting in first grade kids spend 6 hours per day in school for 180 days. They ask that you complete 80% of your IHIP (which is basically a big long list of what you‘re going to teach for the year). Anything that we do to deviate, warrants at the very least an explanation on my quarterlies, if not an entirely re-written IHIP. Case in point: when my daughter couldn’t get into pottery because the class was full, I had to re-write the fine arts and physical education section of her IHIP explaining that she would be taking tap dance instead of pottery. Suffice it to say that with regulations like that, “relaxed” takes on a whole new meaning.
However, my children are also very young and our family has a high need for flexibility. My 18 month old twins do not give two hoots about IHIPS, quarterlies, or Ancient Egypt. To balance it all out, we school year round. This way, we only have to get in 2-3 hours a day, can generally take off a day here or there to accommodate our family’s needs, and my kids can enjoy school instead of passing from subject to subject to “fit it all in.”
Our “typical day” looks something like this:
7am
Every body is up bright and early except for my son Alex. My oldest daughter, who is 7, has the responsibility of helping dad get breakfast on the table while mom works on getting ready for the day. (Getting breakfast by the way, goes under “practical life skills” on our IHIP!)
8am
We are well under way by now. My oldest is studying or reading, the twins are entertaining each other (a great benefit of having two at a time by the way) and my three year old is either playing or exploring with the math manipulative. The choice is entirely hers–I do not require her to do any formal type of schooling. However, she does have a workbook not because I wanted her to do it. . .but because she wants to be like her older brother and sister!
9am
It is likely that around this time my son saunters out of bed and starts looking for breakfast. He always gets up late, because he always goes to bed late. There is a good reason for this, but you can read more about that later. At this point, my oldest also takes a break and gets her brother breakfast (or helps him as needed). While the older two are busy, I generally take a few moments to read a couple stories to my little ones. We have a giant bean bag in the living room specifically for this purpose.
10am
We are now in full swing. Both of my older two children are working to finish their assignments. I only require my son to do math and reading every day. We are currently reading out loud the complete tales of Uncle Remus (remember B’rer Rabbit?) but his books of choice are almost always non-fiction.
11am
11am in our house is a pivotal time as we all engage in the all encompassing task of getting the twins down for a nap. The kids know that how quickly we get them to sleep is directly correlated with how quickly they will get lunch. I have yet to figure out a good way to be in the kitchen cooking with twins afoot. My oldest helps with the other twin while my son starts to get ready for lunch.
12pm
Hopefully both twins are sleeping peacefully and the rest of us are enjoying lunch. It is my son’s job to get lunch ready and serve everyone, clean up afterwards, etc. (just as it is my oldest daughter’s job to do so for breakfast.) It is important to me if possible, to sit down and talk with my kids during this time.
I rely heavily on our discussions as teaching tools. It’s not only about answering questions that they have, but about thinking through what they’ve learned and then applying the information elsewhere. It is during this time that I find that when I thought they were not listening, they were in fact listening intently. This is the time also for wild tangents that seemingly have nothing to do with homeschooling. However, one thing that I see as a benefit of homeschooling is the relationships that we have as a family as a result of learning together.
I wish I could say my day ends here. . .but to the contrary we still have quite a ways to go. . .
Related Articles:
So What Exactly is Relaxed Homeschooling?
A Day in the Life of a Relaxed Homeschooler Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3