HEART for Christ Schools: Real Homeschool: A Shelter-In-Place Homeschool Day

Editor's note: 'Real Homeschool' is a series of blog posts by different families in our homeschool community. They reflect an honest, 'in-the-trenches' view of homeschool life - today's post talks about chores, homeschooling with toddlers, quiet time and more! For those new to homeschooling, real life seems to get in the way of learning but we learn the two can co-exist and even thrive as the Lord helps us to carry on with faith, trust and a good dose of humor. To be encouraged by other posts in the series, click here.

This letter is from homeschooling mom 'H' who has four children aged 13 months to 11 years, and lives in Half Moon Bay.
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I would just like to preface this with saying that we usually have very full and structured days. Most often my children have live online classes 4 days per week and then on top of that have live online art/music/nature study class twice a month. Along with weekly piano and ceramics classes, church youth group and soccer practice and 4-h meetings. To say the least we are a busy bunch. We are usually leaving the house 4 days out of the week for some activity and have online classes to attend. So this shelter in place has been rather a nice change for us. It has let us sleep in and continue with our online classes but not have to rush about town all the time to make it to lessons and such. So this is how things are rolling nowadays.

My kids are ages 11, 10, 4 and 13 months. We have homeschooled since the beginning and I have found over the years that our daily schedule changes with each new homeschool season. Take it for what it is, and I hope it helps to know that as long as you are loving your family and staying calm, the rest will come. Pray and have faith, be WITH your family, not just around them. Enjoy the short time we have with our children and take time to just breathe.

My day usually starts with me waking at 6-7am, then boiling some water around 8am to make my pour over coffee. Then I turn on my Bible app and have the day's reading read aloud to me. I'm reading through the bible this year and having a plan to follow makes this something that actually gets done daily. I'll start a load of laundry, turn on the diffusers and open up all my curtains and a few windows. When that is all done, my coffee is ready to be made. I'll pour myself a cup and usually check my emails and my YouTube feed while I eat breakfast. It's important for me to have this morning time to myself. Alone and calm. I really do better throughout the day when I can start my day in the calm.

I usually will wake my kids up between 8-9am. They eat breakfast and feed their animals and play until about 10 or 11am. We all start school around the kitchen table. I read our family devotional and a chapter or two out of our read aloud while the kids do their paint by sticker books.
Then we move straight into history, listen to the chapter and do our mapping activities. Sometimes we will look up something online or watch a video, but usually just mapping and then move on. Grammar, spelling and vocab are usually next in line. Memory work and anything they need me for is done first together.

Then we will have a break - the kids go outside for an hour or two, do chores and play. We come back in and eat lunch, then I work with my younger preschooler while my baby (hopefully) naps. At this time I'm pretty done for the day emotionally, meaning I just want quiet time and to read or have the kids be calm. The older kids will finish all their independent work, math, typing, reading, science or anything else they need to finish up. They practice piano and we will go for a walk or they just play for the rest of the day.

I try to start dinner and have the kids play outside or in their rooms. We eat dinner as a family and then usually clean up and then watch something on Youtube or Netflix together. Then the kids go to their rooms to do reading and relax and lights out usually around 10ish.

Here are some resources I’ve found helpful for learning: