Day in the Life with an 11, 10, and 8 Year Old

I have often summarized our day and how the general flow of our day goes but I have never done a read day in the life post before.  I have been reading so many of them lately that I decided to give it a shot.... and realized that it's really not that easy to keep track of the clock and what we're doing each day.


Each day is totally different from the next day.  Some days we have errands and planned activities.  Some days we plan to be at home for the entire day.  The only thing I know for sure is that our day will never go as planned.  


Here is what our day looked like LAST Monday:

6:00 I wake up and creep over to boys' room doors closing them quietly hoping not to wake the boys.  I am my husbands alarm and I wake him for work.  I then finish folding the laundry he started last night and head downstairs.

I settle on the couch and start on social media; posting the day's blog, linking up to any linky parties (here is a list of all the Linky Parties I participate in regularly), and trying to answer e-mails.

The boys work is already piled on the table since I actually remembered to put it all out Sunday night before going to bed.

7:00 The kids wake (late for once!).  Having had all their electronics and the TV taken away they had no incentive to get up early and they are wandering around rather bored and unsure what to do this morning.  I take the time to head upstairs and make my bed, get dressed for the day, and start a load of laundry.

7:30  Ian settles at the tale and begins working on his math.  He has two pages in his Key To Decimals book 2 and two pages in Are You a Math Genius? book.  he is unhappy that today is an extra math day and he grumbles over adding and subtracting decimals.


8:00 Alec wanders into the kitchen to prepare breakfast and starts reading his geography book: Minette's Feast.  He enjoys the book and asks me a few questions about Julia Child so I look them up on Google and read him the answers.  

8:30  Alec asks how many states start with each letter of the alphabet and wants to know if we have one state that starts with each letter.  I set him up with a paper and pen and he went off to study our wall map, making tally marks and seeing which letter most of the states start with.  Evan decides to make himself an egg sandwich for breakfast and asks for some help in the kitchen.


I settle at the table to work in my Thinking Tree Planner and field any questions from all three boys.  I get up frequently to help Evan at the stove and to help Ian finish up his math work.  I barely get one page finished in my book and realize that this planner might not have been my best idea.  It's just one more thing to try to squeeze into my day.  But I LOVE the planner and decide to give it a good week before I give up on it.

9:00 Evan is settled at the table eating and Alec starts on his math work after reporting on his United States Tally.  He also has two workbook pages and two pages in Are You a Math Genius?  He finishes them up quickly.  Ian has already finished up his Thinking Tree Spelling book, all of his math, read his geography book and wants some help getting his geography board set up.  We work together to put the title stickers on and glue down both his map and his flag.  He then heads upstairs to read his Treasure Hunters book and brush his teeth.

9:15  Alec has already read a few chapters in Hoodoo while waiting for me to finish helping Ian with his geography report and asks if I'll help him too.  Evan heads upstairs to get dressed and brush teeth.  Alec and I put all the title stickers on and glue down his map and flag.  While I am on the floor with stickers I pull out the letters needed for Evan's title and put them on his board for him; knowing he would never get them on straight and get all frustrated trying to help.


9:30 I get a text from my sister asking if we'd like to meet up with some old homeschooling friends we haven't seen in awhile to go hiking.  I check with the boys and respond that we'd love to and then immediately start shifting our day around and the rest of the things we wanted to accomplish.  I set aside our read aloud book, our writing assignment, and realize that we won't be adding anything new to our geography fair reports.  Nothing that we can't work on another day instead.  We do this so often that I don't even blink.  But I do want to make sure we're ready on time and that each of the boys works on math, reading, and spelling; our core subjects.

Evan asks why his gel pens are out if his Thinking Tree book is not and I tell him I can get that for him if he'd like to.  He responds that he would and so he starts in on his spelling work while I empty and re-load the dishwasher.  Knowing we'll probably be home right at dinnertime after hiking I put the steak away and pull out some frozen meatballs and sauce to throw in the crock pot.  I pull out grinder rolls and make sure we have enough salad for dinner.

I then pull out lunchboxes and rather than having them pack their own lunches I offer to do that for them today if they'll tell me what they want.

10:00 As I make lunches Ian heads outside to play in the dirt with this trucks and toys and Evan moves onto math.  I find him a page on dividing by three's and work with him for a few minutes.  He quickly moves onto a page adding two digit numbers with carrying and I offer to cross out two of the four rows of problems for him. He gets them all correct and I'm glad I didn't make him do them all for nothing.  He obviously remembers.

As I finish up in the kitchen Evan reads aloud the book The Lunchbox Surprise; needing no help at all!

10:15  Alec and Evan head outside to play in the sun for a bit while I finish getting myself ready.  I brush teeth, put on make up, finish fixing my hair, switch the laundry, start the dishwasher (which is already full), look up the address of the park we're meeting at and pack up the car.  I tell the boys that we'll be hiking along the shore today and that means it will be windy. I ask them to pack winter coats, hats, gloves, etc. and make sure everyone has their lunches.  We put our library bag in the car filled with the books we need to return today.

The boys still do not have screens back and I remind them that while we will listen to our book on CD; The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, they might want to bring something to do.  Alec pulls out our Color Counts Travel the World book and some markers while Evan settles on a Dot to Dot Count to 100 book with some pencils. They both work on their books for the entire ride! Alec colors part of the safari/ Africa page commenting on the authenticity of the page.

10:45 We head out and stop at the library.  We return our books and pick up those that are on hold for us.  It's a rather large stack today and we leave town a bit later than we'd like.

11:15 I notice our check engine light is on and call my husband to see what that means and ask if it's safe to continue on our way.  I stop and check the oil, check the gas cap.... and I'm out of ideas.

We listen to our book on CD and the boys work quietly.  It's a nice ride and we relax while eating our lunches.

12:30 We arrive and we're so happy to see our friends.  We have not met up with this family in a few years and we all remark on how much everyone has grown.  My sister arrives with her two boys and we're all introduced to a new homeschooling family that is planing to hike with us today.  We bundle up in many layers against the wind, watch the planes landing at the private airport across the channel and enjoy a few moments to gather up our stuff before heading off on our hike.


From 1:00-4:00 We enjoy a leisurely hike along the shore.  Stopping to rest at benches, boulders, and interesting nooks and crannies along the way.  The boys (yes-- even though we have 4 families hiking it's ALL boys!) discover that many of the small rocks along the shore can be thrown into larger boulders along the shore and break open.  They spend quite some time exploring all the rocks, looking for shells and setting up their own rock "business" selling rocks for shells and seaweed.  We move on and the next beach is quite a bit windier and cooler.  Alec soon finds his hives breaking out and we decide to call it a day.


Showing how they break almost perfectly
allowing them to put back together 

Writing his name in the sand 


By the time we arrive back at the car we're all set to settle at the picnic tables for a snack; until we realize it's already 4:15 and we need to leave NOW if we want to get home for dinner.

4:15 We pile into the car for our ride back home.  We finish up our book on CD and turn on the radio.   Once we're just 15 minutes away from home I have Ian call my husband and we decide that he'll run to the store for milk and cheese while I head right home and finish preparing dinner.

5:30 We arrive home and spend a few minutes emptying the car.  Ian sets the table while Evan heads outside to play.  I empty the dishwasher, start making the grinders and some pasta for Alec and Evan (who don't eat sandwiches or meatballs).  Normally they'd make their own alternate dinner but since I have lots of extra sauce I offer to cook noodles thinking it will use that up and make a quick meal.  I switch the laundry one last time.

5:45 My husband comes home and I finish the sandwiches with the cheese, check through the mail he brings in, and drain the pasta.  We sit down to eat dinner and talk about our day.  Ian pours the milk for everyone while my husband serves up the salad and I get all the hot stuff served.

6:15  Dinner is over and Evan clears the table.  My husband and I work to fill the dishwasher while Ian brings out the trash.  Ian washes the table and counters while Alec sweeps the floor.  With the kitchen all cleaned up the boys learn they can have movies and TV back (but no video games).  The younger two curl up together to watch a movie while Ian goes to his room.  My husband and I fold the last of the laundry and talk; enjoying a rare moment alone.

7:15 All the boys get their own snack

8:00 The boys get all ready for bed.  I walk through the downstairs making sure everything is cleaned up, locked up, and put out their schoolwork for the morning.  After three hours of walking and all the fresh air I'm ready for bed myself!  The boys settle down to read for a half hour on their own while I settle in my bed to watch TV for an hour or two.  They turn off their own lights at 8:30 and by 9:00 they are all asleep.


Comments

  1. That sounds fairly like one of our days. We start some math, decide to go on a nature walk, kids run in and out all day...yep. oh and my check engine light is ALWAYS on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep we're often on the go and outside a lot; but this was such a much needed break from our winter indoors!

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  2. Wow, quite a full day. I bet the time with friends is always a great mix to your normal routine. But then again, is any day really normal?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No! I don't think there is such a thing as a normal day of homeschooling; at least not for us! :)

      Delete
  3. The hike sounded fun. How nice that you have your sister and other homeschooling families close by. Great day in the life post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are really lucky that we have my sister and some very close friends who have joined us & encouraged us on our homeschooling journey.

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    2. We are really lucky that we have my sister and some very close friends who have joined us & encouraged us on our homeschooling journey.

      Delete

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