a day in our homeschool, part 2: our afternoons.

If you missed yesterday's post detailing our school mornings, make sure to go back and get caught up!  Essentially, our mornings tend to follow a somewhat tight schedule, getting a lot of schoolwork, chores, and together-time in right away.

At 11:45, I get the little school kids started on their math and handwriting worksheets at the dining room table, then head nearby to the kitchen.  I'm available to answer questions or offer help, but I'm also prepping for the next thing on the agenda, lunch.

She's my kitchen elf.  Here she's mixing/flinging/filching tuna salad.

12:30 Lunch

As with breakfast, I keep our lunch options very limited.  We almost always have either tuna salad with chips, or what we refer to as "normal lunch": lettuce, raw veggies, cheese, and fruit.  Sometimes I add sauerkraut, sometimes I add summer sausage, but mostly it is just kept really simple.  I always serve lunch on paper plates to keep cleanup to a minimum.  (Penelope's after lunch job is to clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher after lunch, and she appreciates this!)

During lunch, I read aloud to the kids from the little school kids' reading list.  If you haven't noticed, I try to "buddy up" our time slots when I can.  The big kids like re-hearing favorite stories from their own journey through early elementary, and the preschoolers have the advantage of watching their older siblings narrate (the restating of the story in one's own words after having read it - a tricky skill to learn, but so helpful in the long-term "ownership" of ideas).  We read anywhere from 2-4 stories or chapters during this time, and it helps the kids stay focused on eating rather than goofing off or getting distracted.

1:30 Jobs, Exercise, Naps

After lunch, the kids have another set of chores to do (which I'll post about soon), and draw another set of exercises.  This is when I typically try to scarf some lunch down myself as I try to make sure the kids are all staying on task, as this is a time of day that is seems the kids are more given to devolving into chaos.  Once the younger kids are done eating, and Rocco is done with his jobs, I put them down for naps while the bigger kids finish up their jobs.

She was feeling under the weather the day I took these pictures, and had requested to stay in jammies all day, which explains her outfit.  Rocco is a four year old boy, which explains his outfit.

Laurelai was also under the weather this day, so she napped in my room over lunch time, and Rocco napped in there after lunch, which meant I made the bed three times that day!  When I prayed for consistency in this area, what I received was ample opportunity to really get the habit entrenched.

2:00 Afternoon School (Big Kids)

Once everyone has finished their after lunch responsibilities, the littler school kids are dismissed for the day.  They typically go to the basement to play, or to the garage to play with the Barbies when the temperature is high enough.  (Yes, we keep our Barbies in the attached garage - it's a weird setup, but it works for us.)  The big kids grab their drawing notebooks, I grab a cup of coffee, and we all head to the couch for Read Alouds.  We spend about an hour cuddling up, reading books, narrating, and discussing.

After Read Alouds, I help the kids with anything they've come across in their schoolwork throughout the day that they need help with, and I listen to narrations from their earlier history readings.  This is also when I work one-on-one with Atticus on spelling.

It is amazing how much more quickly and smoothly we can work through this time of the day compared to earlier in the day when the younger kids are all milling about.  It's still school time, but it's much more restful.

3:30 Dismiss!  Personal Free Time

The big kids put their things away, we pick up the living room, and I send them off to play.  Just yesterday they got to play out in the snow!

At this point, I have about an hour to unwind before I start dinner.  This is the time slot where I read, make phone calls, take a shower, eat lunch if I haven't yet, do yardwork or housework that needs immediate attention, listen to podcasts, bake something quick, check my email, and/or generally just power down in the quiet.  It's an hour that goes pretty quickly, if I'm honest.

4:30 Start Dinner, Pick Up

Todd gets home at about 5:20, and since he does intermittent fasting, not eating for twenty hours a day, he comes home hungry.  I have been shooting to get dinner on the table right around 5:30 or 5:40, which means I need to start early.  I also like to have the house picked up before he comes home, so shortly before 5:00, the kids and I set a timer for 10 minutes and pick up the main floor and basement.  Then at 5:00, they're permitted to watch an episode of a show on Netflix until dinner time.


And, just like that, the day has flown by!


Note: This is our routine each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  It varies a bit on Friday, which I'll cover soon (that's when we do all of our Riches, among other things).

Wednesdays, however, do not follow this cadence at all - we drive up to the Amish in the morning to pick up our dairy, produce, and bulk items for the week.  While we drive, we listen to audiobooks from the kids' reading lists.  When we get back to town, we run errands - typically, stopping at Walmart for grocery pickup, or at the library.  Then we take Wednesday afternoons off.  The kids like to play or do art/handicraft projects.  I either spend the afternoon getting caught up on larger house projects, or meeting with an older gal from church who comes over every other week.  I am really astonished at how much we have been able to Tetris into our days and weeks!  It seemed so daunting for a while, but I think we're finally hitting our stride.


Pop back in tomorrow - I'll be covering our Morning Basket time, and later this week I'll be sharing some of the resources and curricula we've been using and loving!