Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Day in the Life of our Homeschooling

Not Back to School Blog Hop

Long time readers of my blog will know that I have struggled with finding a routine for the past four years. I am beginning to realize that routine is probably lost forever. I do not imagine that I can sit down and write out one schedule and tell you that that is the way each day goes. Routine is difficult first of all because my husband works shift work. Monday he was at work during our school day. Tuesday he got off shortly before we finished and today he didn't have to work until 5 p.m. But here is a glimpse of our first few days:


On Monday we began with PE - a brisk walk around the neighborhood. Then we had our back to homeschool breakfast. After that, Holly did some typing practice while I took a shower. Next we dove into the academics; History, Science and Language Arts. We are still waiting on our math program to arrive - one more obstacle in my quest for routine.

Tuesday was basically the same minus the back to school breakfast. (I cook breakfast approximately two or three times a year, give or take.) Holly was working on her independent work when we had to dive under the table and pray for our own safety during the earthquake. More on that here.

Today John was off and he was a sweetheart and made us some French toast. He accompanied us on our walk and then we came home and enjoyed that treat. While we were eating he asked if we wanted to go out to lunch. Who turns down going out to lunch? Besides, he missed our back to homeschool breakfast so I thought a back to homeschool lunch with Dad was a good idea. Maybe it should be a new tradition too! So we did History and Science and then got ready to go out. (Still no math program) We also went shopping for some emergency supplies should Irene decide to pay us a visit. Not to mention I'm still a bit rattled over the quake from yesterday. (Why don't we name earthquakes?) We returned home and skipped Language Arts. Holly did her independent work and that was the end of day three.

John begins midnights this week so he will be in bed during our school hours. I'm assuming that Thursday and Friday will go much like the other three days. Next Monday we will add homeschool band to our schedule and in mid September Holly will take art and a literature and composition class at a local co-op. I suppose if I could sum up a day in our life in one sentence (and probably a run-on) it would be, "Trying to homeschool on most weekdays yet adding some flexibility to our schedule to mesh with John's along with some surprises that life throws in."

4 comments:

  1. I remember when my Step-dad worked nights, I had to be soooo quiet when I got home from school. I think if my hubby worked nights, we'd have to be away from the house all day, my kids are loud!

    Life usually gets in the way of schedules and that's why homeschooling works!

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  2. Karen, I think your last sentence is the perfect formula for home schooling. :) Many blessings!

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  3. Golly! Homeschool life is rarely easy to schedule, but shift work would make it so much harder! But it sounds like you have a great attitude about it -- and really, we should all allow for flexibility because that's just LIFE!

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  4. Oh yes, I was going to comment on your last post too about John's longggg hours of such a stressful job -- it gives me an even greater appreciation of those who serve to protect us and for their families making the sacrifice. Shifts would be hard too - something I could never do -- well, we do it all the time as mama's, but doing it for family is different I think. Glad your school week went well, minus the earthquake & approaching hurricane. lol Maybe you should consider moving to the Midwest.

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