Here’s a little look at the Day in the Life of Callie, mama to four kids, both in public school and homeschool! At Learning Well, we understand that homeschooling doesn’t look the same for all of us. We understand it doesn’t have to either for us to learn and glean good things from each other. Each Wednesday, on our Instagram feed, we feature a new homeschool mama to take over the feed and show us what her day looks like.
Some of us homeschool for religious reasons and that inspires our homeschool days. Some of us homeschool from the road and never do school in the same place twice. We might have been homeschooling for years and years. Or we may have just begun our journeys. We understand that those details don’t really matter though. The common thread that binds us all together is our desires to educate our children differently.
We might all homeschool differently, but we can always look for ideas from each other that inspire, encourage and equip us in our own homeschool days.
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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!
Day in the Life of Homeschool Mama Callie
Help me welcome Callie @collinsschoolhouse ! Callie is a fun mix of fun and real and Charlotte Mason and eclectic homeschooling. She’s mama to four and she’s going to share her day in the life with us
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Good Morning!
COMFORT ZONE–An obvious product of any sort of new experience is to present a challenge that takes you out of your comfort zone and into a learning zone. If you happen to catch any of my bio in the stories, you may have picked up on the fact that doing a Day in the Life is just a liiiittttlllle bit out of my comfort zone. But, I’m excited to be here sharing with you all today!
Hello! I’m Callie, mom of four. Our kids are: 14, 10, 5, and 2. We have a mix going on here as we have a public school freshman, two homeschool elementary and a toddler. This is our 7th year homeschooling.
Our mornings begin with staggered wake-ups. My husband and I wake about 6:30 and get our teenage daughter up as well. He and I head downstairs for coffee and quiet time while the rest of the house sleeps for at least 2 more hours. I look forward to these quiet moments to read my Bible, wake slowly, and for us to have a chance to talk before the day gets rolling.
Our daughter leaves for school at 7:30 and our 5 year old typically makes his way downstairs around 8. This is his ideal learning time. He LOVES having one on one time with us and we are usually able to finish his individual learning time before anyone else wakes up.
My husband, Chad, travels for work. (He’s heading to Hong Kong on Friday!) When he’s home, he can take some time in the morning to read a book or join in on some letter writing practice, etc. If he takes over, I can sneak in a quick workout or some sort of household task if needed. The other two typical sleep until 9.
Learning Time
It’s nearing 10:30 and we’ve got some learning time in. We use a good amount of curriculum that is open and go. I don’t have to do much prep work at all for our three R’s. (Love that!) The kids LOVE bringing the piggies into the school room. They make great learning buddies!
Now we’re taking a break so I can get cleaned up and the kids can play. Maybe 10:30 seems late for a shower? It’s rare for us to ever have something going on outside the house in the morning so I’m cool with staying in my pj’s longer.
A Regroup at Lunch
Sometimes it feels like some sort of law, like gravity, that my kids go a little sideways when I have something else to focus on. That’s the honest truth of the last hour. We were all frustrated, and it sucked. I prayed over us. I had a broken moment with my husband. We regrouped over lunch and the kids are now outside and we’re going to try to finish up our lessons. Just keeping it real here!
Chores
Chores: This is an important part of our day and an important part of our learning style. All the kids participate to some extent; it’s part of being a member of our family team. They each have a breakdown of responsibilities, some have specific days, others just need done during the week. We don’t pay an allowance, we pay a commission which is half their age in dollars per week.
Responsibilities increase with age and therefore so do commissions. Sometimes they’re great at it, sometimes they’re not. (Me, too!) Everyone pitching in is crucial to things running smoothly around here, especially when Chad is traveling.
Finishing the Day
In a single homeschool day, you may be able to describe it with allllll the emojis. For as perfectly imperfect that it is, the prevailing emotion for me is gratefulness. I am and will forever be grateful for all of the time to pour into our kids; to be there for the big and small, good and not so. It is my hope and prayer that they feel the same as they look back on our time together.
One of the most important things to me is to finish the day with a tidy kitchen/main level. I dislike waking to yesterday’s messes and chores. (Thanks, mama!) Starting the day with a clean slate around us encourages starting the day with a clean slate in our spirits. I want to be fresh for my kids each day, a fresh space facilitates that. We take a few extra minutes at the end of the day to do a tidy-up before heading upstairs to begin the bedtime process. Even when I’m tired, I know it’s always worth it to come downstairs to fresh coffee, a clean slate and new beginnings.
One of my favorite quotes is from Ann of Green Gables, “Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it.” Thank you for following along with us today! It was a special experience.
Thank you so much to Callie 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.
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