Homeschooling Day in the Life: Cindy, former registered nurse and homeschooling mom to two in Virginia

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 Cindy, former registered nurse and homeschooling mom to two!

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 Cindy

Cindy @alearningwewillgo is a former registered nurse that worked in pediatrics and surgical practice before becoming a mom. She now embraces all things motherhood, homeschooling her two children in Virginia.

Cindy loves reading, listening to recorded sermons, and learning about local plants and animals. Cindy also loves to provide motherhood inspiration to others.

Good Morning!

Good morning! My name is Cindy, @alearningwewillgo , and I am looking forward to sharing a glimpse of a day in our homeschool life.

I think any mother, homeschooling or not, can attest to the benefits of starting the day before our children are up. There’s a stillness in the morning that I so appreciate. This special time is carved out for quiet reading, devotional, and filling up my cup before I pour into my family this day.

Rising before our children may not be possible in every season of motherhood, and that’s perfectly fine. The goal is that at some point in our day we can have some quiet time.

Some of the things I spend this morning time doing include reading, devotional, listening to old sermons, planning, & listening to motherhood/homemaking/homeschooling podcasts.

I read once that we should read the gospel daily because we forget it daily. Seems a little silly, but I’ve found it’s true in many ways. And the same is true in this parenting/homeschooling life. Settling my heart this way in the morning, brings me back to why we embarked on this journey. And the why is oh so important friends, because it will affect the how, when, where, and ways we do this life with our children.

Bible + Breakfast

Bible and breakfast is how we start each day. (Not necessarily waffles, but Bible reading at breakfast.)

Once I bring breakfast to the table, we sing our hymn of the month. For the first month of the year, we are singing It Is Well with My Soul. It felt like the best way to set our minds going into a new year. This being a time of year that many plan intentions, resolutions, or goals, I want us to keep our eyes heavenward that whatever comes our way, we know the Lord already has it worked out for us and we can rest in Him: “let this blessed assurance control.”

After our hymn, they eat, and at that time I read either from one of their bibles, Bible story books, or devotional. After our reading we discuss and wrap it up with scripture memory. This week we actually are not working on any new scripture memory, but are instead reviewing several verses already learned over the past year.

Starting our morning this way is important for two reasons:
1. To start their day in the word and in prayer
2. Bible time in the morning means that no matter how the rest of the day goes, or what interruptions or change of plans come up, we know the most important part was done. We can skip math, move reading lessons, set off on a spontaneous adventure, and know we already dedicated necessary time to our chief lesson of the day.

Lately my kiddos have resorted to “singing” their Bible verses. Sometimes it makes me laugh because they’re so silly, but they do still say the correct verse so I see it as a win.

Lessons

We typically wrap up lessons by 9:30 so we can get outdoors!

Our homeschool is a mix of Charlotte Mason and Waldorf education. Mason states lessons should finish by lunch so the afternoons are free for outdoor exploration or diving into other interests. But the beauty of homeschooling is the freedom. We like to get outdoors early, so we stop lessons early.

Mama, you get to decide what works best for your particular family, in this particular season.

In both Waldorf and Charlotte Mason homeschools there is an emphasis on waiting until a child is six for formal lessons. But here’s that freedom again, it’s okay to wait until seven also! In fact, in my state when your child is heading into school age, the parent decides whether they will send them or hold them back a year, based on your own observation of your child. You may find an extra year of play will benefit them!

Simply put, academics is not yet our main focus. In this season, we have chosen to prioritize time outdoors together daily, taking in all the beauty of God’s artist hand, as seen in nature.

I hope you’re finding freedom in your homeschooling, that you don’t have to rigidly follow any one method, but get to put together a unique homeschool, that uniquely serves your family.

The Outdoor Life

“The consideration of out-of-door life, in developing a method of education, comes second in order; because my object is to show that the chief function of the child––his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life––is to find out all he can, about whatever comes under his notice, by means of his five senses; that he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge got in this way; and that, therefore, the endeavor of his parents should be to put him in the way of making acquaintance freely with Nature and natural objects…” -Charlotte Mason

With lessons that end so early, friends have asked, “but what do you do with your kids the whole day?”
First, we simply enjoy our children. Second, we let nature do her part.

Truly our children are so happy outdoors -in any weather- nature is a friend, a playground, a risk, a new world, a teacher, and a connection to God.

My daughter said, “today was the best day ever!” A favorite pond of theirs was frozen enough for them to “skate” on, and it was truly their wish come true. We discussed facts about water/snow, North American mammals, and bird calls on our nature walk.

A Day in the Life

I’m looking back at the photos I shared today, and it feels pretty accurate:

•Mommy morning time {Bible/devotional, warm drink}
•Kids’ morning time {hymn, bible/devotions, verses}
•Lessons {language arts, music, science, reading}
•Outdoor play {hours of free time in nature }

*Not captured in photos:
•Read alouds scattered throughout the day {picture books, poetry, & chapter books}
•Ballet {each child is currently enrolled in one extra activity per week–it’s nice, and not overwhelming to our days}
•Meals {we got take out today!}
•Bedtime {bath, books, bed}

This is our life. Nothing flashy or luxurious, but wow is it rich. There’s more I planned to share, but was caught up in this gift of time with my family; time that truthfully is moving too fast.

This decision to be mothers, this commitment to raise up and train our children–it’s real; it’s bring-you-to-your-knees, pray-like-you’ve-never-prayed, love-deeper-than-you-ever-imagined, trust-God-like-you-never-have, kind of real. And it is the sweetest, most impactful work I will ever do.

Thank you for letting me share life and heart with you today.

Thank you so much to Cindy 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.