We have been homeschooling for about 6 years. From the start, our goal has been to give our kids a solid education. We wanted to raise kids that knew how to think, and had a solid base of knowledge of the world around them that would allow them to be equipped to judge philosophies out there. Our search led us to Classical Education and since then have been following that path.
That said, Classical Education can look different from one homeschool home to another. Today I will walk you through our classical homeschooling typical day. I like to classify our way of schooling as 'relaxed homeschooling' and you will see why.
Morning:
We all wake up anytime between 7-8:30 sometimes 9 or 9:30 for the boys (especially since puberty hit), each day varies.
We almost always eat breakfast as a family, which ends anytime between 9:30-10:30 depending on the day. That time is concluded with our aloud Bible reading time.
After breakfast the boys tend to go and do their own leisure thing: lego, check you tube (they are into supergeroes stuff, movies, TV shows, news, and the like). We try to have them start their day with their musical instrument practice (Violin for Zach and Piano for Johann), but that does not always happen.
I write up a schedule for them of the topics/subjects that they need to cover that day.
At some point before 12 they each start on their subjects in the order they chose.
For my 7th grader, he likes to cover his online subjects first. These are his Math (Unlock Math ) and French (Duolingo). Then he moves on to his other subjects, Bible reading, Spelling, Math Worksheets or Life of Fred (depending on the day), Grammar and Science. He usually leaves History (Tapestry of Grace) and Writing (Writing and Rhetoric) for last because these are his heavier subjects, the History involving lots of reading, and the Writing involving lots of thinking and writing. A lot of his schooling is done in his bedroom on his bed.
For my 5th grader, he usually gets right to work. He tends to follow the same pattern everyday, easy and short subjects first (Bible, logic, Math, French, and spelling), then the harder ones that take longer (Science, Grammar, History, writing). He tends to work straight, doing 3-4 subjects at once, then takes a TV and football playing with his brother break. Then he gets back to work and finishes things up.
Afternoon:
Because they both start late in the day, the afternoon involves the bulk of their learning. My oldest tends to take a lot of breaks while he does school (reading posts or checking you tube on lego movie making and/or movie releases - he wants to go into film-making), so it often happens that he still has school to complete after dinner.
My youngest, on the other end, because he is more task and goal oriented, usually is done by 4.
If their instrument practice was not done in the morning, it usually gets done sometime in the late afternoon.
As you can see most of their work is done independently, that is because 1) they are older, 2) I have trained them that way. I have and am working hard at teaching them to own their learning. I am always available for teaching, on the subjects that require it, or explaining something. While they do their school work I usually work on my blog, church stuff, do housework, finances, and work on dinner.
So this is our basic day routine. Each day only varies slightly. The classical part of our homeschool is in the choice of our material, not in the routine and schedule. I usually endeavor to choose classically minded curriculum and/or curriculum that challenge them. To see our current line up check my Curriculum Line up for 2016 and to see my approach on Classical Education, check my series on Relaxed Classical Homeschooling.
That said, Classical Education can look different from one homeschool home to another. Today I will walk you through our classical homeschooling typical day. I like to classify our way of schooling as 'relaxed homeschooling' and you will see why.
Morning:
We all wake up anytime between 7-8:30 sometimes 9 or 9:30 for the boys (especially since puberty hit), each day varies.
We almost always eat breakfast as a family, which ends anytime between 9:30-10:30 depending on the day. That time is concluded with our aloud Bible reading time.
After breakfast the boys tend to go and do their own leisure thing: lego, check you tube (they are into supergeroes stuff, movies, TV shows, news, and the like). We try to have them start their day with their musical instrument practice (Violin for Zach and Piano for Johann), but that does not always happen.
I write up a schedule for them of the topics/subjects that they need to cover that day.
At some point before 12 they each start on their subjects in the order they chose.
For my 7th grader, he likes to cover his online subjects first. These are his Math (Unlock Math ) and French (Duolingo). Then he moves on to his other subjects, Bible reading, Spelling, Math Worksheets or Life of Fred (depending on the day), Grammar and Science. He usually leaves History (Tapestry of Grace) and Writing (Writing and Rhetoric) for last because these are his heavier subjects, the History involving lots of reading, and the Writing involving lots of thinking and writing. A lot of his schooling is done in his bedroom on his bed.
For my 5th grader, he usually gets right to work. He tends to follow the same pattern everyday, easy and short subjects first (Bible, logic, Math, French, and spelling), then the harder ones that take longer (Science, Grammar, History, writing). He tends to work straight, doing 3-4 subjects at once, then takes a TV and football playing with his brother break. Then he gets back to work and finishes things up.
Somewhere between 12 and 2 they both ask for lunch, so I either warm up some left over, prepares some quick easy lunch, or tell them to grab cereals.
Afternoon:
Because they both start late in the day, the afternoon involves the bulk of their learning. My oldest tends to take a lot of breaks while he does school (reading posts or checking you tube on lego movie making and/or movie releases - he wants to go into film-making), so it often happens that he still has school to complete after dinner.
My youngest, on the other end, because he is more task and goal oriented, usually is done by 4.
If their instrument practice was not done in the morning, it usually gets done sometime in the late afternoon.
As you can see most of their work is done independently, that is because 1) they are older, 2) I have trained them that way. I have and am working hard at teaching them to own their learning. I am always available for teaching, on the subjects that require it, or explaining something. While they do their school work I usually work on my blog, church stuff, do housework, finances, and work on dinner.
Dinner is usually anytime between 5:30-6:30 with dad. And the it is bedtime routine which includes doing dishes, bathing for my youngest, since my oldest bathes in the morning. We love to watch certain TV shows as a family, so that is usually how our evenings go, with the occasional board game thrown in there). When the boys were younger we used to have a devotional time and/or read-aloud time in the evening, but that has faded away in the last couple of years. I have been wanting to bring it back so hopefully this will happen soon!
So this is our basic day routine. Each day only varies slightly. The classical part of our homeschool is in the choice of our material, not in the routine and schedule. I usually endeavor to choose classically minded curriculum and/or curriculum that challenge them. To see our current line up check my Curriculum Line up for 2016 and to see my approach on Classical Education, check my series on Relaxed Classical Homeschooling.
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