Homeschooling Day in the Life: Adventure Schooling, Homeschool Mom to Two Teenagers

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 Nichole, an adventure schooling, homeschool mom to two teenagers.

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 Nichole

Hi, I’m Nichole, adventure schooling Mom to 2 and wife to my favorite adventure buddy of 19 years. Originally from Iowa, we’ve lived in the southwest corner of Arkansas for the last 12 years. I’ve homeschooled my children from the beginning and they’re now in 9th grade (my son) and 6th grade (my daughter). Exploration has always been the hallmark of our homeschool, even if it looks a little different in these older years. Technically, homeschooling was my husband’s idea, but it’s the best decision we’ve ever made. Come with me for a look at what our days look like, as we chase the wonder wherever we wander.

Gardening

welcome to my happy place! My mornings start early, partially because my children didn’t sleep in until they were 11 years old, but also because I savor having a few moments alone to gather my thoughts and ready myself for the day ahead. Taking my coffee with me, I walk my garden and check on the growth, pick some flowers for the table, and spend a few moments breathing in the beauty in front of me, filling my cup so that I can pour it back out joyfully for my family.

Gardening is a hobby that I taught myself (check out #coleyraegardens for more), and it’s become something I cherish. I live in a regular, suburban neighborhood but am blessed with a backyard space that we’ve built both raised beds and a keyhole garden. Dahlia’s are my favorite to grow, even though they don’t love zone 8 summers. Gardening has also added depth to many of our homeschool studies, including a favorite where we gathered salad greens, and observed them under our microscope while also eating our salad for lunch.

The Younger Years

Our routine now looks very different from when we started, but there are threads that remain the same. For many years, our days began with reading aloud around the breakfast table. We are our own eclectic, Charlotte Mason style homeschoolers, on our adventure schooling journey that has morphed over the years. We’ve used a range of incredible curriculum and are currently blending online classes, with in person co-op, with literature based unit studies.

For many years, my approach was a one room schoolhouse approach and we studied through living books, narration, hands on learning, playful learning, and other Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool ideas. It served us well as we moved to the upper grades, shifting away from one thing and into the next, while still holding on to our love for living books and time spent outdoors. Now, we blend some online classes, with independent study, an in person co-op for one class, and creative, real life learning.

Nowadays, I get one on one time with my 9th grade son at 7 AM while I cook him breakfast and we discuss the day ahead, along with some large scale news or bigger topics; then he heads off to join his online course or begin his school work. Then, I wake my 6th grade daughter at 8 AM and have the same delightful moments of connection with her over breakfast and conversation. She moves on to start her school day (she has one online class and one in person co-op class), while I clean up breakfast and get some work done for my business.

Our Current Approach

A closer look at how we homeschool now on a typical day, unless it’s’ adventure day, we drop everything and chase some shenanigans; learning outdoors or on some adventure. While we still have a few lessons we do as a group (art and music studies, or riches) my children have moved to more independent work. We’re all working on our own things these days, but moving in cohesion in our cherished school room.

Adventure Day

From the beginning of our homeschool days, I implemented an adventure day. Sometimes it’s just an hour, sometimes it’s a whole day, and sometimes it’s an overnight canoe camping trip on an island on a lake in Arkansas (yes, I do those things solo with my kids, it’s what I call being #responsiblybrave). Many times we hike a trail right in our city, sometimes we go hiking elsewhere. It could be a museum visit in a nearby city, trying something new like indoor rock climbing, or even a surprise trip to the movies. It’s a beloved tradition in our family, just my kids and I. We’ve had so many great conversations on these adventures and made memories I’ll cherish forever.

Sports

While we may homeschool and adventure school, we also play sports. Early on, both of my children expressed an interest in playing sports and that’s developed into playing at a high level. My son made varsity tennis as a freshman at our local high school (and went to state!). Arkansas allows homeschoolers to play public school sports. My daughter plays soccer on a travel soccer team, while also participating in theatre as much as she can. She just finished nailing the bottle dance as a dancer in Fiddler on the Roof. It keeps us busy but it’s what they choose and we are happy to support them in their pursuits.

Dinner

Multiple nights per week, I rely on my crock pot to help get dinner on our table. Quality food matters to me, and it’s a bit of a challenge at times due to my Celiac Disease and Alpha Gal Syndrome. However, I’ve found ways to make sure we all get what we need. I have a window of time in the late morning or early afternoon to prepare. While I don’t always get it done, it makes our nights less chaotic, despite the sports practice shuffle.