Homeschooling Day in the Life: Lauren, Homeschooling Mom to Three Kids, Living in Wisconsin
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 Lauren, homeschooling mom to three kids, living in Wisconsin!
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 Lauren
Lauren @ourhomeschool_harmony met her husband, Steve, when they were in college and will be married for 17 years this July! They have three kids, ages 11, 8, and 5 and live in Wisconsin (Lauren’s home state). They moved here two years ago after previously living in Michigan and Chicago.
Lauren has been homeschooling for four years. She loves the flexibility it provides them to cater to individual learning styles, explore interests, and spend TIME together as a family.
Good Morning!
Good morning Learning Well friends!
I am so excited to share a glimpse into our homeschool today and hope you follow along! I’m Lauren (aka @ourhomeschool_harmony ) and we are a homeschool family of 5! My husband and I met in college and will be married for 17 years this July! We have three kids, ages 11, 8, and 5, and live in southeast Wisconsin (after previously living in Illinois and Michigan).
We are wrapping up our fourth year of homeschooling and have come to understand that our home learning journey is ever-evolving. There is definite growth as a family (experiencing both growth spurts and growing pains!) – and above all are forever grateful for the TIME we have together. It’s hard to believe our oldest was in second grade when we started and we’re now about to embark on the middle school years!
I hope you enjoy these snapshots of our day, and with that…let’s get started!
I usually try to wake up between 6-6:30 to do final prep for the day and have some solo coffee time :). I’ll also try to knock out a few household to-do’s before the kids wake up around 7:30. Sometimes they’re up earlier and sometimes they sleep in – but that’s the beauty of unrushed mornings! Depending on when they get up, they usually watch a little TV or play, and then it’s time for breakfast, morning responsibilities, and school!
Morning Happenings
It was pancakes for breakfast this morning! My daughter requested to whip up a batch and each got to make and flip their own :). Let’s be clear…I am usually the head chef 😉, but as the kids get older – I’m trying to encourage more independence and self sufficiency! My daughter has this go-to pancake recipe memorized…so had already started making them while I was getting dressed this morning!
After breakfast, the kids get dressed, brush teeth, etc…and we begin our school day!
We definitely have a daily rhythm, but I like to say that it’s syncopated! We adjust our days as needed to accommodate other activities, shifting priorities, and interests. That said, we typically begin our day around 9:00, starting with our version of “morning time.” This always includes our daily Bible readings, prayers, and memory work. It’s during this time that we also focus on any special unit studies and often include some of our history readings/topics as well!
We are learning about Ancient Greece in history right now, so a special focus during morning time is Greek Mythology! We’re making a Mt. Olympus family tree and Hades is on the docket for today!
Time For Math
We make it a point to tackle math with my older two early in the day. We’ve tried moving it around at various points during the year, but the consensus (at least for now) has been that doing it early is what works best for us. (My youngest usually plays independently during this time, but today asked to watch a Hercules cartoon after our mythology discussion!)
We switched to Horizons Math mid-year and are very happy with it overall. It’s a spiral approach, but spends more time teaching individual concepts than our previous math curriculum.
I’ll be honest, math has become a pain point for us this year and I’m still trying to put my finger on ‘why’. Concepts are getting more advanced, and things feel harder – which can definitely cause frustration for all of us.
A couple things I’m trying to help ease the pain:
- Limiting our time spent on math lessons and/or breaking up lessons into chunks – meaning maybe we do 20 minutes of math in the morning and 20 minutes after lunch. Sometimes it helps to come back with fresh eyes after a break!
- Taking our lessons off the page by rewriting problems on a whiteboard, having the kids take turns “teaching” each other certain concepts, and applying the things we’re learning to real life whenever possible!
- Reviewing foundational skills by pulling out the old flashcards once and awhile, or playing math games that reinforce the basics!
Independent Work + Mommy and Me Time
After my older two finish math lessons, they take quick break before tackling their independent work.
We LOVE these storage clipboards and use them daily! I created simple checklists in Canva for each one of my kiddos where I list their independent tasks for the day. My older two do spelling, typing, handwriting, and reading on their own – in addition to any copywork or notebooking they might have that day. The clipboards open up, so I can include any worksheets they might need, and even have storage compartments for pencils…very easy to grab and go!
It’s during this time that I am able to work with my youngest! Pictured are some of the resources I’m using with him this year – and I follow his lead on how much he wants to do on a given day. He is 5, so I am definitely not pushing too much book work, but he also likes to do the things he sees his older siblings doing.
He and I are loving Math with Confidence. He’s usually always very happy to do a lesson (or a few!) with me. We sprinkle in some language and he actually does a fair amount of writing on his own. He already has a collection of little “stories” he’s written! We also spend our one on one time reading lots of fun books together!
This all takes about an hour…and then we’re ready to break for lunch!
Thank You!
Thank you so much for following along today! I’ve enjoyed sharing a glimpse into our day and want to stress how much life happens outside of these little squares.
Homeschooling is a journey we never expected to take. God steered us down this path four years ago and although it hadn’t been in our plans…He knew better. I’m so thankful we trusted His plan and continue to seek His guidance as we learn and grow together.
As I’m sure many of you are familiar, we often get asked “How long do you plan to homeschool?” My response used to be, “As long as it serves us.” That changed awhile back when I realized what I should be saying is, “As long as it serves Him.”
So, we give it all to God. The joys, the struggles – the fun, the frustration …we trust He is using it all to form us into who He created us to be.
These final pictures represent my favorite part of the day…bedtime reading. My oldest doesn’t fit on my lap anymore, but is always close by when we cozy up with our books. This time together brings us such peace and tends to help erase any frustrations that may have occurred earlier in the day. Some of our best conversations happen during this time. It helps one day come to a close, so we can be ready for the next.
Sleep well, friends! I hope you continue to follow our home learning journey at @ourhomeschool_harmony !
Thank you Lauren for sharing your Day in the Life with us!
