Homeschool Day in the Life: Rachel, homeschooling mom of three living in the northeast
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 Rachel, homeschooling mom to three girls living on a small farm in the northeast.
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 Rachel
Rachel Reeves @arabella_farm is a mother to three girls who are 13, 10, and 7. She and her husband were high school sweethearts that met over 25 years ago. They were born, grew up, and married in So Cal. Rachel and her husband decided three years ago to move across the country to Northern Virginia and buy a small farm.
They homeschool their three girls, attend a small Anglican Church, and love their community. In her free time Rachel loves learning about current events and politics and shares daily news headlines on social media.
Good Morning!
Good morning, friends! It’s Rachel from @arabella_farm and I’m so happy to be here today, sharing what our life looks like on a normal Wednesday!
We are early risers in our house and in my early days of homeschooling I used to start our learning straight away. However, the more years I got under my belt, the more I saw the benefit of slowing our morning a little – we sit and read a bit, we leisurely eat breakfast, we play outside, and then we naturally start to come inside and prepare to “get down to business”….that being some more group reading, math and history lessons, and individual work.
I look forward to sharing more with you today – but first I need to make myself some toast!
Starting the Day Outside
When the weather permits {which is most days, actually, since my girls love both snow + rain} they spend some time in our woods before school. They usually bring me back “treasures” – today was a florescent mushroom and a beat-up, old baseball!
Since we live in a pretty historic portion of Northern Virginia (and very close to the Potomac River) I think the girls and I want to invest in a metal detector to search our property for more artifacts!
Alright…time to start school (and grab another cup of coffee).
School Lessons
We start our lessons in the back room with catechism, Bible reading, our “theologian of the week”, and Latin. All three of my girls {ages 13,11, and 7} do this portion together – we all agree that it’s our favorite part of the school day. If you’re interested in knowing what Bible resources we use, I have a highlight on my feed that shares what works for us!
Handwriting
Learning proper handwriting will *always* be a requirement in our house. Call me old fashioned but it’s happening {and can you tell how Frankie feels about it}?! Also…check out her wording adjustments. 😂 Do you require cursive in your homeschool?
Independent Subjects
In the afternoon the three girls work on their independent subjects {they both study different languages, math, and my eldest is taking two online courses through an Anglican house of studies}. I usually set up my seven year old with some manipulatives and an @audible book while I work on curating the news headlines to share on my feed.
Each afternoon I share important stories and events that I think should be highlighted and it’s been a privilege to meet so many people from around the world. It’s opened my perspective even further, to hear about trials and joys that others are moving through. It’s also been fun to engage my girls in the news of the day. I’m pretty confident any of them could sit on a CNN panel and hold their own.
Reading Aloud
Around 2pm we all plop down in the living room and do a bunch of read alouds. We are usually moving through 3-5 books at a time and always a picture book. The girls color or play Legos and I read. In the colder months, we light a fire and have tea.
What is your all-time favorite read-aloud? We have many but the girls always yell, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!” whenever I ask (also, does it bother anyone else that Lewis didn’t use the Oxford Comma?!).
Send Your Kids Outdoors
Out of my three girls, I have one that prefers being indoors. The other two beg to be outside and so I often find myself saying, “okay…go ahead” even though they have projects or lessons that need completing. My eldest grew up mostly in the city where access to being outdoors all the time was more of a challenge and I see how access to the easy outdoors truly makes a huge difference. Even my eldest, who is like me and wants to be curled up on the couch reading a book always, says, “Being outdoors makes me feel better!”
So I guess my advice to a younger mother is this: Send your kids outdoors. Don’t call them in. Lock them outside with a few snacks. If you have the chance to move to the country – DO IT. Buy a farm. Send them outdoors with their lessons. They learn just as much outside as they do in – likely more. ❤️
Be Encouraged-YOU Are Up for the Task!
It has been so fun sharing with you all today! Before I sign off I want to give a little encouragement to any one out there that may feel they are not up to the task. Here’s what I’ll say to that: No one cares for your child like you do and no one knows as much about your child. Certainly no one will spend as much time working with them as you will. Please take heart – our society wants to make education appear like a riddle that can only be solved by a select few but we all know this is a lie. Lean into your expertise of your child and be free! Now, head to bed – tomorrow is coming fast for you!
Thank you so much to Rachel 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.
