Our Homeschool Is Changing
For years our homeschool has been built around having a lot of little people who needed me. My days were very full of one-on-one teaching, helping, redirecting, answering questions, switching between subjects and trying to keep everyone moving forward. I know so many of you can relate to this feeling and maybe you’re in that season right now. Maybe you're sitting at the table trying to help one child with math while another is asking you to spell something while someone else needs help finding their shoe all the while your baby is dumping their oatmeal all over the kitchen floor. Boy, have I been there.
This time of year I love to share our updated homeschool rhythm and this year has definitely come with some tweaks, but before I get into what our days are looking like right now, I’ve had a few thoughts on my heart that I wanted to share first.
I think we can sometimes get so focused on getting through the hard, hands-on, knee-deep years that we forget we’re building something bigger here though. We’re not just trying to get through the curriculum, teach the next lesson or raise children who can “launch.” In so many ways homeschooling is just an extension of parenthood where we have the opportunity to partner with our Heavenly Father to help our children to become who He knows they are capable of becoming. And we’re here to support them by teaching them and guiding them and even giving them opportunities to struggle and work things out. We’re here to help them discover their gifts and interests and gradually give them more room to make bigger decisions for themselves. We’re here to nurture their testimonies and help them learn how to see and hear Him.
Lately, I think I’ve started to see little glimpses of what that looks like on the other side of those really hard hands-on years. For many years, I’ve shared our homeschool here and I just don’t want to let this time slip by without acknowledging that my kids are growing up and our homeschool is growing with them. We’re probably just getting a taste of this growth because we still have a few years ahead of us before anyone is graduating, haha, BUT there is definitely a shift happening as the kids are all getting older.
My role with my 13 year old girls has really shifted from teacher to mentor. I’m still here obviously to help and answer questions, but I am guiding them and giving them more freedom to take ownership of their own education. And, this certainly didn’t happen overnight. It has been many years in the making and I’m starting to see the fruits of so much of that hard work blossom. The years of sitting beside them and answering a million questions and helping them learn how to work through hard things and teaching them more responsibility is really starting to show. I miss working as closely with them. There are definitely still moments when I wish they still needed me in all the ways they used to. But, I absolutely love watching them grow into their independence. I love seeing them make decisions, pursue their interests, figure things out, and become more confident in who they are and in their relationship with their Savior. I am so proud of who they are becoming.
My boys who are 9 & 7 still need a lot of one-on-one help, but this year, more than any, has felt a lot more doable. For the first time in many years I am wrapping our homeschool days and not feeling so mentally exhausted. With them my focus has needed to shift to how I can create and protect the same love of learning I have worked so hard to build with my girls. They both have such different needs than my girls. One thing we are doing is keeping their lessons shorter and providing variety in what we’re doing. We’re also doing everything we can to involve my husband more. He has a magic touch that I just can’t quite seem to duplicate and I don’t think I’m supposed to. This feels a little strange to say, but right now my husband is teaching my oldest son math and it’s actually going infinitely better than when I was doing it. In most ways, I’m still the primary educator, but I am starting to see our roles shift to meet the needs of our boys.
All of this is a little bittersweet. There are parts of those younger years that I really miss and there are parts of having older kids that I’m still learning to navigate. But I also love watching our family grow into something new. I love seeing my boys get more time with their dad and having his influence woven more intentionally into their education. I love watching my girls become more independent and knowing their relationship with their Savior is growing. And I love seeing how all these little things we’ve been working on for the last several years are becoming a big part of who we all are.
So, with all that said, keep going. If you’re in a hard hands-on season right now, remember the real reasons why we do what we do. The little things you’re doing today are becoming something much bigger that you can’t see right now.
With that, let’s talk about where our rhythm is now. Over the years, I’ve shared a lot about rhythms in this space and for those of us who are a little Type A and love a predictable routine…you’re in the right place, ha! I know how helpful it can be to see how another family is actually structuring their days because sometimes the littlest of tweaks can make a huge difference and this is what’s working really well for us in this new season:
7-9 | Morning Routine
These are the hours that are making the biggest difference for us right now. Since everyone can get their own breakfast, get ready, and do their chores now, for the first time in many years, I feel like I can use the morning hours to work out, prep for our day and take care of any homeschool or house admin stuff. I’m naturally waking up earlier which is very unusual for me, ha! We’re learning my oldest son thrives with a lot of physical activity so my husband works out with him in the morning and then they do a math lesson right after. Meanwhile, my girls also do math during this time and some days they even get everything done they need to for the day. This gives them a lot of time to explore their interests and they love that!
9-10 | Family Studies
This is THE most precious time of the day and I’m doing everything I can to protect it. We spend this hour in gospel study and our family unit study which is where so much of our learning and faith come together. We’re in a really sweet season where everyone is at the table and everyone can participate and everyone can handle staying there for the whole time which is huge and I love it so much!
10-12 | One-On-One
During this time, I work with my boys together on grammar and writing, then I split and work one-on-one with either my 7 year old or 9 year old while the other works independently. We do their reading and language arts and I do a short math lesson with my youngest son. Meanwhile, the girls practice music and finish up anything they didn’t get done during the early morning hours.
12-5 | Extra Classes & Interests
Most days we are finishing by around noon and then we break for lunch. Our afternoons look very different every day. We have a handful of out of the house classes during this time, but when we’re home the kids have the afternoon to play, explore interests or work on something productive. In between running kids around I am also able to do some work during these hours.
5-8 | Dinner & Sports
Our evenings are busy and nearly every night we’re on some kind of sports field. It’s kind of chaotic, but I’ve learned to embrace and love it. Since my boys love it so much their enthusiasm about the game is so contagious.
8-10 | Evening Time and Family
We wind down, take showers, read, and have a little family time before bed. Everyone is usually in bed by 9:30 or 10.
We follow this routine pretty closely M-TH. Fridays are our flex days so it’s usually either a field trip or catch up day. I use Fridays and Saturdays to work and maintain the house and, of course, Sunday is a day for church, rest, and family. This routine is working great and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this school year brings. Next week I’ll be sharing the few curriculum changes I’ve made this year and also elaborating on what my kids are doing when they have time to explore their interests.
A FEW THINGS I LOVE TO HELP ORGANIZE OUR DAYS
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