A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler...my view

My friend over at Grateful for Grace is hosting a fabulous 10 Day glimpse into a day in the life of a homeschooler and she is inviting us homeschooling/blogging moms to link up and share what it's like at our home. For real...not made for television ;-)

You have seen my few previous posts about our homeschool adventure (if you haven't...Go HERE). We are on our 3rd year and we love it.  Do we always love it?  Um. NO.  But the majority of the time, yes.  So going into the second half of our third year, we are finally getting our groove, even with a 21 month old in the house...although that groove is a bit, um...twisty.

We now start our days around 9:30am, occasionally 10am.  (We means J) A bit late for some, but with a teenager in the house, it's hard to push otherwise and all remain peaceful and pleasant.  Plus now that SP sleeps till around 8:30am, I can get up earlier and have some much needed quiet/coffee/study time.  J's alarm goes off around 8:20am...then again at 8:30am...then again at 8:40am...well you get the picture. I finally send SP in by that time to climb into bed with "Bubba" and wake him up a bit more and SP LOVES doing this (and no, I did NOT teach him "bubba".   I actually say "brother" everytime but somehow he gets bubba from that. Yes, we are from Texas, why do you ask?)  He starts asking "Where Bubba"? as soon as he gets out of his crib now :-)

Another way for J to get some exercise ;-) 

Once the boys have had breakfast and J is more alert (this usually takes morning vitamins to help, ha!), we try to read our bible first.  We started reading through the bible last spring and while we are slow at it, we are almost to 2 Kings :-)  And J loves it, well he loves the battle scenes.  Our typical day then includes a bit of history, a bit of science, a bit of math, reading (independently and at night I read aloud)...then depending on the day it includes Spanish (Rosetta Stone), grammar, writing, handwriting and once a week computer science.  (And twice a month co-op, once a week horse lessons, Wed. night church and up to twice a week sometimes 4H classes)

Today, our bible reading happened at the kitchen table during breakfast (cereal for myself and SP, toaster waffles for J, no I'm not a big hot breakfast cooker...eater? yea, but not cooker).  After clearing up the dishes and the toddler, J did his math.  This is usually his first subject, mainly because he despises it so we get it out of the way before we are both too tired to deal with it.  A tip for those with special needs kiddos or kids who just struggle with a subject...it's OK to backtrack, no matter the age.  J is 8th grade age, in public school he would be 7th b/c we held him back in Kinder.  However, when we started homeschooling, we started over with multiplication.  He just never had time in public school to get a good grasp on it.  Will he ever be an accountant?  Probably not b/c it's just not his thing, but he is more confident each year now in math which is HUGE.

Then we were off to the doctor and a quick hospital side trip for x-rays.  Not our usual "first day back fun" but hey, as you learn quickly, homeschooling is NEVER the same day to day. :-)  On the way there and back, we listened to history for the day (we have the audio CD's for our book) while SP "read" his Marvel book.  J read his reader while waiting for the doctor.  SP and I read about Bear's new undies to work on his colors.  Another perk of homeschooling (especially for a family like ours who heads to Houston often for doctor appts and has errands to run in town occasionally)...you can take it with you.  Ok...J doesn't consider it a perk. 

Upon returning from the medical fun, J started his new PE regime while SP went down for his nap and I started lunch for J.  He almost always has a PE or games class at co-op but he is truly in need of becoming stronger pushing his wheelchair and work on his stomach muscles.  What better way to do that than to push the chair?  Today he pushed himself 5 times up the ramp and back around and then 6 times down the ramp and back around.  I can already see the speed is increasing on flat surfaces so I can't wait to see the improvements after a few months.

Usually nap time is when J and I read science together and anything else, like mapping that needs to be done together, since it's QUIET ;-)  (Having a baby then toddler in the house has changed our ways a bit, J has to be more independent while SP is awake with school but it's boosted his confidence). 

However, today, J had to take his science test from before the holidays so I got a nice break (and actually sat to watch a couple of Ugly Betty episodes on Netflix...yep, no housework done for 2 hours).   He worked on his handwriting (the letter W this week), read from his second history book and was done for the day.  See, due to his cerebral palsy, handwriting is not his forte...however, we have been doing one letter a week.  He writes upper, lower then a word with that letter.  And I have to tell you...there are times his writing is easier to read than his dad's :-)  He's actually pretty good for having those cp hands (which I LOVE, his hands have always been my favorite thing about J)! 

I have learned over the last couple of years that Mondays need to be lighter for us for both of us to stay sane and a bit less frustrated so I typically made Tues/Thurs our more full days. I've also tried "block" scheduling with history and science before but have to come realize that J remembers things better if we do just a little each day. 

So that was Monday...I will do my best to post a few more times this week to let you in on a few different days.  People who do not homeschool have a very boxed in view sometimes of how things really run (I know I did).  In truth, every family really is different, because every child is really different.  SP will be a completely different student than J is.  And we will go with the flow.  That's something I learned having J born with a disability and it hit home for sure when we decided to homeschool.  He is who he is and should be helped in ways he needs.  And I have to be ok with that and keep learning what works best.  I will keep learning along with the boys.  The best part of it for me?  Being with my boys, the one J talks to about life when T isn't home, the one he trusts.  Truly, it's awesome.