A Day in the Life of Homeschool Mama Maria

Here’s a look at the Day in the Life of Maria–artist, storyteller, writer, healthy living enthusiast, and homeschooling mama to two amazing boys! At Learning Well, we understand that homeschooling doesn’t look the same for all of us. We understand it doesn’t have to either for us to learn and glean good things from each other. Each Wednesday, on our Instagram feed, we feature a new homeschool mama to take over the feed and show us what her day looks like.

Some of us homeschool for religious reasons and that inspires our homeschool days. Some of us homeschool from the road and never do school in the same place twice. We might have been homeschooling for years and years. Or we may have just begun our journeys. We understand that those details don’t really matter though. The common thread that binds us all together is our desires to educate our children differently.

We might all homeschool 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 Maria

Maria hails from the bold north of Minnesota. She is an artist, storyteller, writer, nature lover and healthy living enthusiast. She is lucky enough to spend every day with her partner in life, Allan. Together they run an extremely successful design and branding business from their home in the suburbs. Their life is by most standards unconventional, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Maria and Allan have been blessed with three energetic boys (ages 9, 7 & 4) who are growing up to be world shaking champions for truth, goodness and beauty. They have homeschooled from the start, but did not originally set out to homeschool. You could say that they have found themselves unexpectedly homeschooling and loving every minute of it. They couldn’t imagine their lives any other way.

Maria loves to travel and looks forward to hitting the open road or hopping on a plane with her family. Since becoming entrepreneurs 4 years ago they have embarked on a few longer term road trips. Spending 3-5 weeks away from home affords them the time to travel slowly and immerse themselves in the places they visit.

Follow along as Maria shares a peek into their day with you!

Breakfast & Morning List

Even though my boys wake before 7 AM, we intentionally start our day slowly. My husband cooks a nutritious breakfast for the family, we usually eat eggs, whole grain pancakes or a hearty bowl of sprouted oatmeal.

After breakfast the boys have a Morning List that they complete which mostly consists of self-care items and one “table chore” to help clean up after breakfast. After this they play, read and do their own thing until I am ready to begin our learning time together.

While they eat I workout, get dressed for the day and ensure that everyone has completed their morning list. This is usually the time when we listen to our Morning Collective playlist that includes a hymn, folk song, scripture and other memory work set to music.

Following Their Lead

Some days we start off with table work and other days we start with Morning Collective and then move into our Main Lesson block. It just depends on the time, our attitudes and energy levels. I try not to be rigid about our days and follow the lead of my children. I find that when I follow their energy, attitudes and interests ours days are smoother and everyone is more engaged in learning.

Today we had to break from our table work to watch an eagle soar high above our cul-de-sac. I usually eat my breakfast around this time of the day, as I have been experimenting with intermittent fasting and really enjoying the benefits.

Main Lesson Block

During our Main Lesson Block time we study one area in depth for 3-6 weeks at a time. Last week we finished a study about Antarctic Exploration using Beautiful Feet Books Around the World with Picture books as a spine. This week we started a study about Snow and the life of Ezra Jack Keats using Kara Anderson’s unit study as a spine.

Today we are drinking hot chocolate and following a Chalk Pastel Art tutorial as well as reading several books about snow.

Outside + Lunch + Rest

One of the major benefits of running a business from our house and having my husband home is that he can partake in the “special” touchstones of our day like drinking cocoa mid-morning, playing outside before lunch and reading the Bible to the boys as they finish eating.

Life with him home is a far cry from the loneliness and exhaustion that encompassed my days alone with babies and toddlers. Not that I didn’t love my time home alone with them, it was just different. I don’t think I realized how enriching it would be to have him just a stairway away all day.

Every afternoon my boys and I spend an hour or two alone. Each child has an iPod and CD player that they use to listen to audiobooks and music. They also are free to play with LEGO, work on personal projects, play one player logic games, etc.

I usually sit down with a cup of tea, a nonfiction book or my watercolors. This is also when I focus on house projects, work and cleaning.

Intentional Time With the Kids

One night per week my husband takes our older boys out for a “Boys Night” where they go out to eat at Chipotle, study the Bible + pray and go on an outing (ice skating, bowling, movie, etc). That same night I take our youngest on his own date. Our evening is usually spent at a local co-op eating from the hot bar and shopping for the week. 

I look forward to these nights were we are intentionally pouring into the souls of our boys.

Goodnight!

I’m off to kiss my sweet boys goodnight as my husband finishes reading their bedtime books.

It’s my husband’s 40th birthday tomorrow, so we have spent the rest of the evening fine tuning preparations for his big day, including a few last minute art projects that have lead to a later than normal bedtime. Thank you for following along today as I shared a glimpse into our homeschool. You have been gracious hosts!

As you can see, most of our days are filled with good books, art and a good dose of energy. If you would like to continue following along on our adventures, head over to @mariamakesmuffins where I talk about homeschooling gifted 2E boys, feeding our family healthy meals and running a business with my significant other.

I’m off to read a book and do it all again tomorrow!

Thank you so much to Maria 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.