We’ve officially finished our first quarter! 10 weeks of homeschooling under our belts: Yay! How’s it been going? Better than I expected!
It’s not easy homeschooling one kid while three 3 year olds are using the teacher and the student as a jungle gym. Some days there are a lot of interruptions; some days we’re able to get through our school work quickly and some days it seems to drag on f.o.r.e.v.e.r. Through it all Peter is fantastic, we manage to get school done during his morning nap time.
I know I never shared about what curriculum we ended up going with for anything or why, I promise that post will be coming, eventually. Right now I just want to give a glimpse into our day. I promise you, we are not perfect or structured or anything else, we’re very fluid in our schedule. That is supposed to be one of the perks of homeschooling, that you don’t have to do things a certain way!
Our Schedule – Monday – Thursday {we take off Fridays}
- Wake up: 5:45-7:30am — We’re usually all awake and downstairs by 8 at the latest.
- Breakfast: 8-8:30 — Some times it’s closer to 8, others to 9.
- School: 9-11:30 — We’re usually sitting down at the kitchen table at some point during this time.
- Lunch: 11:30-12 — I try to start cooking lunch around 11 or so.
- Fantasy time: 12:00-3:00pm — When I hope that the triplets will take a nap so that I can stop for 5 minutes and eat {it’s not happening as much as it used to}.
- Dinner prep: 5:00 pm
- Dinner served: 6:00pm
- Showers: 6:30pm
- Bed: 7:00pm
- Lights out: 7:30pm
That’s our schedule! Of course, school doesn’t happen ONLY during that time. We do our reading and other things throughout the day and the week. We have a playgroup that we go to once a week and the house does need to get cleaned on occasion and the other kids need some attention too. So far, our schedule is really working for us!
I love that we’re not having to run back and forth to the school {we live too close for the bus}! I love that we’re all home together! I love that there is flexibility for us to do the things we want besides structured class time! I love that if something isn’t working for us we can change it, that if there is something we want to go on a tangent about we can!
Of course it’s not without its struggles. Avelyn is not an exemplary student…she’s like most kids and doesn’t want to sit still and do what you want them to do. She’s not at all like me {I wrote research papers for fun on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’s names, when I was 8}, but we’re figuring out how she learns and what she likes best. She loves science and math! She loves when I read to her.
She does not like doing anything that requires her to learn something new {whether it’s math or reading}. She’ll trudge through the math, but reading is becoming a thorn in my side! She knows all the letters and sounds, she knows HOW to read, but she refuses to take the time to sound out words and DO IT! She’d rather guess and get frustrated, in hopes that I’ll quit.
I don’t regret homeschooling this year for even a second. There are certainly times when I’ve thought “What were we thinking?!”, but there’s no regrets. People ask {and assume} that we’re going to continue homeschooling, and that each of our kids will be homeschooled. I honestly can’t answer that question.
For this year, it was absolutely the best and right thing for us to do. It has given us time to bond with our newest addition. It has given us time to be together as a family without a ton of demands on mine or Avelyn’s time. It’s something that Avelyn and I have enjoyed doing together. For us, this year, it works…and honestly, that’s all I can ask for!
