Homeschool Day in the Life: Alicia, Mom of multiple ages
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 Alicia, mom of 4, homeschooling multiple ages with an eclectic style.
Regardless of our homeschool approach, how long we’ve been homeschooling, or how old our kids are, we can all learn and be inspired by one another. 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.
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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!
Meet Alicia
Hi there, friend. If you’re new here, I’m Alicia Hutchinson (@overatalicias) and I started Learning Well a few years back as a way to highlight different homeschool families and a way to be encouraged and inspired by one another.
We have four kids and have been homeschooling since 2007. My oldest graduated last May, so my class size is shrinking and I’m a mixed bag of excited for my son, sad at how fast it all goes, and a wee bit relieved by the shorter lesson planning time I have now.
Our homeschool is eclectic in style. I love Charlotte Mason and her teachings, unit studies, hands-on projects, reading all the great books, and the ability to teach my kids to think critically without the overlords of the school board limiting my curriculum choices.
Homeschooling has been one of my biggest joys and one of my biggest challenges, but I’m here for all of it. I’m humbled to take you along for our ordinary, messy, lovely day in the life tomorrow. Thank you for coming along!
Good Morning Friends!
Good morning, friends! So happy to be sharing our day in the life today. The early morning is one of my favorite times of the day. But it’s not easy for me. I’m naturally a night owl, but getting up and getting a few things done before my kids wake up is so good for me.
Note: my kids are 18, 15, 12, and 7. If you have babies, the morning thing gets easier.
My mornings usually follow this pattern: Workout at the gym. I lift weights 6x/week and try to add in a @teacherfit_ workout 2-3x/week too. This is followed by coffee and my Bible. Then I will start a load of laundry and make my bed, and finally shower and get ready for the day.
It doesn’t always look exactly like this, but I sure love when it does.
102 Ways To Start Your Homeschool Morning Out Right
Whirlwind School Mornings
The school morning feels like a whirlwind. Even with older kids, I’m constantly juggling kids and subjects. Whenever I can, I combine subjects so we’re all doing the same thing. History, science and art are some great examples of this.
I’m finding though, that as they hit high school, the independence kicks into overdrive and they want a list, direction, and to be left alone to do their thing.
This is fine with me, but it’s still a juggle.
“Check in with me when you’re done.”
“Do you have all the supplies for your experiment?”
“Let’s read this part together then you can go.”
My tendency is to criticize our whirlwind school mornings and to compare our chaos to what appears to be other people’s calm (on IG or in my own head).
But our house isn’t unorganized or overly insane. Our bustling home and school are just a result of having six people in one smallish house doing life together 24/7. There are spills and interruptions and someone always seems to be irritated. But this is homeschool.
And I know one day it will be too quiet.
Work + House Chores
After school is done, it’s time for either work or house chores. I always feel like there are 436 things to do in approximately 1:30 hours. The list is never ever done but here’s 10 tips for making home keeping and homeschooling a little bit easier:
1. Do one small load of laundry a day.
2. Have your kids help.
3. Utilize grocery delivery if you have it.
4. Simplify your breakfasts so you’re modifying the same thing each week, like Muffin Monday, Smoothie Tuesday, etc.
5. Plan a menu once a week, shop for groceries once a week.
6. Save all errands for one day, preferably a day you’re already out and about.
7. Throw out junk mail right away.
8. Check your calendar before bed.
9. Make coffee the night before.
10. Have everyone help do a quick pick-up before bed.
Thank you so much to Alicia for sharing your family’s day 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.
