A School Day at Home

Firstly, the title of this post is rather misleading because in our home school, there is no such thing as a typical day. Although I plan my weekly schedule, I always allow room for change because the curriculum I design for my boys is meant to cater to their interests and needs. Their lessons are planned thematically and in any given unit, Lang Arts, Math, Science, Geog/Hist/Social Studies, Art, Phys Ed and a field trip are usually covered. Last week we started on a Medieval Theme which will be continued this week.

Our school day begins typically after breakfast and bathtime, and the first part lasts anything from an hour and a half to two hours. We usually start by brainstorming on the theme, or recalling facts learnt the day before, and then we do some lang arts and math/sci etc This is then followed by playtime and a mid morning snack.

For moms who have sons, I think you can probably emphatise with me when I write that boys generally get hungry a lot quicker than girls and have higher energy levels. This is the case with my sons at any rate. So in between lessons, we always schedule a break for them to recharge with a healthy snack and some free play. This is a good time for me to get lunch ready for everyone else too.

After break, we have our shared/individualised reading and book related activity. For each theme covered, I try to include different genres so as to expose them to different writing styles. The reading activity depends on the books we read. Lunch follows suit, and then it's More Play for the boys including the opportunity to go downstairs to ride their bikes, rollerblade or just run about. Some days we go for a walk round the neighbourhood or to the post office if we have letters to post.

When we get back, the second part of home school continues usually with art, baking, computer time, letter writing or swimming lessons. This takes up anything from an hour to two hours. They get their tv time after this while I prepare dinner. But I'm really picky over what they watch so tv time is still what I'd call a monitored activity.

So there you have it....a "typical" day in our home school!