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Homeschooling Day in the Life: Secret, Homeschooling Mom to Three Kids With a Passion for Art + Nature

Day in the life Secret

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, weโ€™re going to give you a peek into the homeschool day in the life of Secret, homeschooling mom to three kids with a passion for art and nature!

We can all learn and be inspired by one another, regardless of our homeschool approach. Itโ€™s not about looking good for social media, itโ€™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 โ€œdays in the lifeโ€. 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 Secret

Meet Secret

Secret is a mama to three cubs {11 โ€ข 7 โ€ข 3} and the creator behind @Liberty_Lions_Academy homeschool + shop. She enjoys cultivating a love of learning in the hearts of her children while creating resources aimed to fan the flames in othersโ€™ homeschool as well.

With a passion for art and nature that is fueled by her faith to see Godโ€™s beauty in all things, Secret shares their lessons and adventures as she journeys through this crazy-beautiful pilgrimage called motherhood.

Get the 6 Secrets to a Simpler Mom Life

Good Morning!

Good Morning, ๐™‡๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™’๐™š๐™ก๐™ก ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ! My name is Secret <โ€”๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ช๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ. Iโ€™m excited to share our day with you while also getting to know you, too.

I thought Iโ€™d share a few of the basics in this post to fill in some of the blanks:

๐™ƒ๐™ค๐™ฌ ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™๐™–๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™—๐™š๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ?

Iโ€™ve been homeschooling my eldest since the preschool years. Heโ€™s now 11yrs old and in 6th grade. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ: โ€œ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ?โ€ Weโ€™re nearing the end of our 8th year of learning at home together.

๐™’๐™š๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก๐™š๐™™? ๐™„๐™› ๐™ฃ๐™ค๐™ฉ, ๐™๐™ค๐™ฌโ€™๐™™ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™—๐™š๐™œ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™Ÿ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ฎ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก?

I was never homeschooled nor did I think Iโ€™d ever be a home educator. When we began this journey, the original thought was to only homeschool for a year or so and then transition our son into โ€œbuilding schoolโ€ (a term I came up with in lieu of the cringe term โ€œreal schoolโ€ or having to say Public/Private/Charter School). Along came my middle son and soon our โ€œplansโ€ began to shift as our hearts felt the ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜จ-๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ-๐˜ˆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ to trust the Lord and lean into homeschooling long-term.

I still remember those bumpy early years and how lonely & hopeless I felt. Finding a beautiful online homeschool community was such a breath of fresh air and just the encouragement my heart needed. In 2018 I opened the public account @liberty_lions_academy as a way of connecting & encouraging other homeschool families. After 4 years of hesitation, I finally took the leap to launch our shop where I share the resources I create for my cubs with families from all over the world. Itโ€™s been a true honor & humbling experience.

๐™’๐™๐™–๐™ฉโ€™๐™จ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™๐™ค๐™ข๐™š๐™จ๐™˜๐™๐™ค๐™ค๐™ก ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ฎ๐™ก๐™š?

We are year-round homeschoolers who enjoy Family-Style learning with a lot of Interest-Led & Hands-On lessons. Loop scheduling combined with schooling year-round changed the game for us by relieving the constant crushing feeling of โ€œfalling behindโ€. These two methods opened up the doors to our family to keep our foundational goals intact. Cultivating a love of learning is the core we build upon.

We love unit studies, field trips, science experiments, and collect many nature treasures to add to our curiosity shelves to study together. If I had to put a term to our style itโ€™s eclectic homeschoolers that are inspired by multiple homeschool philosophies, approaches, & programs. Tailoring our childrenโ€™s education based off of their individual learning needs is one of my favorite attributes of homeschooling.

Schooling With the Seasons

Here in Georgia there is a small window of โ€œfully pleasurableโ€ days outdoors before the smoldering, humid heat hits you in the face like a sack of bricks. We take full advantage of these lovely Spring days which means LOTS of outdoor schooling and activities. This also means that some of our table work might not begin until later in the afternoon whereas I typically like to aim to have all of our lessons wrapped up by 1pm.

๐™’๐™š ๐™จ๐™๐™ž๐™›๐™ฉ ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™จ.

While the morning dew dries, I like begin the more challenging lessons for each student. You knowโ€” those that they need to be at their freshest (mentally) in order to fully focus and complete without a hitch in their giddy up. Tired cubs + challenging subjects = lots of tears for everyoneโ€”We avoid that at all cost. For my eldest itโ€™s math and for my middle cub it is handwriting practice & phonics.

Impromptu Lessons

Impromptu lessons Secret

This can be intimidating to some โ€” veering off schedule. If I had to speak to the fear or daunting undertones that can surround this approach, I would say this:

Fan those sparks, mama!! Donโ€™t be afraid to break from the daily routine in order to fan the sparks of curiosity. These sparks have the potential to ignite the flames that fuel our passion for pursuing knowledge! It doesnโ€™t have to be daunting. Sometimes it just takes a childlike perspective to see the wonder in the world around us.

Today our science lesson was guided towards studying ants because our yard is currently prime real-estate for all the ant nests. While we were pulling weeds from our flowerbed, my children and I were frustrated at the anthills that seem to pop up overnight (Itโ€™s the fire ants that are the biggest nuisance). My eldest decided we needed to study the habits of ants in order to help find a nontoxic solution for deterring these little insects.

Iโ€™ll let you in on a little secret that Iโ€™ve come to appreciate through nature studies in particular:

The more we learn about an animal, the less scary or irritating they become. We are often fascinated by how intricately designed they are by the Creator. They hold so many benefits, which helps us to appreciate them. An example: Ants are good for the soil for multiple reasons. They help aerate the soil with their tunnels which allows air and water to flow through easier. The organic materials they store underground also contribute to conditioning the soil by providing rich nutrients. And did you know that some ant species, like the weaver ant, can even keep away unwanted insects from crops?! Unfortunately these arenโ€™t the ants near usโ€”BUT now I feel less urge to move to Antartica (ironically the only continent that doesnโ€™t have ants except for in its name).

Veering off the path can help broaden our perspectives while cultivating a life-long habit of actively pursing knowledge. Maybe this still seems impossible to incorporate in your homeschool routine. If so, try โ€œplanningโ€ for the curiosities that are naturally brought into the homeschool. Leave a day or window of time open each week to explore the new interests that were sparked during the school week. Often our impromptu lessons evolve into unit studies. This means we have to make arrangements to gather resources outside of our home or the internet.

Homeschool Spaces

Homeschool spaces Secret

Iโ€™m glad I still have photos that I took of our newly setup homeschool space over 8 years ago. It keeps me grounded when I feel like {FILL IN THE BLANK} should have immediate results. Thatโ€™s not realistic. Most things (especially those that matter most) take time to develop. Just like the visual reminder the ๐˜›๐˜๐˜Œ๐˜• & ๐˜•๐˜–๐˜ž photos give us, our childโ€™s education is a journey that builds with each moment.

If youโ€™re feeling the pressure to hurry the processโ€” deep breath, mama. Donโ€™t forget to put your blinders on and keep your focus on those little wonder-filled eyes that are staring straight at you. This momentโ€”each momentโ€” is invaluably precious.

Thanks For Following Along!

Thank you

We bid you a sweet adieu, ๐™‡๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™’๐™š๐™ก๐™ก ๐˜พ๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ.

Thank you for hanging with us today! As I mentioned in stories, one homeschool day rarely (if ever) looks like the next. Plus, itโ€™s simply impossible to fully capture or communicate ALL that a 16-18hr โ€œawakeโ€ day holds without having cameras everywhere like the Truman Show (who remembers that movie?) Nonetheless, I hope you found some sort of encouragement in following along. You are always welcome to hangout with our little lion pride over @liberty_lions_academy to connect with us further.

Itโ€™s been a true honor & pleasure.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO SECRET FOR SHARING YOUR FAMILYโ€™S DAY WITH US!

Day in the life Secret

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.

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