Our Homeschool Routine: Day in the Life Mom of 9
Video: Our Homeschool Routine | Day in the Life Mom of 9
How Our Routine Has Changed Through the Years
Our homeschool routine has changed a little over the years. As I share what our routine looks like during the school year, remember that this is not what it has always looked like.
In the early years of our homeschool journey, when we had all young children and fewer of them, our daily homeschool schedule looked different. For example, when I had a child in 2nd, Kindergarten, preschool, and an infant, I did a lot more direct teaching and one-on-one work with them. I still do a lot of one-on-one work with our K-3 kids.
When our kids were younger, it was easier to do everything together because the age span was smaller. Having teenagers changes things a little.
Our older kids do their own work independently for the most part. They attend a local high school homeschool co-op one day a week where they are responsible to other teachers for a majority of their credits. This has helped ease the burden on me at home, so it has been a great fit for our family.
Even so, there are a few things at home that the teens still participate in with the whole family, primarily Morning Time and Read Aloud times.
Breakfast and Morning Time
Some of our younger kids are up earlier and have their breakfast at 7:30. Others come downstairs just as the clock strikes 8:30. We have asked everyone to be in the kitchen by 8:30 (dressed, make bed, brush teeth) so we can gather for Morning Time.
Usually, the little kids have already been up with me and we have had our breakfast together. I have probably read some nursery rhymes and the Bible story to them so I can get it in before the older kids come down.
In the past, certain children (ahem, teenagers) have had difficulty getting downstairs by a decent time, so we made a consequence this past year that the latecomer has to take over breakfast clean up for the person whose job it is that day. So far, it has worked beautifully and no one has been late yet!
When 8:30 rolls around and the older kids have arrived, I start Morning Time. During Morning Time, we cover Bible Reading, Memory Work, Language Arts, Current Events, Hymn Study, Nature Study, and more on a looped schedule.
You can read all the Morning Time posts I’ve written here.
Chores
Depending on how long Morning Time goes, we begin morning chores around 9:00 or 9:30. We have a chore chart posted so everyone knows where to go and what is expected.
When we first made this chore chart, learning how to complete the chores well was a big learning curve. I would check the chores and lots of things were missed. It took lots and lots of practice for them to get good.
For a little while, our academic work got pushed back a little later so that we could focus on doing the chores well. They know that I will check and call them out if they try to cut corners, so they have gradually become better and better at doing it well.
We do household chores by zone. I have divided the house up into sections: ie. kitchen, bathrooms, living room, school room, entryway, etc. They rotate daily between these zones. Everyone has learned how to clean each of these areas and what I will be checking for when they finish.
Usually by 9:30 or 10:00, the house is picked up and cleaned so we can get to our school work.
Independent Work
After chore time (9:30-10ish), everyone grabs their homeschool checklists and they get started. To see what curriculum our family uses, read Our Large Family Homeschool Curriculum.
It is so nice to have a clean house when we start our day. Of course, the house doesn’t look picture-perfect, but it’s a clean slate and a great place to begin our day.
My job during this time is three-fold.
- First of all, I help older children who need assistance with their work. Although our kids work independently on their checklists, I am available as a facilitator to help them when they come to a new concept or when they are struggling. Usually, they need the most help with Math. Learning to work on their own has helped them take ownership of their studies.
- I also work one-on-one with our youngest school-age child who is learning to read and write and starting beginning math. This usually takes about 30-45 minutes.
- A third part (often the challenging part!) is caring for our preschooler and baby. Since they have usually been up and spent time alone with me early for breakfast, they often play on the floor or with toys while everyone is working. Sometimes, I will have an older child take a short break between subjects and read to a little one or take them outside for a few minutes. This is some nice free time for the older kid AND fun for the baby or preschooler.
Lunch/Outside Time
Typically, the kids try to get their independent work done by lunchtime. (Roughly 2.5 hours, give or take.) It doesn’t always work out this way. Sometimes the older kids will have work to finish up after lunch, but being done by lunch is the goal.
For lunch, I make something for myself and the younger children. The others like to make their own lunches. Depending on the weather, we might eat outside.
We usually have something simple for lunches: salad, leftover soup, sandwiches, quesadillas. Occasionally, I will make a hot meal. It usually depends on what the grocery situation looks like, ha!
Read Aloud
This is our favorite time of the day. The little ones go down for nap time. During quiet time, everyone gathers in the living room and I read aloud to them. Often even our preschool child will sit in on this. They learn SO much from someone reading aloud to them. Even though kids can read, reading aloud to them has so many benefits.
Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook
“People would stand in line for days and pay hundreds of dollars if there were a pill that could do everything for a child that reading aloud does. It expands their interest in books, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, and attention span. Simply put, it’s a free ‘oral vaccine’ for literacy.”
Check Their Work
After our read aloud time, I take our big kids aside one by one to review their checklists. Sometimes our middle school and high school kids are still finishing up a few things, but usually, the elementary kids are done with their work by lunch. When they finish their checklist and have it checked by me, they get a chocolate treat.
I ask them what they read about today in the Bible, in literature, and in history. If they did not need me for math that day, I asked to see their math. I look at their copywork and writing narrations.
I like to check in with each child individually to see where they are at and what they need help with the most. This is a great time to get into their world and see things from their perspective. It only takes a few precious minutes, but it marks our homeschool day as complete so we can move on to family time, extracurricular activities, and the rest of the day!
Leave a Comment!
What does your homeschool routine look like these days? Tell everyone your best tips that have worked to meet the needs of your family. Leave a comment and share your great ideas with others. We can all learn from each other!
PIn It! Our Homeschool Routine | Day in the Life Mom of 9
This is so helpful. I have just decided to pull my kids out of their Christian school and start homeschooling them. I do love the idea of Ambleside Online. I just don’t know what year of Ambleside to start with, my children will be going into grade 7,5,3,and 1. What would you recommend? Thank-you! From Janette
Hi Janette! Congrats on your decision to homeschool! I hope you have a good year with your kids. Ambleside is an amazing curriculum, but it can be very overwhelming because there is so much there. I have done a blog post and a few YT videos on how we make Ambleside work for our family. I’ll link them below. Here’s a few ideas…
1. Look at AO as a feast and only pick the best book choices, or the ones that most appeal to you. I have a list of my favorite on the blog post. I think most people fall into the trap of wanting to do it all and then later becoming a slave to it or being overwhelmed by it.
2. Group kids together if possible. AO material is very rich, so a 7th grader doing material from Year 5 or even 3 is likely still going to be a challenge.
3. Have a Morning Time where you do some subjects altogether (composer, art, nature, Bible reading, hymn study, etc.) I have a the morning time notebook we will be using which correlates (mostly) with AO’s schedule for this year on the blog if you’d like to take a look. This is one very helpful way that I have made AO work with a wide range of ages.
I hope that gives you some ideas! Here are some links for more details!
YouTube Videos:
https://youtu.be/vkuMbP8OiEc
https://youtu.be/OHJc6vCV4zY
Ambleside
https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/04/20/ambleside-online-homeschool-curriculum-for-a-large-family/
https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2022/10/17/our-large-family-homeschool-curriculum/
Ambleside in Morning Time
https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2023/08/02/simple-morning-time-notebook/
https://ourlifehomeschooling.com/2021/11/21/how-to-simplify-your-homeschool-with-morning-time/
Hi Sheri, thank you for sharing your routine. How long do you spend with read aloud and checking their work? I’m curious when your school day ends. Trying to get an idea of my school day is going for too long or more realistic like other home school moms. Also, when is bedtime for your children and when do you wake up and start your day? Hope you don’t mind sharing. May God bless you and your family!
Hi Danielle,
Right now school ends for us around 2:00. Read aloud takes anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour depending. It’s hard to put numbers on times for me because it has changed so much over the years depending on the season we were in (pregnant, baby, all littles, now more older kids, etc.) Although we typically finish at 2, some of my younger kids aren’t doing school that whole time since their work only takes 1-2 hours.
Our kids 7 and under go to bed at 8:00-8:30. For the older kids, it depends on their age.
Currently, I wake up around 7, but again that has changed so much over the years depending on if I was pregnant, nursing, up with an infant, or my husband’s schedule. My husband has worked random shift work for most of our homeschooling so years so that has affected our routine as well.
I hope that helps answer your question!