Homeschooling Day in the Life: Leah, homeschooling mom to four boys and passionate about sharing good books with other moms

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 Leah, homeschooling mom to four boys, and passionate about sharing good books with other moms.

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 Leah

Leah @lovingleadinglittles lives in Iowa where she homeschools her four young boys. She and her family are very active in their local church that they love.

Leah is passionate about good books, Biblical literacy and theology, leading her children to know and love God, and homeschooling her wild boys.

A Homeschooling Foundation

Hello there, I’m Leah @lovingleadinglittles!

I’m excited to share a glimpse into our homeschool today! For me, it all starts with the foundation.

Having a philosophy and really understanding my “why” has been such a blessing. This has helped guide my books and resources, as well as how we structure our day and week.

There are so many great philosophies and methods out there! For us, the Charlotte Mason approach has resonated with us the most.

The Charlotte Mason philosophy is a faith-based method of homeschooling that focuses on the atmosphere of the home (a joyful, life-giving environment), discipline (cultivating good habits and character), and a life (living books and living ideas).

A literature-based method recognizes that children are created in God’s image and are capable of engaging with living ideas. We seek to educate the whole child, mind, body, and soul, and to offer a generous educational feast of subjects.

Morning Time

Our school day begins with “morning time”. We all gather together for our Bible reading, followed by a rotation of riches.

For our Bible time, we alternate days in the Old Testament and New Testament. This year we are reading in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy for the Old Testament and in Mark and Acts for the New Testament.

Next we have one of our “riches” subjects:
-Artist study
-Composer study
-Hymn
-Folk sing

This is a beautiful way to begin our school day before we move into the next lessons.

Lessons

After Morning Time we move into our lessons for the day. One of my desires for our homeschool is to spread a generous feast.

My favorite subjects have always been language arts and math. I would be happy reading books and teaching equations all day long! 😁 And while these are vital components of our homeschool, I want to set so many more beautiful subjects before our children.

This year our lessons include reading, writing, math, history, geography, nature study, literature (fairy tales), poetry, drill, handicrafts, singing, folk dancing, and the riches I shared earlier.

This allows my children to experience a wide array of beautiful, life-giving subjects. We definitely don’t do every subject every day (or even every week!), but throughout the year we are able to include these subjects in our curriculum.

We also attend a Charlotte Mason co-op once a week, where my children have some of these lessons.

Honestly? Many of these subjects don’t come naturally for me and are really challenging. Nature study? I’m more indoorsy. 😉 Singing? I need some lessons myself! Handicrafts? I would rather create an Excel spreadsheet than create something with my hands! But the beauty of homeschool is that I get to learn right alongside my children.

I don’t want my boys to be limited by my own limitations, weaknesses, or preferences. I want to present a wide feast of subjects to them for their mind, body, and soul. It’s hard at times, and definitely imperfect, but it’s been a really beautiful journey.

Read Aloud

We love read-alouds in our home! These are not just a part of our homeschool day, but our home life as well. Sometimes we’ll have a chapter book that we read either at snack time or lunch time, and we always have a story before bed. I absolutely love reading to my oldest three (ages 7, 6, 4) before bedtime each night. (While my toddler runs around like a little tornado!)

Right now my boys are loving the Little House series. The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls has been another favorite for them! My favorite read-aloud this year has been The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald. I read this with my two oldest a few months ago and I absolutely loved the story and language! Knowing that C.S. Lewis was a fan of George MacDonald, I knew I wanted to read a book by him. It did not disappoint!

Mother Culture

After lessons and lunch, we move into a rhythm of rest. I tidy up from lunch and then put my toddler down for his afternoon nap. My older three have “quiet rest time” where they often listen to audiobooks or play Legos quietly together. This allows our whole home to have a time of semi-quiet and rest.

And me? I get to have my mother culture time. This is a time for me to read and reset. This typically includes reading and doing a further Bible study. I’ll read other books such as homeschooling books or pre-reading books for school, or any other books I’m currently reading.

Mothers are worthy of nourishment too! This is a great time for me to prioritize my own rest and growth. Many days there are other tasks that also need done, and I often get interrupted, however having a set time in my schedule to read has been a huge blessing!

Picture Books

We love picture books for all ages! Beautiful picture books are such a great way to enjoy time together.
When the weather is nice, I like to get the baby up from nap and head outside for an afternoon snack and reading session. This is especially fun in the summer! It can be a great way to transition from our rest time to the rest of our evening. Plus it helps us get outdoors.

Depending on the season, I will often keep a blanket by the back door so we can easily head outside for story time. Here are some of our absolute favorite picture books! Typically I’m looking for three things in a good picture book:
-Inspiring ideas
-Rich language
-Beautiful illustrations

Not every book will have everything, but this helps me determine what books might be a good fit for us.

Professional Development

Learning and growing as a homeschool mama is something that’s really close to my heart. I love learning about education, especially Charlotte Mason’s writings. I am so encouraged and inspired every time I read one of these books. These books often help me set a goal for the kind of homeschooling mom I want to grow into.

Just like I always want my children to be learning and growing as people, I want to model this as well. It’s inevitable that we all make mistakes and change our minds. Every year we will evaluate and adjust as needed. I want to live in grace, acknowledge mistakes, and correct our course as needed.

Thank you so much to Leah 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.