This post is part of a Simple Homeschool link-up. I enjoy reading the Simple Homeschool blog, and I love seeing a peek into how other families do it. Our days change not only from year to year, but even term-to-term. Right now we're in the 2nd of 3 terms and enrolled as homeschoolers with a distance learning (DL) school called Heritage Christian and we love it. Here's how we're spending our days this term. I'm doing a weekly overview because many days don't count as 'school days' for us. You'll see what I mean below.
3-D building structure with straws
Mondays are a big homeschooling day this term, because we have nowhere to be and nothing-aside from work- to do. We cram 2 days of school into 2 days a week, which means Monday we need to get through about 3-4 subjects in 4 hours (before lunch) and it's intense.
We do two days worth of math, reading/writing/spelling, a bit of French, and bible for two grades (Ani is in 1st grade, Lukka is in 3rd) and it works this term. The kids are generally pretty tired after such a thorough morning every Monday and after lunch are ready to have downtime in their rooms before calling it a day and having dinner and the evening with dad home. We try to Skype with Stefan's parents this evening each week as well.
man pancakes
Tuesdays, from 9-3, the kids go to Abbotsford and do 'school' in a classroom with other homeschoolers that includes all the outcomes & 4 subjects: art, science, history/socials, and PE. It's also a fairly busy day for students and teachers alike, and my kids really enjoy this day. I drive roughly 90+ minutes there, back, and there and back, and because of the price we've decided to take a year off for next year, but it's been a great experience. This is my 'off' day, where I get the bulk of my own duties done at home, with an hour or two built in for whatever floats my boat. Yes, it's been wonderful and needed!
Ani and Lu make edible Christmas wreaths
Wednesday mornings this term, I've been co-leading a bible study with two other ladies from church and the kids get to bring their LEGOs, sometimes play with another homeschooled friend, hop back and forth to the nursery (where young children are watched) and get a snack or two before choosing to go back to LEGO/toys or stick around and watch a Veggie Tales DVD. I have no energy after the morning and after lunch it's quiet time for my kids. I need the downtime, and they've had all morning to play so they're usually pretty compatible, even though I haven't spent a whole bunch of 'time' with them these days.
Wednesday evenings we have dinner and head to a friend's house in Abbotsford (20 min drive each way) and have a family bible study. The kids love this because there are always really good snacks around, and they get to play Wii, which is a huge luxury for these two wishful gamers!
favorite reading nook
Thursdays are another intense school day, with two days worth of work done before 12. In fact, this day always feels tighter than Mondays (so I do our 'bigger' work days on Monday) simply because we have to be across town ready for the kids' 90 minute ice-skating lessons at 1, which means we need to leave by 12:30, which means they need to have eaten lunch by then! It's a bit crazy, but it only lasts for this term, the lessons and the school intensity. They love ice-skating and have improved dramatically just by taking these two sessions (one this winter, one last). Two weeks in a row, I'll also skate with them the full 90 minutes since I love the exercise and then every third week I take off and just read or listen to podcasts while they're going.
Thursday nights Ani and Lukka used to both have an activity at a local church from 6:40-8:15PM, but Lukka's has ended for the year. Ani loves GEMs and has enjoyed it a lot, even though the friend we signed up with isn't in her class.
Friday mornings around breakfast time we Skype with my mom, then the kids have a relaxing morning before needing to eat lunch and be at gymnastics at 2. I let the kids watch Netflix and library movies this day because frankly, we've all earned it! They've worked hard throughout the week and I'm one tired chauffer and teacher at that point. Not all our terms look like this, in fact, with the end of term 2, GEMs, Gymnastics, Ice-Skating, and Bible study will be done, and we'll go back to our few hours-a-day homeschooling routine, but there's always something fun to look forward to--whether a new class to try out, a field trip or playdate with friends, and of course, mom and dad's stuff on the calendar as well to add to it! It's busy, but we like it, and it's only the winter term that I pack so much with activities. It's often dark, overcast, and rainy here all winter long and we need 1) an excuse to leave the house and 2) a way to move and exercise, and a lot of our weekly activities do that for us!
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