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RedditOne of the first things someone who’s considering homeschooling their child thinks about is, what does a day in the life of homeschoolers look like? The answer is it looks different for each homeschooling family. It can even be different from day to day like it is in my house.
Today I’m going to share with you what our average day looks like for homeschooling. Unlike with regular school, our schooling hours are not first thing in the morning through the early afternoon. Our schooling happens all the time instead of just through a set time. We use as many opportunities that we can to incorporate schooling into our day.
Before we talk about what our average day looks like, let me explain what our homeschooling method is.
Our Homeschooling Method
When researching all the different homeschooling methods I decided that I wanted to try to follow what other kids in the 1st grade would be learning. However, I also wanted learning to be fun, hands on, and more natural than the curriculum that the state sets.
So I purchased an activity driven, earth based, secular curriculum and I use that as my guideline for what my son should be learning. If you are looking for a similar curriculum I highly recommend Oak Meadows curriculum.
What I like most about Oak Meadows is while I can do sole homeschooling now as my son gets older I can transition him into their online program if it would suit him better.
As a supplement I include free worksheets I find online, videos on YouTube that I pre-screen, and local activities with parks, museums, and entertainment.
I also try to watch and incorporate things that spark a natural interest in learning. So when my son wants to learn everything he can about ducks, I find videos, counting exercises, games, worksheets, and science facts that include ducks.
Our homeschooling method is Gently Guided Unschooling. I follow the curriculum to keep him on track with his peers while also encouraging him to explore more on his own or with help.
Day In The Life Of Homeschoolers
Now that you know our homeschooling methods I’m going to give you a look into what it actually looks like in practice. Before we dive into the daily activities, I wanted to let you know what I do before each week starts.
On Sundays
Before we are getting into the week I typically spend some time on Sunday evenings to go over the curriculum for the week. This is when I find worksheets that my kid can practice with, pre-screen YouTube videos, and pick out the books we will be reading through the week.
I use a private Discord server to help store all the material I will use through the week. I have different subjects as channels and I put videos and corresponding worksheets in these channels so I can easily find them and bring them up on any device in my home.
Once I have everything planned out I know I’m ready to start the week strong on Monday.
Morning
In our house we wake up around 9am. Both my husband and I work from home so our schedules are our own. My son and I will have breakfast while he reads a book aloud and I plan out what I’m going to be working on that day.
After breakfast I will set 5-8 videos to play on our TV and I will be present for questions and answers after each one.
We are heavily focused on Phonics in 1st grade because my son has communication issues from speech delay. So we are typically watching 2 or 3 phonics videos.
The next video is typically a book we don’t own being read aloud. If he shows a lot of interest in the book I add that book to a purchase list to buy later for our nightly and morning reading. Reading daily has helped greatly to improve his communication skills.
After that we use a counting video to help him learn to count. He likes these videos because he can count along with the video. I like these videos because it’s pretty hands off while I start getting prepared for my work day.
From here it’s informational videos on topics he should be learning according to our curriculum. Kids safety, History, Social Sciences, Health, and Science videos. For instance so far this year we’ve done the changing season, the months, days of the week, moon phases, brief Pennsylvania History overviews, and first aid videos.
Most of the videos are not super in depth and they give a great overview of what he should be learning. If he takes a full interest in any of the subjects I will add on books, worksheets, and additional videos as needed.
Mid Morning To After Lunch
Then from about 11am – 1pm my son gets play time. He will play video games with us, educational online games solo, or play with his toys. This is typically when I get some of my work done.
After Lunch at 1, we have practice time. We spend about an hour to an hour and a half practicing our language, reading, and counting.
With my son’s ADHD I found it’s best to move around on subjects in order to keep his brain engaged. I will tell my son to quickly pick out 5 books. Then he has to count the 5 books. Then we read the books aloud.
After reading and language we then play counting and ordering games with different objects I have in our craft boxes. For example, I have my son count out 20 red pom poms or 50 popsicle sticks. I wrote numbers on popsicle sticks and I handed them to him unorganized and had him put them in order.
Afternoon
At 2 or 2:30 we have art time. I like to have him color things we are learning about in social studies or science. During our seasons lessons, I drew out (or found coloring pages) with different objects associated with each season. He colors them and labels them.
Since my son absolutely loves creating and drawing I try to use art as a way to learn about subjects that are not art related. This helps him to learn in a way that’s fun for him.
After that we may do some exercise, stretching, dancing, and listening to music. He might play on the piano on his tablet too. We like to use this time to get out any extra energy so that after dinner it’s a quiet evening.
Evening
Now we don’t do much school work in the evening but I do take this time to continue to learn. He helps me make dinner and counts out or measures out the ingredients needed. We sometimes spend time reading or watching a documentary after dinner.
Around 8 or 9 pm we start our bedtime routine of a bath, quiet reading time, listening to instrumental music, or just getting in some cuddle time.
Does Homeschooling Really Take All Day?
No, the bulk of my activity in my son’s homeschooling is done on Sundays, when I get everything ready, and after Lunch when we are focused on the lessons at hand and doing crafting work.
Most of the other activities are me setting him up with what he needs in hand or what he’s going to be watching on the TV. I simply keep an ear open on what he’s doing while I’m getting my work done for the day.
My son is actually a pretty independent learner, he likes to figure things out as he goes. I like to use this by introducing new things to him and letting him decide what he’s going to take an interest in. From there I just supplement as much information as I can until he’s ready to move on to the next subject.
Most homeschooling parents will tell you that they spend very little time on actual school work and more time doing hands on or independent learning with their kids. It allows kids to grow a love for learning that will follow them through their lives.
Daily Homeschool Life
What your daily life will look like is a lot different from what my daily life looks like. While this is pretty typical there are days where we just don’t do any type of “schooling” at all and just have fun with the day. We have days where schooling is a struggle so we set our focus on just learning through play.
We also have days where we cancel school for a field trip instead. Hitting up a hiking trail, going to the zoo, going to a museum, gardening, and other activities help to break up the average day.
Ultimately your homeschooling day is whatever you want it to look like and doesn’t have to look exactly like mine or anyone else’s. Just keep in mind, homeschooling should be fun and if you and your child are struggling it might be time to switch things up into something else.
If you’re already homeschooling what does your homeschool day look like? Let me know in the comments below. Follow us on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite homeschooling boards.
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