Here are some stories from various home educators that will give you an idea of what a "typical" homeschool day might look like. You'll notice that there are both similarities and differences in these stories. The beauty of home education is that you are free to tailor your day to suit your particular family's needs and schedules, your particular teaching style, and your children's learning styles. We hope you gain some valuable insight and some good tips, but that you don't hold any of these "typical" days up as a standard. Experiment with what works best for you. :)

I've used abbreviations rather than names here. DD means "dear daughter", and a number after that would indicate oldest-youngest. DS is "dear son", and DH is "dear husband". Thus, DD1 would be the oldest daughter, DS2 would be next oldest, etc.

Our first family had 4 children when this was written - a DD age 12, DD age 10, a DS age 5 and a DD age 3

6:45am The girls are getting ready to eat breakfast with Daddy. They are dressed, have their beds made and rooms tidied. DD2 sets the table when DD1 gets breakfast on for the three of them (sometimes 5 of them) DH likes to have a quiet breakfast with his girls and then read a few scriptures and pray with both of them. This is a very special time of day.

8am I wake up have a quick shower, make my bed, tidy my room and have devotions.

8:15am The girls have cleaned the kitchen and have begun their work by the time that I get to the kitchen.

After the little ones have eaten with me, we start our morning schedule that consists of Old Testament History or Learning About God From A to Z, singing Oh Canada, praying The Lord's Prayer, and reciting memory verses.

The girls continue in their studies and I am in the kitchen or the living room to be ready for questions or to explain a concept. DS3 and DD4 go up to get dressed and make their beds and clean their rooms. They play in the family room, have stories read to them and do some school at the table when they are keen. They like to colour, learn their directions, colours and shapes.

9am - 11:30am DD1 and DD2 work through their bookwork with the occasional water break.

12:00 Lunch break - lunch is prepared and cleaned up by all of us.

1pm - 2:30pm Quiet time - DS3 and DD4 go to their room for DUPLO and LEGO time - the girls spend 1.5 hours quietly working on beadwork, playing ponies, or crafting, reading whatever is quiet and does not require asking one single question to ME!

2:30-4pm Music practice, required reading, listening to their Suzuki CD

The rest of the afternoon is spent: going for a walk to the park; playing in the backyard; yard work; washing cars; riding bikes; baking cookies or bread; a neat science project; a garden project; reading books from the library; visiting friends; enriching our lives with whatever takes our fancy.

5pm Out of sheer necessity, I have developed a meal plan strategy that is not rigid but gives me a ton of ideas knowing that I have the ingredients. I plan a few days in advance the meals that we will be having and use what we have. I will often use the slow cooker for a larger portion of the meal and that alleviates a lot of the stress.

5:15pm DH is home - DD2 has set the table, the family room is tidy, the house is in good shape to honor him. He changes to casual clothes and digs in helping me with getting the final dinner preparations finished.

Bedtime is 7:30/8pm with the exception of DD1 and DD2 who we allow to stay up to read until 9pm.

The enrichment program: We knit every Tuesday evening with an elderly friend. The girls are both involved in music lessons and poetry memorization as well as being immersed in great literature through a reading program. We also look for local activities that would enrich our learning experiences. Family devotions are done with a Shorter Catechism.

Activity program: Organized soccer, basketball and softball. Family bike rides, swimming lessons, family hikes and walks, water play in backyard, trips to lakes, read-a-loud in the evenings, board games, delight-directed projects.

Home education goes far beyond your walls and the textbooks that we are all so compelled to use. I enjoy watching my children progress through their schoolwork. My greatest thrill is watching their hearts come alive with the love of learning and the excitement of life. We are cultivating the leaders of tomorrow that will think individualistically, analyze for themselves and rely on the Almighty Lord of Hosts for protection and provision. I am very excited about that. I am pleased that God has given me this awesome privilege of having my children at home and has given both my DH and I the vision together to raise them up to know the Lord and to follow Him. What could be greater than that? There is no higher calling than to minister to your children. Every parent is a teacher to their children and we have the immense task at nurturing their hearts through childhood so that they will be strong and pure in adulthood. Every parent teaches values and imparts their love of learning to their children. We pray that God would empower us to impart His truths and love to them. Home education is a beautiful privilege (which I often tell my children) and we are eternally thankful to our Lord.

This family had 3 girls - 4, 7, and 9 years old, when this was written.

MORNING:

6:00 Mom gets up for devotions and reviewing the day and week.
7:00 Everyone up and has breakfast; then we dress and do room chores; Mom puts laundry in dryer from night before
8:00 Chore/Training time - girls learn new chores or perfect old ones ;)
8:30 Lessons start with Bible, prayer, and singing
9:00 All three girls do unit study activities together
9:30 Preschool time with 4yo - older two do penmanship, silent reading/art
10:00 15 minute break/snack
10:15 Math (4yo plays educational computer game or on her own)
10:45 Mom does spelling/reading program with one girl while the other plays with 4yo
11:15 Mom does spelling/reading with second girl while first plays with 4yo
11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Lunch and clean up time

AFTERNOON:

12:30 Mom does school planning; girls have free play time
1:00 Girls finish any seatwork, if needed
1:30 Read Aloud time for older two, 4yo has nap
2:00 Quiet time for all
2:30 Mom does house keeping; girls have quiet play time or outside time
3:00 Girls have outside time
3:30 Afternoon chores and music practice
4:30 - 6:00 Supper preparation; dinner time; clean up time

Evenings vary according to our outside activities, but the girls' schedule can include those and/or bath times, more read aloud time, grocery shopping with a parent, etc.

Of course, this is our guideline, and we don't necessarily stick to it every day, but just having the guideline generally means I get more done than if I didn't have it. I've actually created a couple of alternate schedules for the days I have to go out of the house for some reason, and to account for our evening extra-curricular activities.

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