Homeschooling Day in the Life: Christie, Midwest Homeschooling Mom to Five Children

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 Christie, Midwest homeschool mom to five children.

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.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!

Learning Well LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links from Amazon or other programs are used on this website. For more info, please refer to our disclosure statement.

Meet Christie

Christie @oneblessedmess_ is a midwestern mama to five who pulled her oldest kids from public school in 2019 and hasn’t looked back!

Prior to homeschooling, Christie had struggled with feeling adequate and equipped to be the one to fulfill the tug in her heart to homeschool her children. After seeing so many capable homeschooling moms sharing their journeys on YouTube, that tug in her heart to homeschool grew to an ultimate calling.

Get the 6 Secrets to a Simpler Mom Life

Now, Christie’s heart beats to encourage other moms who feel that same tug to feel empowered and capable through Christ on her YouTube channel, One Blessed Mess. What started as a video record of her family’s first steps into homeschooling has now grown into a community of like-minded women who love and encourage one another in their homeschooling journeys.

My Call to Homeschool

Good morning, all! I’m so excited to be taking over Learning Well today for a homeschool day in the life!

I’m Christie, mother to 5, wife to my husband Derrek for 15 years next week, and on my 5th year of homeschooling. Phew, that’s a lot of 5s! 😂 My calling to homeschool started well before we even had children, but the problem was I never felt fully *ready* or qualified to start when my two oldest became school-age. So, on to public school they went…

…that is until I was midnight nursing my 4th baby and stumbled upon homeschooling YouTube channels. I saw firsthand that I didn’t have to be perfect or have it all figured out to really do this. God spoke so much truth into me through those women, and my heart did a complete 180. So, at the end of the school year in 2019, my kids stepped into a public school for the last time, and I stepped into my calling. God has been so faithful and gracious in this journey; refining us, guiding us, seeing us through heart aches and breakthroughs, and really just giving me a front-row seat into my children’s lives. The relationship I have developed with my kids through this whole experience is something I couldn’t trade for long strolls alone in Target with a hot coffee (although trust me, sometimes I fantasize about that!) Not every day is easy, but it is so, so worth it.

I hope you will come along with us today for our sometimes-messy, always-imperfect day in the life!

Morning Work

We usually start our day around 9ish gathered together. I love starting the day with our unofficial “morning basket” because it helps set the tone for the day. While I consider myself an eclectic homeschooler, the Charlotte Mason in me melts over slow-morning family time. The kids will watch an episode of World Watch News, then come back to the table for their morning work. We do Bible and financial literacy together as a family, and then they will work on their individual handwriting, spelling, and Fix-It! Grammar.

My 5 and 3 year olds are usually paired off playing with toys, drawing, or creating small fires 😉

Individual Lessons

Language arts and math are two subjects my children do individually. This is where homeschooling multiple kids can get tricky! How do you divide your time and physical efforts without losing your mind?

Thankfully, my three oldest are mostly independent, but I still make sure I review and check over their work with them every day. We have settled into a nice rhythm in our homeschool where I don’t feel like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but this took a lot of time and trial & error.

Some tips that have helped me:

Keep things *simple.* Your children will thank you, and you will thank yourself later, too!
Utilize outside sources for teaching if you’re feeling stretched thin. My oldest three all use video lessons for math, and I am *so* grateful for that reprieve to be able to focus on other things!
Housework can wait. I know, those dishes and that pile of laundry is screaming for help 😂 I have found when I am focused on other things outside of schooling, I become so much more stressed than when I give myself permission to wait to do the other things!
Work with the youngest first. Their attention spans tend to be the shortest so I try to work youngest to oldest as much as I can!

Next up…lunch/play break! 🙌 We are halfway through the day!

Homeschool Imperfectly

Dishes overflowing in the sink? Messy bookshelves? A laundry full of clothes? I think sometimes social media gives the impression that we are homeschooling in highly curated spaces at all hours of the day, not a single hair out of place, crumb on the floor, or timeline *still* hanging up from the Christmas study 3 months ago (🙋🏼‍♀️🤦‍♀️).

The truth is – we all have things that are falling by the wayside. We all have different circumstances, different spaces, and different families. Homeschooling is not one-size-fits all and looks vastly different from day-to-day, family to family (which is why these day in the lives are so fun to watch!) We were not created to *do it all*, nor should we expect ourselves to. Focusing on your children and school while you’re schooling gives you the permission to *rest*, and every homeschooling mom could use some more of that! Amen?!

Feel inadequate? Not homemaker-y enough? Can’t quite keep all the plates spinning?

Good news: God has called you to it, and He will see it through. Your worthiness isn’t defined in how many loads of dishes you’ve washed today or meals you’ve cooked. He wants relationship, mess and all, and so do your children.

Coming Back Together

After our lunch break & writing curriculum, we always come back together as a family to do either science or history (Notgrass From Adam to Us for history, The Good and the Beautiful for science.) Today is history! We love to cuddle up on the couch for this, and then we top our day off with a read aloud. Right now we are reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Farmer Boy.” Our school day as a whole typically ends around 1-2 pm depending on the day (and the rabbit trails – IYKYK!)

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the ability to combine so many subjects with my children of varying ages; the discussions, light bulb moments, the toddler’s bounciness on my knee as I read, all of it. It reminds me that we are indeed in this thing together, as we should be. My kids have become best friends, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be the one to lead them.

My Prayer For You

As I erase the board and straighten the books in conclusion of another school day, I can’t help but to think of all the exhausted homeschooling mamas out there stuck in survival mode. Maybe 2024 hasn’t been the kindest to you and your family so far, maybe you have been feeling overwhelmed with the weight of this calling, or maybe you just feel alone.

I pray God wraps His loving arms around you and breathes new life into your homeschool.

I pray you find yourself wading above water, and soon on to the safety of the shore altogether.

I pray you would see that God created you to be exactly where you are right now, and that He is working your present circumstances together for good.

Know that you are *not* alone, and homeschooling is a blessing that happens right alongside the ebbs and flows of life.