Homeschooling Day in the Life: Beth, homeschooling mom of 5 kids, elementary to teen!

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 Beth, homeschooling mama to five kids, from elementary to the teen years!

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 Beth

Beth @pocketsfullofrocksblog is a homeschooling mom of five kids from elementary age to the teen years! She and her husband are raising their family in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and they love to travel. She describes their homeschool as classical, simple, and quality over quantity.

Managing Home Education

This is literally us right now as we’re heading out the door for our end of year evaluations. Today I want to share my favorite tips for managing the education of my five who are grades 2nd – 10th and ages 7 – 16. Because while home educating is a lot of wonderful things, it is also a management job & I’m pretty good at that part. I’m also always looking to improve in that area, so I hope some of the things I’ve figured out will work for some of you too. And I’d love to hear your ideas! Let’s get started!

Creating Systems That Work for Your Family

Full disclosure, by nature, I’m a bit of an absent minded professor / scatter brain type. Always have been. In order to manage our homeschooling (and home and lives), I’ve had to create systems that work for me. (Don’t miss the last one 😉) Here are some of the things I do:

1. Write it down. All of it. What I’m doing, what they’re doing, what I hope we’ll be doing later. Simple & effective.

2. Be the pace leader. When I get up, start chores, and am ready to begin our school day, my guys respond in much the same way. If I sleep in, drag out my start, or am distracted by other tasks, very often they are too!

3. Use a paper & posted family calendar. This makes it so I’m not the only one trying to remember all the places we need to be.

4. Have a plan. I have a meal calendar, school rhythms, laundry days, etc. Putting my most-repeated tasks on autopilot makes a huge difference for me!

5. Delegate household responsibilities. We’re all part of this family & we all chip in. Along the way, my kids are learning skills & personal responsibility too. Win-win. In our family, everyone has the same chores for a month. This allows them to learn to complete it well before moving on to something else.

And last, but not least…

6. Rely on the best friends who send text reminders when they think something (like a meeting) might’ve slipped my mind.

Homeschooling Teens

I am LOVING homeschooling teens. Here are some quick tips that have helped keep mine on track during the day (when they’d maybe rather be sleeping or goofing).

1. Measurable daily goals

2. Routines

3. No cell phones during a subject

4. Check in on them & their work.

For example:

1. Learn 10 new Latin vocab words today. Spend twenty minutes reviewing your science study guide.

2. Where do you work best? Then do that (not where you are comfiest). Teens tend to like negotiations – set expectations with your child’s input & then be consistent with them. Don’t get into the daily negotiations.

3. Cell phones reduce attention span. I’m good with mine checking theirs throughout the day but I want them to concentrate when at a task. This has worked for us.

4. Remember they need you to be involved still. Check in on how they’re doing. So much of what teens encounter in their studies should invite conversations with their parents – don’t neglect those opportunities. ❤️

There is so much coming to fruition in the teenage years. It is a blessing to behold! It also has really hard moments – I’m not saying it doesn’t, but man, I’m loving it.

Extracurricular Activities

Ended today with my oldest’s high school baseball banquet. In PA, homeschoolers can participate in extracurriculars at the local public school. So far, he’s had a great experience. It’s been a fun way for him to keep playing with the guys he played little league with and for us to participate in the community around us.

Learning Self-Discipline

As I’m looking to grow my younger ones’ independence, a lot of it is really teaching them to be their own bosses. I don’t expect them to know what is best for them yet, so I’m showing them all the basics – how I would store my pencils, organize my notebook, practice my math facts, use my time, etc. I’m explaining why it will work well this way, and what the goals are. I’m giving them a taste for what’s good about hard work & self-discipline until they develop the appetite themselves. It’s sort of like making sure they eat carrots for lunch. They’re not exactly thanking me now, but I think one day they’ll realize that carrots have way more benefits than candy & choose the carrots for themselves. You know?

The Benefit of Regular Rhythms

Started with a picture from today & ending with a picture from way back. You could almost say this was the beginning of our homeschool journey, but really I just wanted a chance to wrap up today with a note on why all the things I shared today matter to me.

“In their consistency, rhythms establish trust. In addition to consistency, the best daily life rhythms offer connection.” – Kim John Payne, Simplicity Parenting

While the regular rhythms help me manage our homeschool, they also give us room to connect, appreciate, and enjoy all of this and each other. Well worth the investment.

Thanks for sharing time with me today, guys! ❤️

Thank you so much to Beth 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.