Homeschooling Day in the Life: Abby, homeschooling mom to four boys that values family unity
A homeschool day in the life looks different almost every day, right? Over on our Instagram page, we love to give you a peek into lots of homeschool days regardless of how they change day to day.
Today, we’re going to give you a peek into the homeschool day in the life of Abby, homeschooling mom to four boys, who values family unity in her homeschool.
We can all learn and be inspired by one another, regardless of our homeschool approach. It’s not about looking good for social media, it’s about the connection going on inside our homeschool walls and sharing with others what works for us.We might all homeschool a little differently, but we can always look for ideas from each other that inspire, encourage and equip us in our own homeschool days. So each week we create blog posts for you to access later of each of those “days in the life”. We hope you keep coming back for more inspiration. Keep going, mama! These days at home are so worth it!
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Meet Abby
Abby @familystylelearning is a homeschool mom of 4 boys, ages 10,8,8,and 5. Her family lives in rural Minnesota where her husband has been a pastor for the past 9 years. Abby has homeschooled her sons from the beginning and quickly found that unit studies and family subjects had the most appeal for their flexible approach to life and learning. Christ and family unity are at the heart of Abby’s homeschool.
Early Morning
Hi, I’m Abby! In this phase of life I prefer to be the first person awake in my house, but that hasn’t always been the case. I used to squeeze in every last moment of sleep possible. For a few years that meant waking up to crying, then waking up to cuddles, now I go down stairs, get a cup of coffee ☕ and read until someone else comes to join. Never feel like you have to do what someone else does in their morning routine, but do be intentional about finding out what work best for the phase you are in.
Currently in the mornings I’m reading: Mom Heart Moments by Sally Clarkson and then a few pages of The Mission of Motherhood by her as well. My 10 year old just started reading Without Excuse, and occasionally, when it’s just the two of us, we will read a chapter from Created for Work. My 8 year old twins sporadically read parts from Indescribable if they wake up before others but usually by the time they join we are ready to get started with our day.
How We Start the Day
After breakfast is probably our favorite time of the day. Dad usually joins us for World Watch News, Bible and prayer before heading to work, but today he’s gone. My father-in-law’s health is declining and requires 24/7 care. We’re thankful he lives close enough that we can be there as needed. This has changed the way we do several things in our routine, but it shows our kids that we always put people first.
Typically, we would continue to scatter learning throughout the day, including working on a presentation we need to have prepared by the end of the week for our co-op’s “World Fair,” but right now we need to move on, so not all subjects are happening today.
Helping Hands
We’re going to ✔️ off one more thing from our list before we fly out the door. “Helping Hands” is basically chores, but stated in a more unifying way. I’ve found that after sitting for current events and devotionals, the boys need to move, so we use that energy to work together and get a few things done.
I work with the boys on daily habits. These are healthy habits I want my kids to be so familiar with doing that it feels strange not to do them. Do we do them all perfectly? No. Am I still working on making them habits? Yes. But, we are learning and growing as a team. We encourage each other and over time we are getting better at each one.
Homeschool Interruptions
What really is a normal homeschool day?
Today we interrupt our “normal” routine to drive a couple hours to the airport and back. My brother-in-law is flying in and we get to pick him up. On the way we listened to Adventures in Odyssey American History, the boys did their independent reading, and on the way home they will probably watch Liberty Kids. 🇺🇲 Their choice!
On the other hand, I got to listen to the new Made2Homeschool podcast on the way to the airport. If you’re looking for a new podcast you should check them out! They had a pretty cool guest on last week.
Independent Work
In the afternoons we do our independent work. This includes math, piano, and personal interests. I usually help with math and sometimes spelling. Occasionally a child will read aloud to me or I’ll help get them started on a new project. Their things usually don’t take long and they tend to disappear to go play outside or with Lego.
The afternoon is usually my chance to get a few things done. I’ll film for my YouTube channel, hop on a Made2Homeschool meet-up or prep for a Bible study. If I want my kids to be life long learned I think it’s important that they see me learning and developing skills also.
Evenings
The evenings often include other people, either we’re hosting or we’re at church events. Wednesday is the kids program and we all participate in some way. Once we get home dad reads to the kids. They just started the Narnia series.
After the kids are tucked in my husband and I will spend the rest of the evening together. We might play a game, work on a project or watch a movie. I value ending my night with him. We have never been able to take regular dates but every night is a little alone time and that’s important to us.
I hope you found encouragement in something I shared today. To learn more about Family Style Learning make sure to follow on Instagram and YouTube!
Thank you Abby for sharing your Day in the Life with us!
If you want to see more Day in the Life photos and videos, be sure to check out our Instagram profile. There are highlights of each takeover at the top.
