The Lord has blessed me with many opportunities lately to “talk homeschool” with mothers of younger children who are wondering what it’s like in practice. I wanted to put this post together to cover some of the questions I had when I first began and that I often hear. Mostly, I want to help quell the fears of inadequacy many parents feel, “Can I do it?”, “Can someone do it better than me?”, “Do I need a degree for this?”. My answer is this: God equips His people. If he’s called you to home educate, He will be faithful to equip you for it and provide what’s needed. What other human is more invested in the well-being of your child than you are? I never planned on homeschooling but it’s become one of the greatest blessings of my life.
Our homeschool mission statement is one I gleaned from missionary and homeschooling mother-of-four, Libby Wild: we don’t study to bring ourselves glory, we study so that our lives will bring God glory. For our family, education is not about pointing others to ourselves (how smart and impressive we are) but about our lives pointing back to God. By studying the world He made, and is sovereign over, we get to engage in the most joyful adventure of growing to know our Creator more deeply. Naturally, the Bible is our starting point from which we interpret the world around us and is the most important part of our studies.
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:16-17
A typical day has looked quite different during different ages and stages, and I have much to learn! I’m sure we will continue to adjust our schedule as time goes on, my children grow, and I gain experience (I’ve only been at this 4 years and my oldest is 9yo). Below I’ll present a snap-shot view of what we actually do during the day but first let me add a few sidenotes. One day of the week we attend our co-op, Classical Conversations. I originally chose this because of proximity to where we lived (it was 5 minutes away) but God, in His sovereignty, knew it was exactly what we needed. Right now, we have “one-foot-in” the classical (Christian) method and the other in the traditional method. As I learn more about classical style education (greatly due to the “parent-equipping” resources offered by Classical Conversations and books written by it’s founder, Leigh Bortins) I find myself gravitating more towards the “one-room-schoolhouse” that classical education lends itself well to. The size of our family plays into this, but I also find this method to be more enjoyable and effective for all of us—I’m learning so much along with my kids!
Whatever method you try, the wonderful thing about homeschooling is how you’re able to cater it to the unique needs of your family. There is so much flexibility and many opportunities to work “school” into the rhythm of everyday life (practicing equivalent fractions while baking or using a field guide to learn about the bugs your child brings you in the yard). As you go along, you’ll find what suits you and your children best. There’s no “one right way”— other than the one right way of raising your children “…in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Commit your homeschool to Him and lean on the Everlasting Arms for wisdom, provision, and guidance.
Snap-shot view of a typical day
- 6:00am Dad and Mom enjoy coffee on the couch, prayer, and the Bible — I had to include this because it’s one of my favorite times of day and prepares my heart for the day ahead (Mama’s out there with littles, don’t worry if this seems impossible most days! I’ve been there, too).
- 7:00 Wake-up, breakfast, get ready for the day, my readers read to us from the Bible and we pray together
- 8:00 Practice memory work for our co-op
- 8:30 Math. I sit with each child one-on-one for ~20 minutes, they do independent work, I check their work (I usually start with my youngest so I can release her to play and the older girls do independent problems until I get to them).
- 9:30 Language Arts
- 10:30 Fill in maps for Geography (that go along with our co-op) or read aloud from our history or science books
- 11:30 Lunch
- Afternoons are relaxing and less structured. Once a week the girls have a sports lesson and another day a foreign language lesson, for an hour each. Other than that, we spend lots of time outdoors (learning names of everything we see: bugs, birds, flowers, etc.), reading books of rich material (often Bible, history or science related), doing arts/crafts, or baking.
- 4:00 House clean-up (everyone has a chore) and dinner prep
- 5:00 Dinner and family time
- 7:00 Independent reading time
- 8:00 Bedtime
We don’t follow this perfectly every day, and often we make time to visit with friends or family. Balance is key when it comes to enjoying the flexibility homeschooling offers and keeping to a routine that gets things done. When I feel overwhelmed or discouraged, my motto is this: just get something done today! And usually I find that once I do one little thing, I’m able to take the next step…
“For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.””
Isaiah 28:10 ESV
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