Another Day In The Life Of A Homeschooler

A week or so ago, I wrote a blog about A Day In The Life of a Homeschooler. This particular blog focused on how our usual Mondays play out. However, being a flexible-focused homeschooler with two children using fairly traditional curriculum and one almost solely unschooled, I thought it would be a good idea to write about a day other than Monday. So, let's go with a typical Tuesday for this one.

Tuesday began with me being the sole person in the household awake. I like it that way. I was born and lived for so many years as a night person. I was a night owl. In college, I even worked the night shift and then the graveyard shift at a local law firm in the IT and Word Processing department. I loved the night. I loved staying up, and I also slept well when given a chance. This all changed when I had kids. The first few years were no issue, because my son was a natural night owl as well. I do think it's a common thing among computer geeks and IT personnel somehow. My daughter came along, and she was just a plain ole good sleeper. And, then my third child came along, and I began writing and working online, and things got a bit chaotic. So, I realized to make my days run smoother, I would have to become a morning person and get as much of my work done before my children woke up.

...So, 41,273 cups of coffee later - I have come to really enjoy my early morning quiet times with just me, God, my computer and a cup of coffee.  Truth be told, it's that cup of coffee that I go to sleep at night dreaming about that keeps me waking up on time to get my morning started. I do situps while I wait for my coffee to heat up, and then I sit and have a moment with God and read the Bible before I get started.

On this given Tuesday, I woke up early and worked on writing and such, and then around 9:00, my oldest daughter joined me and began her schooling. She pretty much does independent study now that she is 8th grade and doing a lot of high school level work. But, there is an occasional moment where she just needs a bit of boost in the instruction department, and I step in.  Here's a glimpse at her curriculum:

Eventually, my youngest daughter joined us in the awake category and began with her math. Her math skills are coming along, but she is currently working at a lower grade level workbook that she mostly follows well on her own.



And then, she reads a chapter in Life of Fred. She just finished another book and is ready for Goldfish whenever I get the funds to order it. When she finishes her math, I join her in hands-on instruction. And lately, I have even been joining her a bit in hands-on instruction for the math as well. Here is a glimpse at her curriculum:




We have put a great deal of these books on hold so we could examine some TOS Reviews that have come our way. Here is a look at what we are currently reviewing with reviews to come:

Finally, my son joins us in the awake category and begins with Pre-Calculus that we have been so blessed to receive as part of a review of the Demme Leanring's Math-U-See Digital Packs. He really enjoys the teaching style, and I am relieved. Review to come soon on this one as well.



He then works on history which consists of him doing research on the question of the day that I derived from a high school curriculum scope and sequence out of a New York City school.

This year, this is the extent of his traditional learning courses. The rest of his work is purely unschooled, and honestly - He really gets a lot out of his independent study time. He is currently working on Mods for a Sonic game, which leads him into several directions of writing to correspond intelligently with other modders on a forum, learning slopes and angles for plotting points of animation, film-making techniques, and computer coding....A LOT OF COMPUTER CODING WITH THIS SON!

He is also working on coding the scouting program for his Robotics team, which meets on Tuesday as well. And, he is cooberating with a friend on developing their own computer game. Hopefully, there will be more to come on this one, but it has so far involved a lot of legal research to learn about copyrights and entrepreneurial studies on setting up your own business. It has involved working together with communications with his partner, and of course the coding and the onscreen designs for the game itself. My job is to take all of his unschooled work and figure out how many hours was spent on each subject and what can legitimately count toward a high school credit in a particular area of study. This is tricky, but I'm working with my child with the emphasis being on his retaining what he learns and actually being productive in a hands-on skill.

All of his work will eventually earn him a diploma, and thanks to an upcoming TOS Review and the folks at Homeschool Diploma, I already have it. ...But, it's not yet signed and official!

When the kids are all done with their work and the need of me as a teacher, I head to the basement to take pictures of about three or four items to list on eBay. I then list them while I walk a mile on the treadmill and complete my other workout routine.

Tuesday night brings us to extensive yo-yo driving for mama. I start at 6:00 with piling the kids into the van to drive my daughter to dance on one side of town, and then I travel to the other end of town to drop off my son at robotics, just in time to return to pick up my daughter who is now done with dance for the night and waiting. We then get Chick-fil-a family night half-off kids' meals (which brought us unexpected geography lessons).

and come home to collapse.

How was your Tuesday at your homeschool?

A Day In The Life Of Our Homeschool

First, let me say that one day in our homeschool will probably not look like the next day in our homeschool. That's one of the main reasons I homeschool in the first place - For FLEXIBILITY! So, I probably need to do an entire week in the life of our homeschool to get a full picture. But, for now, let's just start with a Monday - Today!

Today, my alarm was set for 5:40. If my day is going to go smoothly with homeschooling, I have discovered that this born-to-be-a-night-owl mama has had to readjust her circadian rhythm a bit. If I don't wake up before the household is awake, the whole day is shot.

McDonald's became my work station after dropping off girls

I use this time to write, which is partially what I do for money. I also use this time as quiet time alone with just me, a cup of coffee, and the Bible. It's a nice peaceful time for me. I have come to really enjoy and look forward to this part of the day - That is, when I actually get up as scheduled. Back to the flexibility part - Some days I sleep in, and on those days I usually regret that decision that sounded so good when my head was nestled in that soft pillow.

The girls usually start waking up around 9:00ish. At least, that's when their alarm goes off. My oldest will start the day with a shower and the two have breakfast before diving into their book work. My son is a late-nighter and does not wake up at 9. He is also my unschooler, so his structured lessons are kept to a minimum as he learns best when left to explore his own interests. I've beat myself up over the unschooling idea for years and finally am becoming more comfortable with it when it comes to my son. I do not think it would work as well with my girls, because they like the work book style of learning. My son, however, truly learns best when there is a logical reason behind what he is learning. So, interest-driven education put an end to 4-hour fights about why he had to learn math concepts.  Now, he conducts calculus-level equations without prompting. He also has never ceased to score well on standardized tests. So, it appears the unschooling is a success with him. But, we will let him sleep for now while the girls begin their day.

Pics and Video from productions of Lifelight:

Most days, we stay home, but my Mondays are basically me and yo-yo driving, shuttling children back and forth.

So, it's Monday. This means - It's LIFELIGHT day! Yay! The girls absolutely love Lifelight Youth Theatres. It's not a co-op. I fail miserably at enjoying co-ops. No, this is a youth theatre group for homeschoolers. We pay tuition, and they participate. My youngest has to be there at 11:15 for ballet, but I drop off both girls at that time and my oldest catches up with friends as she waits for group voice lessons to begin. She and her younger sister both take voice. I'm hoping to get private lessons for my oldest next year, but that is a leap of faith in the expense category. When group voice class is done, it's time for drama. This year, Lifelight is putting on the broadway musical Mary Poppins. The girls had to audition for parts and were awarded the parts of a penguin (my youngest... That's what she really wanted to be) and as a Starlighter (it's a part only in the Broadway version, not in the Disney movie verson) and a Supercal Letter Teen (also a part only in the Broadway version). This theatre production company is so professional. The plays are like attending a professional performance. They are amazing but not without a lot of time and effort spent on Mondays.

I return home to my son who is in the process of finishing up coding the scouting program for his robotics team competition. They are in what is known as build season for the spring competition, and that means they meet every week night and all day Saturdays. Tuesday wraps up this year's build season, so tonight he goes to robotics from 6:30 to 9:30. He has been going on this full schedule since the beginning of January, and his competition is in early March. He is also working on what is called Mods. He has created his own Mods for a Sonic game and has spent time on the forums walking others through how to generate them. Another project he is working on with another homeschooling friend is a game they hope to release, and he is also cooberating on a GitHub project he began that is an effort to help younger children how to code.

I drop him off, and now I am home for the night. My husband will pick up my son to bring him home since my hubby teaches guitar lessons basically just around the corner from my son's robotics.

My day began with me finally getting out of bed after 6:30ish and has come to a homeschooling close with my dropping off my son at robotics at 6:30 p.m. A 12-hour day with concentrated homeschooling hours of about just slightly more than 8 hours total. The rest of that time is spent waking, eating, writing, and driving.