Day in the Life (part I) . . . a wordy one

Back when the boys were three or four I wanted so much to be a fly on the wall in a home-educating family. When the boys were two years old I had started reading up on education in general and then about homeschooling in particular . I was sold! I was excited about the possibilities of learning together as a family! I had a great start in what direction we would like to go with our learning.  My main problem was that I felt I needed to see examples of how it would all play out in real life.  I scoured the internet but didn't find much. At last I did stumble upon a few entries in Sarah's blog that gave the run-down on a few sample days. That was something to work with. At some point, I started reading Elizabeth's blog and then went on to read her book. Those were quite helpful. She pointed out that the  varieties of home-educating families are limitless. The variety coming from the obvious fact that each family is so different from the next. Different children, different kinds of parents, different backgrounds, different talents and capacities, etc. Goodness, even in the life of one family each year will be different. Circumstances change as the family grows and changes. The important thing is to look at where your family is at, your particular needs and interests, etc. Then considering all those things go to the Lord in prayer. Ask him to show you HIS vision for your family. Ask HIM to guide you.

The kids and I have our own learning baskets. 

That is what I've done these four years. Each year has been different. This year was the first year I was very much shaking in my books boots at the start of the year. I was feeling uncertain about how this would all pan out. I knew lots of families do it every year but I scared to actually try it myself. Four kids, one baby, one pre-school age, and two third graders. Third grade in my mind is the big jump. From early elementary to being a "big kid." Correct or not, that is how I tend to view things. Third grade for our family is when our kiddos make some big steps towards a more classical education. How the heck was I going to juggle all that and do it joyfully? Again I knew it was possible. People successfully do it every day. I believe in this venture with all my heart. I never even considered the possibility of "giving up." Where there is a will, there is a way! The one thing I've learned in this home educating journey is to educate myself first, research, prepare and plan and then . . . . . JUMP IN.

Before we left for Alaska I was busy planning our Alaska trip and also busy visualizing what our days could possibly look like this academic year. I knew we'd have to step it up and get creative. I prepared about fifteen lists of things to consider for the next year and worked on checking off as many "to do's" as possible. We had a great time in Alaska and when I came back I worked on finishing off the list the very next week. The next week I plugged my nose and JUMPED.

I took this picture on the way back from Alaska. I felt it captured just what I was
feeling. A "And Abraham went out" moment. Time to take the leap!

We survived. Wahoo! Life is't perfect. We could never pretend that. No family ever has it all together, right? But you know, its a darn good start to research, prepare, gather excellent resources, love your kids, and keep flexibility in mind. I am overwhelmed at some point pretty much every day but when I stop to breathe and look around, I am thankful. Life is good. I have a super husband and four awesome kids. We still have the freedom in this country to educate our kids at home. After that, the sky is the limit! We get to choose from this big world and from all of history what we'd like to explore. Isn't it wonderful?! So we are. In our non-perfect but growing way, we are exploring life together and loving almost every minute.

Anyhow . . . . . . all that to say . . . . I wanted to let you be a fly on the wall in our home. I can't possibly share everything but I thought it might be fun/interesting to give you in a glimpse into our day. I'll attempt to share with you our routine that is working for the most part. We have a basic schedule that we shoot for  most every day. The basic schedule has to be shifted and amended on a frequent basis but it still has worked as a starting point.  I'll show you our resources and maybe even why we use them. Perhaps you'll find it interesting or goodness, even helpful in some small way. Anyway, this is our life.

6:30-7:00 Physical Exercise
*That is, IF I get a good nights sleep. Now, I think even this will have to be shifted to a little earlier because just this week Mr. Mace has decided to start getting up earlier.
7:00-7:30 Spiritual Exercise
*Prayer, reading, etc.
7:30-8:00ish Few Household chores, make breakfast, read/quality time with Nutmeg
8:30-9:00  Breakfast together 
*During breakfast we read a Bible story, we might talk about our upcoming day,and we might read from our read aloud book

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After breakfast, we do chores. This year we've finally found a great chore routine for our family. We are doing it this way. We have three meal jobs.

Job 1: clear table and wipe down table
Job 2: clean floor and push in chairs
Job 3: help mom with whatever tasks she assigns

Each child is assigned one of the mealtime jobs for the entire week. Each week we rotate jobs. As they are working on each job, I am either working in the kitchen or showing each child how to do their job. This is also an instructive time.

Jobs 1 and 2

After breakfast we all go to the living room for "Morning Time." Again, I got this idea from Sarah and some other moms in the blogosphere. This is a time set apart first thing for the important things that could easily be pushed aside later in the day. This time sets the tone for the rest of the day. "Morning Time" is primarily memorization time, memorization being a huge piece of a classical education. I have a morning time binder. In in the binder I have written out the schedule of what we will be covering during this time and also the pieces that we are memorizing.

"Morning Time" has turned out to be fantastic for our family. I love it because it a key learning time during the day when Nutmeg is able to participate as much as she would like. I don't push her but she is allowed to jump in with the big kids if she desires.

My time draws to a close . . . I'll show you another time what we do during Morning Time and then continue on with our day.