A day in the life of a homeschool mom

In the beginning there was a mom. She prayed to God to ask Him to show her the way as far as educating her children, He lead her to homeschooling. She resisted at first but God showed her it could be done. Over the past four years she has become known as a homeschool mom. Luckily I'm not alone in this title as I know many homeschool moms and each of them are amazing in their own unique ways. But this is the story of a typical day in the life of this homeschcool mom. So here we go...

At the beginning of the school year, everything is organized and in its proper place.

But as the year goes on things can get a little messy. Part of being a homeschool mom is being ok with messes and knowing there are more important things in life than having everything in its proper spot at all times. A lot happens around this table. Meals are eaten, family conversations happen, lessons are taught and hopefully learned, crafts are made, tears are cried, laughter is heard, games are played. It's a table that has seen and heard it all.

Our day starts with what we call group time. There are certain subjects we do together like Bible, Science, and reading a chapter book together. We have spent the first half of our homeschool year working through the first six chapters of Revelation. It was a great study and the kids really learned a lot. I love the way Kay Arthur presented such a tricky book with such simple understanding. 

We have been spending this school year learning all about flying creatures. I love apologia science curriculum. I think this is our fourth science book.

On Thursdays while Anna is at enrichment school and Jadon is at his jr. high science class this handsome boy and I homeschool at Starbucks. I love the one on one time I have with him and I'm pretty certain he feels the same way. He sips his tea, I sip my latte and sometimes we even munch on a pumpkin scone. I love the relationships I am building with my kids and treasure the times when I get special time with each of them. That is a perk of being a homeschool mom.

I've said it before and I will say it again, History is not my favorite subject. I don't enjoy teaching it but the kids need to learn it so I do my best to fake my excitement and knowledge. This is Jadon's history book. He listens to lectures and spends about a month on each unit. Right now he is learning about 1840-1885 and all the important events that happen during that time. YAWN! I mean, YIPEE!!!!!!!

This is more my speed. This year Camden has already studied the Wagon trail and Revolutionary war and right now we are knee deep in the Civil War. Fun times I tell you!

Sometimes you just have to eat cookies and fill the house with the smell of fresh baked goodness. Every homeschool mom needs to incorporate this into her day. Well, maybe not every day but more often than not. 

There are days when our bodies are telling us to rest. We don't really get sick days in homeschool since you can lay around and school in your jammies but sometimes you just have to be still and tune out the hectic world for a while. This guy has had his share of medical issues the past couple of months and thankfully we have been able to have restful days.

Then there are days when we take school out of the home and go on field trips. So far this year we have toured the state capitol, dissected a squid at the aquarium, and toured the Biosphere 2 in Tucson. I could say that trips to the grocery store, skate park, mall, and our front yard are field trips in themselves but I like to call it every day living. But lessons can be learned anywhere and anytime. A homeschool mom has a way to incorporate learning into almost every outing. I'm sure my kids will thank me for it someday.

Here we are at the Biosphere listening to our tour guide. This picture cracks me up because I'm taking a picture, Anna is looking at me, Camden is looking in the opposite direction of our tour guide, Michael is paying attention and Jadon is no where to be seen. We are such great listeners aren't we. 

Field trips are great, but math is important too. I may just pull my hair out teaching dividing decimals. It can do crazy things to the homeschool mom. Where's my cookie, must eat a cookie. 

I've discovered that our middle child has quite the mind for memorizing. It hasn't always been this way but over this past year his mind has grown and developed in some amazing ways. He can memorize scripture, learn all his math facts, and the locations of each and every state. 

We do a lot of celebrating, especially over each paper that is written. Camden is on the one paper a week plan and it's been amazing to see how far he has come with his writing skills. I love looking back at old papers and now seeing him write papers that are single spaced and legible. 

Our jr. higher has graduated to this kind of paper. I always enjoy reading what he comes up with.

We get excited over passed spelling tests. 

We have some amazing friends in our life who want to help disciple our children to become leaders and help them grow in their relationship with Christ. This is a class Jadon takes once a month with many of his church friends. It's discipleship training at its finest. We are very blessed with such a great network of Godly men speaking into the life of our teenage son.

We take advantage of many programs offered for homeschool families. Anna enjoys two days a week of enrichment school. Here she is on the day of her Thanksgiving play. She was a pilgrim girl.

We spend recesses doing some of this.

We make crafts and get messy, or make messes is more like it.

We do chores, every day. We incorporate it into our homeschool day. Having the kids at home all day means more messes which means more chores which means our kids have responsibilities to keep our house looking and smelling nice, or in this case keeping the yard mowed. 

Then there are days when we each find a cozy corner and spend time reading. This is Camden's current book called STINK. 

Spelling comes easy for the females in our house but the males on the other hand are quite challenged in this department. We have found our ways to make it easier like writing the words like this. It's amazing how something this simple can make a word easier to spell. 

Then we have days when academics go on the back burner and we focus on character issues or areas of struggle. We mend relationships, we practice being kind, we say I'm sorry, we learn to cheer each other on, we learn to love better. 

And then I see fruit of our labor and discover a gift under the Christmas tree without any prompting from me. Makes my heart smile. 

We learn (or I should say we are in the process of learning) as parents how to raise children in the world of electronics. Finding that balance is never an easy task. 

We say go play outside and this happens. Not quite what I had in mind. 

There are days when I feel completely overwhelmed raising kids in a fallen world. I feel like I could be doing more, or doing some things differently, or like I just need to run away and catch my breath. This is my calgon. Everyone needs some young living essential oils. 

I'm so thankful for this wonderful man in my life. He's also my calgon and does actually take me away on dates now and then. He's also great and knowing when I need to get away on my own. He provides me with that time and I could never be a homeschool mom without his love and support. 

There are days when I feel like this...

And then days when I feel like this...

And days when it's more like this...

Or morph all those together and I could feel all this at the same time within seconds of each other. This homeschool mom celebrates, she gets mad, she gets sad, she sees the fruit of her labor and smiles from ear to ear, she sacrifices, she delights in victories, she learns through trials, she relies heavily upon her God who strengthens her to do what she does day in and day out. She calls herself a homeschool mom and as you can see it's not the easiest job in the world but it happens to be the most rewarding job she has ever had.
The End