School: A Typical Day
/There really is no typical homeschool day since things change. But this is our “typical” school day.
I am going to spill the beans upfront...
WE ARE NOT MORNING PEOPLE! We are a family of Night Owls, all three of us. Actually, I think I am getting better at this, especially since my husband has to be up and out the door by 5:30 every morning. That will change in a few weeks when the winter hours start back and we will have an extra hour of sleep in the mornings.
In the past, when Jamie was younger and needed more of my teaching, I tried to get our school day started early and out-of-the-way. Now that he is older and works more independently, starting later in the day is not a problem.
Teens need more sleep than others and since Jamie does better when he has his full amount of sleep, I allow him to sleep until 9:30-10ish. This helps me to have all my household duties completed along with any computer work needing completion before the school bell rings. We try to get started by 11:00 but no later than 11:30.
I am not a die-hard fan of scheduling my day; it's so much easier to just go with the flow. Although, I do have some things that I make sure I complete early on because my day just goes smoother.
We begin with Bible study. It's the first "subject" that we work on because our day does not go smoothly if we start with something else. Bible is also something we do not want to speed through, so first it is. I have my study time after my husband leaves in the morning but spending this time with Jamie and seeing what he takes away from the study is wonderful. Jamie and I read a chapter in Proverbs every day and then we have an in-depth study of whatever Bible study we choose together. This year we are starting off with Old Testament Character Study. For our Bible time, we usually spend 30 to 45 minutes.
From here, we work on whatever. We try to work on the subjects that I need to teach like Spelling early on, so then Jamie can focus more on his independent work. This keeps us being spread out across the kitchen table when my husband gets home from work.
Jamie and I enjoy reading aloud together and we spend time reading towards the end of our day. (Wondering what we will be reading this year? Have a look SEE.) Lunch and a couple of break times are included in this time frame; we wrap things up around 4:00. I even try to find 20 minutes for a short snooze, after being up since five.
Bedtime... well I'm working on this. Since I'm up at 5:00 in the mornings, bedtime is usually calling my name around eight each night. I do try to stay up at least until nine but some days it just is not possible. (I told you I was working on not being a night owl.) Jamie usually stays up until his dad heads to bed. Yep, I can sleep while they are both doing whatever they do together at night. I could sleep through a tornado.
Actually, no day is really typical, they can change from day to day. In a few weeks, we will be up and starting our day earlier so we can enjoy the afternoons while there is still some sunshine.
