Homeschooling Day in the Life: Kaylie, Homeschooling Mom to Two, living in the Florida Panhandle
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 Kaylie, homeschooling mom of two girls in the Florida Panhandle.
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!
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Meet Kaylie
Kaylie is a homeschooling mom of two, living in the Florida Panhandle. She loves reading, the beach, working out, traveling, painting, and nature.
As a little girl she knew she always wanted to be a mom and early on God placed it on her heart to homeschool. She completely embraced it and now shares her journey with others over @pineapples_and_pencils_
Good Morning!
I’m Kaylie ! I’m a wife to a wonderful husband of 12 years and a mama of two beautiful girls. We have been homeschooling now for four years!
When I was a little girl my only goal and desire in life was to be a mom. People would always say “ but you need a real job!” That always baffled me because being a mom was a job! So I would always say teacher. I loved teaching. I was a preschool teacher for three years and then I entered the dental field for six years until we started our family and the desire of my heart became true!
As they got older I always felt the nudge to homeschool, but I was scared that I wouldn’t give them the best education because I struggled in school. The Lord worked on me. My older one started kindergarten and I volunteered. I loved being there and again the Lord kept pulling on my heart. First grade came and I became a substitute teacher and the Lord VERY quickly showed me that if I could teach a class of 30 kids, I could definitely teach my own!
The world shut down that spring and the Lord really got me. He laid the word “EQUIP” on my heart, and I prayed and prayed that if it was in his will for us to homeschool, he would show me. He answered all my prayers and spoke very very clear. “I WILL EQUIP YOU !” And he truly has. Four years later I see now how he was shaping and molding me for all that we do. And now I can’t even imagine not homeschooling.
Mornings
I get up at 6-6:30am. I really don’t like getting out of bed before 7am because we are so busy and once the day starts I don’t stop. However, to get all the things done in a day, early rising is what I must do! I start by getting up to workout. I LOVE working out! It’s so good for me mentally and physically. During that time I’ll listen to worship music, pray or read a book.
Once I’m done, if the girls aren’t awake yet, I’ll sit down and get my devotional in. If the girls are up then I will do my devotional in the afternoon. After that I go and shower and get ready for the day while the girls wake up, start chores and eat breakfast.
Tea Time with Jesus
We don’t do morning baskets or morning devotionals. I tried and tried over the years and I found it was always so rushed and I didn’t like that. So we started Tea Time with Jesus. We will have breakfast, say a prayer for the day and we do devotionals at bed time. That way we are all calm, we have great talks and can spend that time together not rushing.
We don’t do tea time every day, but I do try and do it as much as we can! We do always have our prayer up and we say it every day.
Our Homeschool Group
A huge part of our homeschool journey is our homeschool group. We have had so many fun experiences, and made so many friends. When we started the group I taught art and after three years of doing that I wanted to change it up! So I started a nature group.
We meet 1-2 times a month and learn about a topic. It’s all free, the kids make nature notebooks, earn badges and we enjoy time together. We have about 10-45 kids come and it lasts about 45 minutes to an hour.
Its been so fun and allows families that don’t normally do these things at home to come and get this area of learning. So many moms say how much their kids look forward to it and it has made their at home learning so much more enriched. It’s sparked their kids interest to want to learn more. That was my exact vision–to spark learning in kids! I always feel like Mrs. Frizzle!
Starting a homeschool group/nature group is easier than you think. Get a group of friends, pick a topic and learn about it. It’s as simple as that.
Our Daily Routine
We school about 3-5 hours a day. It all depends on how the girls are working and any other activities I have planned. We normally school four days a week.
- Mornings: Language Arts, Math, Handwriting, Explode the Code, (and any hands on activity I have set out)
- Break for lunch and play
- Afternoons: we come back for about an hour and do science/social studies, art or novel study
My goal is to make learning fun. I want learning to come to life ! I absolutely LOVE changing our school room theme each year!
Areas of Struggle
As a mom that’s in charge of her kids education, I worry about that a lot! I struggle with wondering if they are getting enough, am I doing enough, are they learning, and am I covering all they need?! I know so many of us all have these same thoughts and concerns. I am always reminded that they are getting a wonderful rounded education.
My favorite thing is that I can meet my kids were they are in their learning. I don’t have to push them to meet a standard or pressure to perform for a test that determines how smart they are. We can take as long as we need in an area, or we can advance on things according to how they are learning. We get to take the field trips, experience fun things and expand on anything we want.
The longer we homeschool, the more confident I become in where we are and what we do. I want to encourage you! Homeschooling is tough, and it takes a lot of patience, but it’s so rewarding and it’s such a blessing! Every day won’t be perfect, and it might not always be smooth. You might even feel you are behind and not sure what to do, but I promise that we have all felt that way. We might even be in that season now. I encourage you to find accounts to follow that uplift you, encourage you, and inspire you. Find others who you can reach out to and share all your ups and downs. We aren’t called to do this life alone, and this homeschooling journey should be the same.
Nighttime Routine
Night time is when we do our devotionals before bed. We have had awesome talks during this time and that’s why we switched devotionals to night. Our time isn’t rushed this way, and we are all together. Our times in the mornings were so rushed, and I didn’t want memories and time with Jesus to be rushed and unimportant. I wanted value in it. It’s been the best since we switched it! Thank you for being a part of our day! I’ve loved sharing our day with y’all!
Thank you Kaylie for sharing your Day in the Life 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.