Homeschooling Day in the Life: Amy, Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Mom of Three, Living in Texas
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 Amy, Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom of three, living in Texas.
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.
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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 Amy
Amy @charlottemasonhomeschool is a homeschool mom of 3 kids living in Texas, however she is originally from the Isle of Skye in Scotland!
She is an early bird who loves a good pot of tea, and could watch the 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice over and over again. Amy’s favorite part of homeschooling is enjoying excellent living books together, great conversations, afternoons free for play and creativity, and lots of time exploring in nature.
3 Steps to a Successful Homeschool Morning
Good morning! My name is Amy from @charlottemasonhomeschool and I’m so happy to share my day with you today. Let’s start by talking about mornings. My mornings have definitely looked different over the years. With babies and young toddlers, life looked very different! My children are now 6, 11 and 16, so I find that they’re more independent and self-motivated, and can help one another. I believe in three steps to a successful homeschool morning.
1. Wake up early–I usually wake around 5:30am, and you’ll find me enjoying a hot cup of Scottish Breakfast tea and some breakfast in the quiet still of the morning, before heading upstairs to get a few hours of work done. Since my husband passed away from cancer in 2022, I have been the sole bread-winner for our family and work from home running my business, Curator. I usually work from 6am – 9am, then I do another 3 hours in the evening.
2. Have a plan for breakfast–My children wake up ravenously hungry. It’s helped me immensely to have easy, nutritious breakfasts for them to prepare. Some of their favorites include toast with almond butter and banana, Greek yogurt with berries, bagels with cream cheese, or oatmeal with delicious toppings. When my children start the day with a high protein, low-sugar breakfast, they have sustained energy and focus throughout the morning.
3. Have independent work ready to go–In the early morning, my children know they’re responsible for getting dressed and ready, making their breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, then starting on their individual work. My 6-year-old listens to audio books and plays in his room while my other children do independent reading and writing assignments. Everything is laid out for them the night before with any instructions, so they know what to start working on.
Everything you read in the previous steps are the result of training good habits for each of my children, born out of necessity. There were definitely times were it was a work in progress, and they still need guidance and reminders. We worked together in baby-steps to create a workable routine. This has given them such confidence!
Our Daily Nature Walk
After independent studies in the morning, it’s time to go outdoors to move our bodies and breathe fresh air. At around 9:00am, we all take a break in the form of a family nature walk. We are lucky enough to live next door to a 48-acre nature preserve with seven ponds and forest trails, so we just pull on our boots and head out the back door.
I grew up on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and spent my childhood in the hills among the wild heather, or on the seashore watching the gulls as I waited for the Island ferry. One of the things that attracted me to a Charlotte Mason education was her focus on time outdoors in nature and nature study.
My boys (6 &11) usually take along binoculars or a magnifying glass, and I’ll give them fun challenges, such as “can you find 3 leaves with pointed ends” or “let’s see who can be the first person to spot a red cardinal.” This trains their powers of attention and observation.
I use this time to chat with my daughter (16) about her morning independent reading, and she’ll narrate what she’s learned and we’ll enjoy a discussion.
Our Morning Lessons
It’s about 10am when we come in from our nature walk. I do guided morning lessons with each child, working through math, science and language arts and listening to narrations from their morning independent reading.
For my sanity, it works best for me to work separately with each child. That way I can give each child my focused attention and I don’t get overwhelmed with too many questions or requests for help at once.
While I am working with one child, the other child can choose to listen to an educational audio book, do something creative, work on an illustrated notebooking page, practice a skill or finish up any independent work from the morning.
Innes (6) does about 90 minutes with me where we read aloud living books, do guided handwriting and art, math and language arts. My daughter (16) has a math tutor she works with via zoom 2x per week, and she also does an online Pilates class 3x per week to help with her ballet training. Most of her school work is done independently. Along with her other subjects, she is studying for her AP world history exam and I help her with preparation through discussion and questions.
Lunch + Outdoor Time
We are finished with morning lessons around 1pm and we have a family lunch – usually something simple and quick to prepare that doesn’t require a lot of time or mess – we’ll reheat soup or stew, have a charcuterie board with cheese & fruit, or cold cuts and salad.
The children help serve lunch and clean up. If it’s a pretty day we’ll eat lunch outside for a change of scene, and sometimes I read aloud to everyone from a lovely and inspiring book.
After lunch is finished, around 1:30pm, the children have free time until 2:00 to play, run around outside, toss a ball or ride their bikes. I use this time for 30 minutes to rest and reset – usually with a cup of tea. I like to listen to a podcast, read, or enjoy Instagram.
Afternoon Gathering Time
From 2:00-3:00 we gather together and finish our school day with reading aloud literature, living books or watching part of a documentary, and we spread family composer study, picture study, an art lesson and theology throughout the week.
Around age 10 my children usually transition to doing most of their reading independently. I create a curriculum for them from a feast of beautifully written living books, and they have a plan to follow for weekly reading assignments.
We learn mostly through living books and narration. Narration is where a child will tell me what they’ve learned by way of oral narration, written narration (a notebooking page), or a creative narration such as a dramatic retelling, homemade podcast episode, or drawing.
Innes (6) enjoys 45 minutes of read aloud from a feast of living books covering topics of fairytales, fables, poetry and nature study, plus geography and history once a week.
After the Homeschool Day
We are done with formal lessons around 3:00pm. There has been plenty of time in the day for academics, a nature walk, play, audio books, learning skills and creative pursuits.
From 3:00-7:00, we focus on time together as a family and having fun. We play board games, play ball, take a bike ride, have a picnic by the lake, or enjoy art time together as a family. We will also have a family meal at home.
We also really enjoy watching documentaries together as a family. Our favorite one right now is ‘The Most Dangerous Ways to School.’ My boys also love “The Donna Reed” show. If I’m tired, I’ll take some rest in the afternoon while my children play. I also take my daughter to ballet class in the evening, 5 nights a week.
Our Evening Routine
At 7:00pm, before everyone goes up to their bedrooms, we have a 15 minute ‘family tidy-up” where everyone is responsible for a quick tidy of the main living spaces. I set a timer and we make it a game. That way we can all wake up to a clean and tidy space, and we share the work.
After prayers and tucking in my youngest child to bed at 7:30pm, the older children are responsible for their own bedtime routine of showers, teeth and lights out by a certain time.
I work on my business from 7:30pm – 10:30pm. This is a great time for me to focus on page layouts, marketing, research and editing for Curator while the house is quiet. I do most of my writing during my morning work block from 6:00am – 9:0am while my brain is alert. I try to be asleep by 11pm.
Thank you so much to Amy for sharing your family’s day with us!
