A "normal" homeschooling day....

Many people ask what is the "normal" day of a stay at home mom that homeschools? How does that work? I know I had many questions when we were considering the transition. Let's remember.... I was a very independent, strong natured, hard working, and self-sufficient person before God shook me up. I do still possess some of those qualities, but hopefully they are now for the glory of God and not self. God knew the plans He had for our family, and when the conviction started for Martie and I, we could not disobey. I began homeschooling Taylor when she was in the 2nd grade. We then had Ethan and Andrew. I continued to work, trying to please God and self. God knew my stubbornness, so the week before I had Andrew the shop I was working at closed down. (Very unexpectedly) Hmmmm, was someone trying to get my attention. I was still disobedient and went to work at one of my friends shops. A week later I had Andrew, and during that time Martie convinced me to not return. Since then I have not regretted it once. God has been so faithful to us, and He has provided for our every needs.

So now I am a full time stay at home mom and we homeschool. So what goes into that? I assure you the days are not filled with laying around watching Dr. Phil. As a matter of fact the T.V. could probably disappear from our home. We don't have cable and truly do not see the need. So what does a "normal" day look like? What do you do with all your time? We truly see our children as our ministry, God has given us a huge responsibility in raising them, and we try to be consistent in our efforts. Not all days follow this "normal" routine, we have long nights, which end up being a slower morning, we have children that act in disobedience, and let's face it, we have lazy parenting. Most days our mornings start around 7:00 a.m. everyone has there own chores and it takes about an hour for those to get done. Taylor's chores are to pray, get dressed, teeth, hair, make bed, feed the dogs, and breakfast. Ethan has to make his bed, get dressed, teeth, and hair. Andrew well you know he's still young, but he's learning his roles he has to help pick up any toys, get dressed, teeth, and hair. Around 8:00 Taylor and the boys sit at the kitchen table and Taylor will read her bible from her daily reading plan. The boys eat breakfast and listen as I straighten up the kitchen from breakfast. (Our table and kitchen area is all in the same room) Then I sit with them and we have some form of devotional and read more from the bible. Lately we have been working on certain "character issues". (Complaining, grumbling, obedience...) Then "school" starts. Taylor starts on her spelling, and then she goes on to her memory work. (Science, history, math, English, Latin, timeline, geography) This year she is memorizing all of Eph. 6. It's is so awesome to see her repeat a whole chapter from the bible from memory. The boys do their "school". (Letters, numbers, counting, reading, blocks, play-doh, paint...) Taylor and I do her math, writing and grammar together. Sometimes these don't happen until the boy’s naps, for obvious reasons. We eat lunch at 12:00 everyday, and we are so fortunate to have daddy join us. He will stay for a little while after lunch and play with the children. Around 1:30 the boys lay down for their naps. (Sacred time) Taylor and I finish school, read together, clean up school stuff, do afternoon chores, and start dinner. Every child has afternoon chores which help with keeping everything straight. Yes even Ethan and Andrew do chores. Ethan can straighten toys; help with dishes, dinner, dust. He and Andrew like to clean the glass on the front door. I give them both paper towels, I spray it down and let them clean. No, it is not perfect, but that's not what we're trying to teach them. We're teaching them obedience, discipline, responsibility, helping one another... By the time the boys wake up from their naps and do their chores, it's time for me to cook dinner. I usually get the boys to sit and read. Ethan likes to try to read to Andrew. (If Andrew will pay attention to him) Andrew likes to read on his own. Taylor will sometimes take them outside to play, or they play in their room. We eat around 5:30-6:00 every night. Once again daddy is home for dinner. We love having dinner together every night. This is the one thing I can say is extremely consistent. We always sit together and eat dinner. We like to have a family devotional after dinner. At times we have read, and memorized catechisms, now we are reading a chapter a night in John. We split it up three ways, where I, Martie, and Taylor all read. Each night we take turns with who prays. Yes, the boys join us. This is so important for us, once again it is teaching them obedience, and they are listening to God's word. Believe it or not, they do really well.

Martie leaves for work at 7:30. After our family time I start cleaning the kitchen, and start giving the boys baths. Taylor helps with whatever I need her to, and then she takes a shower. The boys go to bed at 8:00 and Taylor at 9:00. We read to the boys in bed before they go to sleep. Once again, Taylor really enjoys doing this. After the children are in bed I usually finish up laundry, straighten up, check emails, and pay bills.... You can imagine there's still plenty to do.

There's our day! So I guess you can see why there's no time for T.V. I hope this blog encourages those that may be considering homeschooling. We truly believe it is what God has called us to do, and He has equipped us all the way! All things are possible with Him!!! I always wanted to go and sit and "watch" a homeschool family for a day. So there’s a look inside our family.