School is in full swing and we are enjoying fall so much. Lots of outdoor time and enjoying leaves falling and crisp air. I thought I’d chronicle a day in our life to share with you all. There is never a dull moment when homeschooling 4 boys ages 12, 9, 5, and 3. It’s been a while since I’ve shared our day, to read my first post about this check out my first A Day In The Life post. If you’ve read around here you’ll know we use Classical Conversations as the core of our homeschool. We also use Teaching Textbooks, All About Reading and Abeka. Here is what our day looks like:
6:15
Alarm goes off, I wake up thankful Mr4 slept through the night. I get my workout clothes on and grab my socks and head downstairs. I get my Bible and journal. I always try to drink some good glugs of water when I first wake up. I sit at the kitchen table and enjoy the quiet and read my quick lesson and pray.
6:24
I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet, “Hi Mom, do I get my juice box?” “Yes you do buddy, you slept in your bed all night long, good job!” We snuggle at the table while I finish up my reading then we go sit on the couch and relax a bit together.
6:45
I cue up my workout on Body Fit By Amy. I love her workouts so much. They offer lots of options to modify and increase fitness and in the 4 week plan I have every workout is 20-35 minutes. Some use dumbbells some are Pilates style and some are cardio but every workout gives me a good heart rate rise and sweat. I feel stronger and though it’s not my only goal, enjoy that my pants fit a bit better. I usually have an audience or cheering section on the couch as I huff and puff.
7:10
one more boy is awake now and I start breakfast. Thursday is eggs and toast on our themed meal plan. I use bread from the bread machine and either fry or scramble eggs. This morning Mr3 wanted one of each style egg.
8:00
I wake anyone not up by now, usually it’s just Mr1 still sleeping. I actually aim for 7:30 but since we had church the night prior, everyone gets to bed later so I went with it today. I have his breakfast prepped for him so he just pops his toast in and cooks his eggs while I keep going with my morning.
8:10
I head up to shower and great dressed. I take the little boys up and make sure they get dressed and teeth brushed.
8:45
We are all set to start our schoolwork and gather at the table. Mr2 had already started his math but when he finished we do our Bible reading and devotional. Pray and say the pledge and then do CC review. Today, CC review included jumping jacks and windmills. While we do this Mr1 works on his Cartography thought he joined in on the fitness for a few minutes. Right now he’s working on and labeling Central America.
9:20
Mr3 and I focus on his calendar book and his math workbook. Check out Mr Darling Chickadee Co on Etsy for these great printouts. I love supporting other moms and their businesses! Mr1 and Mr2 continue working on any independent work. Currently Latin and Essentials charts.
9:45
I have a hankering for something and then get excited that it’s almost 10 which is when I have my coffee. I prefer my coffee with half and half and I use intermittent fasting so that’s when my “eating window” is open. When Mr3 is done with his Kindergarten material he and Mr4 have tv time where they watch some sort of educational show. They love Leap Frog shows and I love how they help reinforce numbers and letters. The boys also ask for a snack so they pull out some pistachios and pretzels.
10:30
My Dad arrives to hang out and visit so we take our break and go for a little walk. He comes to hang out about once a week lately which is really nice. We check out the garden and find that the deer have been feasting on the little bit of crop we have left. We shook out some repellent so hopefully we will still grow some broccoli and kale. This fencing was full all the way to the soil with leaves and beans. Those deer had a very good meal!
10:50
My Dad keeps the little boys outside and I go in for a bit of specific one on one time with the big boys. Mr1 is in a challenging Latin lesson so we try to break it down together. I am not a Latin student at all but he is really getting it well overall so he just needed some encouragement. Mr2 and I write his Essentials paper on the Boston Massacre. He is having a lot of fun with the adverbs and who which clauses.
11:30
Mr2 is all done so he starts lunch. Today it was frozen chicken nuggets and steamed broccoli. We usually eat between 11:30 and 12.I had leftover chicken curry and broccoli.
12:30
We are all cleaned up and the big boys practice piano.
1:00
I had a couple of errands to run and since my Dad was here I took two boys with me and he hung out with the other two.
3:00
One of my errands was to get elderberries so I got them started in my Instant pot. While those cooked we all sat down for a few minutes.
3:30
My Dad heads home and we all see him out. Mr1 mows the lawn and we all get outside to enjoy a beautiful afternoon. My kids are not always eager to get outside and today was a day I had to really push them out the door. Mr2,Mr3 and Mr4 played an imagination game and on the swing set while I puttered around picking up sticks from a recent wind storm and showing Mr1 where he missed with the lawn mower. I moved a Lady’s mantle to my front flower bed and pulled a few other past flowers out of the gardens
4:00
I pop in to put some black beans in my Instant Pot to cook for dinner. and then head back outside for a bit.
5:15
Dinner is ready. My rice didnt bake as quickly as I thought so we went improv with the beans and had them topped with cheese, sour cream and salsa and had them in tortillas, chips of lettuce.
5:45
Clean up time! The boys cleared everything and loaded the dishwasher while Mister and I sat at the table and chatted about the day.
6:00
I finish the dishes, put away stray items on the counters and sweep while the boys watch a show. Mister has work to do so he heads back down to the basement.
6:40
I get Mr4 to bed. he was very excited to have new pajamas I picked up at the consignment store this afternoon.
7:10
Mr2 and Mr3’s turn to head to bed. They don’t actually fall asleep this early but I get them up so they can wind down and read and hopefully doze off sooner than later.
7:40
The middles are in bed so I go and get my pjs on, wash my face and brush my teeth.
7:50
I sit down and fold a load of laundry and chat with Mr1 while he enjoys a show. He opts to head up earlier than usual to read.
8:15
That’s it! I called and chatted with my mom for a bit, watched a couple of YouTube videos about gardening and checked out on the day.
9:30
I’ll head up to bed now to read and hopefully get to sleep by 10.
There’s my day! This is just a small sample as most of my days never look the same twice. My hope is to give you some ideas on how to either make your school day more streamlined or how to use tools like your Instant Pot to help you make a home cooked meal but also be outside and play with your kiddos. Thank you for reading!
