Moms of Many and Homeschooling Moms - What does your day look like?

[wendypsaves]

Just curious - how do you do it? What does a typical day look like when you're home with lots of kids? What does a typical homeschooling day look like?

I know there's lots of great info out there. I only have two - both under three. I'm not sure if we'll homeschool, but we might. I'd love to hear anything y'all want to share!

TIA!

Wendy

[Timedess]

You *really* don't want me to answer that question. Let someone else do it. <g>

[clarkestep]

It can really vary from family to family since there are so many 'styles'. Some do unschooling which is child lead (like whatever the child is interested in that's what you study), some do Charlotte Mason style which is using living books (like you'd get at the library), some do public school style using text books/workbooks, and some just do a hodge podge of stuff. Some do it at home and some do it on the go. We counted going to a water park on HS day as a day of school: water safety/health, math-how long could they stay under water- citizenship, and pe. We also went to Gatlinburg, TN and counted it as school. We did all kinds of awesome learning things:aquarium, saw bears (had health class by not getting out of the car to pet), went to the old homesteads, and played in the rivers, did nature hikes. Homeschooling is great because it can be whatever you'd like it to be. It doesn't have to be 'book learning'. We also went to a farm and the boys got to see chickens. They also got to crack open fertilized eggs and saw baby chicks at all stages of development. They also learned that it can take a chicken 20 days to lay all her eggs, yet they will all hatch within hours of each other. How cool is that?

I have 2 boys and have been homeschooling them for the past year and a half. They are in the 5th grade. We usually use a hodge podge of workbooks and textbooks from different publishers for English, Spelling, History (though it is written more like a storybook). We use a math curriculum that is mastery so they spend a year each on addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, and then fractions. It is different than most texts in that it focus' on one concept at a time until it is totally mastered rather than using a spiral approach where many concepts are introduced and then come back to later on to build upon. By the end of 6th or 7th grade the child is totally ready for pre-algebra and the higher maths. For science we use Noeo Science which uses a Charlotte Mason/Classical approach. Basically they are living books. We read certain pages and write a summary of things we learned that day and then draw a picture of it. We also do science experiments that come along with it. Really parent friendly and no tests! For reading we use a curriculum that has a text and a workbook that goes along with it. It is very traditional through the Mennonites.

It is great that you are looking into it now while your children are still young. The early years are really easy from what I've heard. And learning is easy to incorporate into everything and the child doesn't even know it. I wish I was able to do it back then. My boys now think of school as a chore and fight it. They seem so rigid about learning in general now. I'm trying to break them out of the public school mentality. Not that PS is bad, we pulled them out for other reasons, but they just don't understand that school can be 'different.' Or that if we don't do school in the morning, we can always do it in the evening, or even on a Saturday if I choose. Anyway, I find that my boys view school differently than other boys their age who have homeshcooled all their life. Oh well...

If you'd like some great information there is an active HS forum over at crosswalk.com. It is a Christian site. There are tons of secular sites out there too, but that is the one I frequent a lot (though seldom post). There is another one that I go to at homeschool.com. It is much smallar and isn't monitored very well at the moment. I think the moderator has been really ill and is now in a hospice. So we get a ton of spam.

Anyway, good luck! And don't worry. You can do it! And whatever you don't know, there are ways to find out, so you don't have to know everything! Even PS teachers aren't experts in every subject and bounce things off each other.

Oh, what state are you in? Each has different laws. If you go to HSDLA.com you can look up the laws and requirements of your actual state.

Jennifer

[clarkestep]

You *really* don't want me to answer that question. Let someone else do it. <g>

yeah, she homeschools a lot of kids. I bet she can tell you a ton! Hee hee hee!

jennifer

[Timedess]

yeah, she homeschools a lot of kids. I bet she can tell you a ton! Hee hee hee!

jennifer

:nah1:

[clarkestep]

:nah1:

[Timedess]

:scared1:

[kdownie]

I was homeschooled from 2nd grade through HS graduation. A "typical" day was school from 8:30 or so until lunch or a little after. Of course, that depended on the individual too. I was a fast worker, so I would always finish ahead of my siblings.
Like others have said, non-typical days count too.
My grandparents started a family business, so once a week, from the time we were 7 years old, we would go to work with my dad in the morning. That counted for school.
Also, we spent a month in Brazil one year, and my mom counted those days as school too.
This was all at least 10 years ago too, since I graduated in '97. Things have changed even since then.

I am looking forward to reading the posts in here, since my DH and I plan to homeschool our DD when she gets a little older.

[6months]

We have just started homeschooling so we're still figurning out what works for us.
We do much like clarkestep said, go on a lot of trips, we play a lot of games, scrabble is big with my oldest (11, math, spelling, using reference materials and vocab) and yahtzee is big with my youngest (4, big math lessons). We are all night owls so we do night school. Now, I don't have to fight and argue and rush in the mornings because we all sleep in.

There are some things that we constantly study, like Cheese. Every week, we buy a new kind of cheese rarity and share it out amongst the family. We study how it's made, where it originated from, etc.
I just painted over the kitchen cabinet doors with chalkboard paint so that whenever we go "I want to learn about ... (whatever)" we can write it in and have it there to remind us.
My youngest is having a hard time writing, so I haven't pushed him. Instead, he will sit for an hour with broken up long spaghetti and make the letters of the alphabet with them.

One of the biggest things for me has been gaining the understanding that now we approach everything from a learning state of mind.

[scoopdecoop]

I am not homeschooling but I keep going back and forward on it.

Our typical day - the 2 middle schoolers are out by 7.30, stay at school for extra help (mostly so they can do their homework quitely) then they have school sports, so are home between 5-7pm.

2 elementary girls are out at 8.45 home by 3.30. They have homework, including assignments & reading logs, chores, laundry and clean their rooms.

2 little ones - one started prek he's gone between 8.45 - 12pm. The 2 yr old is home w. me. In the mornings after I get everyone off - I eat breakfast, have my coffee & HCW time, spend about 1 hr cleaning & getting laundry on, get myself together, do something fun w. my 2 yr old & battle one of the many chores or messes that are piling up - we're renovating.

Midday we go outside for a bit when the bus comes, come for lunch. More laundry & cleaning up. We have a bit of free time till the girls are home, I'll play w. the kids or more often catch up on laundry (still in the middle of switching seasonal clothing) then the girls come home, I help them w. their laundry & homework then clean the kitchen again and start dinner w. many interruptions. Clean up the house again after dinner, do more laundry, do school papers, mail etc if I didn't get it done earlier. Dh is gone most evenings so I will usually work on the shopping list, menu, coupons etc, help w. homework & relax with the kids in my room, between bathtime. They go to bed I get a little computer time if it's early enough before dh comes home and takes it over, I'll usually tidy up, maybe do more laundry, then either go to bed or hang out here.

I find the days I spend shopping and running errands, conferences, and what not put me behind quickly, so I always seem to be trying to catch up. I'm enjoying the 3 hrs in the morning very much, because all day it's mom can you do this, mom can I have that, honey can do you this, and they all just wear me out. I'll admit there's many days I don't have the energy to get it all done & I'm going at a slower pace.

I did homeschool one year w. one of my daughters, and my 3rd & 5th graders want to stay home, but the law is quite rigid in NY and curriculum has to be set at the beginning of the year & the kids are tested each year which means we have to learn what they're doing at school. I also don't have a car, so we don't get out very often, and I know the kids need to be w. friends and getting a little physical activity. The year my daughter was home, she was extremely bored, we couldn't do trips and I felt very uncomfortable letting her out of the house during school hours. They must do 5 hrs from K-5 then 6 hrs a day from 6th grade, which must all be documented. I feel they are better off getting out for those few hrs of school and getting more stimulation that they would at home.

Are you contemplating having lots of kids and homeschooling