A Day in the Life of Homeschool Mama Camille
A Day in the Life of Camille, Homeschool Mama of Three
Hi, there! I’m Camille and I’m sharing a day-in-the-life in our homeschool today.
First, let me give you a bit of a background on me. I’m a wife of almost 17 years to my best friend and mama to three children, Brandon (11), Zachary (7), and Ariyah (4.) I worked outside of the home until four years ago, when my daughter was born, and have found that becoming a stay-at-home mama, homemaker, and homeschooler is really what I am supposed to do. I also discovered that I didn’t see too many people like me (Black, eclectic, secular, Mother Nature-ish) sharing their experiences living a “different” lifestyle on social media, and I decided to fulfill the need. So, here I am!
Throughout the day, I’ll share little snippets of how we roll on a typical day (if there’s such a thing,) and I hope you enjoy spending time with us. Now, I’m not posting just for likes… I love to interact with y
Rest
This week is our off week. It has taken a long time (almost the whole seven years) to figure out that rest is as much a part of the homeschool lifestyle as anything else. Since January, we’ve had a six weeks on/one week off schedule and it has given us LIFE. Finding a schedule that nourishes and replenishes us has been challenging, but oh so necessary to keeping the children ready to learn and keeping me, well, sane.
So, how does our week off of school look? It looks like a whole lotta rest but also a good amount of me getting things checked off my to-do list. I like to keep things low maintenance during school weeks, then amp up during off weeks. While I’m doing that, the children are doing what children do — playing outside (they built a makeshift seesaw out of random wood they found in the backyard,) watching Netflix or YouTube, reading with or without me, or whatever else they find fun in. Children need time to rest and do nothing just like adults.
Even in rest though, I’m a believer that children learn all the time (even on “off” weeks.) I’ve been around the block a time or two with this homeschool thing, so I don’t worry about taking breaks anymore. I’ve seen how just chilling for a week refreshes everyone, making way for us to shine the next six weeks.
Planning
Let’s talk planning for a minute, shall we? As I mentioned in my last post, during our week off, I plan for the next six weeks. Before you think I’m about to share some mind-blowing planning method you’ve been waiting your whole homeschooling life for, let me hug you tightly and sweetly whisper in your ear: NOT TODAY, LOVE. NOT TODAY.
To begin, I ask myself one question: What season (literal and otherwise) are we in?
Ask this because it’s a way for me to check in with myself and my children. When I think about their stage of development, needs, and current interests, coupled with my needs and current interests (because those are important, too! Hello!) and the actual season of the year we’re in, I can come up with a more complementary plan than if I just made a plan based on academics alone. Because yeah, been there, done that, not doing that ever again. And amen.
To help you see how it works for us, I’ll tell you a little about our spring and summer sessions.
– First, any plan I make will be high-level. I like to give us direction, but be flexible in how we get there.
– Each season, we’re only having school time three days per week instead of four, and I’m limiting it to a total of one hour + 20 minutes of a group read aloud per day.
– The other two days will be for hanging out, field trips, etc.
– As for what we’ll cover, it’ll be review to start then we’ll focus on math, language arts, nature journals (my oldest (age 11) will lead this,) and Minecraft mod building (their choice.)
– My boys have way more extracurricular activities (+ get to see their friends more) in the warmer months, so I leave lots of room for that without sacrificing staying consistent with our schoolwork.
Does that make sense? I sure hope so. Drop any questions below, and I’ll do my best to sort it all out!
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Flow
Want to have a successful homeschool for you and your children? Learn to flow. It’s that simple. Or is it?
For me, it wasn’t for the first few years. I was all over the place — stopping, starting, pushing, pulling, convincing, defending — you name it, I did everything but one thing: FLOW.
Learning to flow meant learning to be consistent and flexible. Like a water in a stream. Gliding over almost any obstacle it meets, yet, even when it gets stopped, finding a way to keep going. To keep flowing.
That’s what I’ve learned to do. Nothing stops our flow but me. Heavy is the head who wears the crown, right? Still, homeschooling is a calling that I, and YOU, were given and thus fully equipped for. Believe it, Mama. This lifestyle you’re living is not an accident or by mere coincidence. Oh, no no no!
So, if you’re feeling like you can’t do it, aren’t smart enough, aren’t patient enough, don’t have enough of *fill-in-the-blank*,” just flow like water in a stream. Just keep going. Just stay flexible. All of the answers will come. You just gotta keep going. And if all else fails, have a dance party. Works every time.
It has been so good to spend today with the Learning Well Community. You guys ROCK! I seriously felt the love and enjoyed sharing a
Anywho, I want to thank the mamas from @learningwell for having me. It was a blast! I hope y
Thank you so much to Camille 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.
I just want to say that you are amazing, and reading this made me wish you were my homeschooling neighbour, to be close by, reminding me to flow when I feel frustrated ❤️