Homeschool Day in the Life: Kristi, homeschool mom, author, podcast host and speaker
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 Kristi, homeschooling mama, author, podcast host, and conference speaker.
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 Kristi
Kristi is a home organization and #momlife expert. She’s also the author of M.O.M.=Master Organizer of Mayhem and Homeschool Basics. Kristi hosts the Simply Joyful podcast, and is a popular conference speaker.
Kristi has a passion to encourage families to find simple ways to bring more joy into their home and life. She loves to share about her adventures in motherhood and home life through a variety of media that you can find at KristiClover.com.
Kristi lives in San Diego with her husband, Steve, and their five children.
A Successful Homeschool Experiment!
Our homeschool experiment worked! We started homeschooling when Grant was in 1st grade and Blake was in kindergarten. My husband and I pulled them out of our public school and jumped into homeschool life.
Our family homeschools “privately” in California. Nope, that doesn’t mean we do it in secret. That’s how to homeschool independently in CA without joining a charter school. This allows me to pick all of our curriculum out and tailor it to my kids’ needs.
Fun fact: I’m the “How to Homeschool” gal here in CA. I am the @cheaofca speaker who teaches families how to homeschool in CA.
Grant is working and taking classes at a junior college this year. We’ve had our boys take college classes to earn dual enrollment credit (high school and college) for years. Grant is now only a few classes away from earning his AA! His plan is to transfer to a four year school after that.
Steve and I have been married for 23 years. Grant (18) is the man of the hour in this picture. It is from our graduation party we had for him last year. Blake (17) is a junior in high school, Wade (12) is in 6th grade, Ashlyn (9) is in 3rd grade, and Caitlyn (7) is in 1st grade.
Homeschool Curriculum
Homeschool curriculum! That seems to be the #1 question I get about homeschooling! Well, that and “Are you crazy?” ?
We’ve used lots of curriculum through the years. This is a picture of some of the books I’ll read with my girls (3rd and 1st) today. Wade (6th) keeps his books in his room. Blake (11th) keeps his materials in the next room.
This year we’re using mainly Sonlight, MathUSee, and IEW. I have ALL my favorites linked on my homeschool page on my site. I am very overdue for a homeschool curriculum review on my YouTube channel (you can go to @kristiclover and click on the YouTube link I have in my bio). Be sure to follow me there, and feel free to watch my other homeschool videos.
Creating Traditions
Creating traditions is an important part of our homeschool. Traditions help create fun memories.
Every year we make pancakes on our first day of school, and open a new family game!! The new game tradition started back when Grant started kindergarten in public school. It was a way to create anticipation to come home and have something fun to do together. Once we started homeschooling, this tradition turned into the way I motivated the kids to get work done so that we could play!! Fun is always a great motivator any day of your homeschool year.
Subjects We Can Do Together
I try to find several subjects that my kids can do together. Don’t be fooled by this picture. Caitlyn (7) is only listening and doing her own version of taking notes. She loves to participate. I try to make my younger kids feel like they are part of all we do, even if it’s a little over their heads. The best part of this is that she really is learning about writing here. Plus, she gets to laugh along with Wade and Ashlyn as Mr. Pudewa tells jokes.
Science and history are typically the easiest subjects to do together. However, sometimes I can get lucky and get programs like writing to work too. In this case, I just require more from Wade and know that Ashlyn is just getting started. She actually loves writing stories, so she’s excited to be taking an official writing class.
Our Homeschool Room
Welcome to our homeschool room…that we don’t use as much anymore. I keep the bulk of our books for the year here, however it’s now turned into more of an arts and crafts area for my girls. I moved our daily work and our #CloverCrate downstairs.
Yes, I said clover crate. I created a homeschool organization course several years ago and the crate system that I came up with is one of my favorite parts. It’s how I plan our entire year and all my kids’ curriculum into one crate.
I’m truly passionate about helping families find some sanity in the midst of home life and homeschooling. That’s why I created the course and why I wrote my book on home organization (M.O.M.=Master Organizer of Mayhem).
It took some time to figure out how to get our homeschool organized. When we first started homeschooling, I felt completely overwhelmed by all the “stuff” that homeschooling brought into our home. Papers and books. Teachers manuals and lessons. Books, book, and more books!
In trying to find the best fit for my kids, I tweaked all kinds of different systems. After a few years under my belt, I figured out how to use a combination of systems to finally feel like we had some sanity to our homeschool life. After sharing a video on YouTube about a few of those system, including my crate system, I had TONS of requests for more details. So, I made a course.
When I speak at homeschool conferences, I find that most families put a lot of pressure on themselves and end up taking on too much. The key part of the organization process is figuring out what is required by your state, and what you want to teach your kids without over purchasing.
If you relate to any of this, know there are lots of resources out there for you. You don’t have to stay stuck in the overwhelm. You’ll still have hard days. That’s inevitable. Kids will be kids. Life will throw you curve balls. But you can be a little more prepared for those moments.
My course details are linked in my bio (@kristiclover) and at HomeschoolOrganization.com.
Thank you so much to Kristi 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.
