14 Sneak Peeks into Our Homeschool Life

So often I find that people see a slice of a person's life and then produce assumptions based on their limited understanding.  While you can never fully know what's going on, sometimes it's fun to get a behind the scenes sneak peek into someone else's homeschool life.

Here's 14 random bits of information about our journey:

homeschool life

ONE: While I have a lovely homeschool room, we migrate through the house to actually do our schooling.

Challenge B Research

 

TWO: I am a recovering curriculum junkie. I have owned multiple spelling, writing, science, and math programs. What has cured me from my manic program switching?  Simplifying my schooling with Classical education.

Spell to Write and Read spelling curriculum books

 

THREE: I don't have a planner. I do however have a plan. I have simple expectations for my girls, and then my son keeps up with his Classical Conversations guide. Knowing that we have the major subjects taken care of, I can be free to "unschool" the rest by playing with math outside, cultivating curiosity at a conservatory, or enjoying a great museum. I'm a hybrid!

Taking Math Outside

 

FOUR: I like school days better than vacation days. Well, maybe not the first few days of vacation, but I like the rhythm and routine of school. What I really like is spending time with my kids.

nap time for read alouds

 

 

FIVE: My Classical Conversations friends are like family. They keep me from living on a homeschool island of isolation. I am so very thankful.

Challenge B Presentations

 

 

SIX: Nana's are awesome backup reading listeners. It is so wonderful to have my mother living with us and that she is so willing to listen to readers when my schedule gets backed up.

George W Bush Presidential Library interactive touchscreens

 

 

SEVEN: Audio books are my best friends. While I love reading aloud, I love that we can read books together in the car, or while we all work on a project.  I'm not too proud to let someone else read to me!reading with your ears hammock getting lost in a book

 

 

EIGHT: My husband is very active in our homeschooling. He works from home and that makes him more available to step in and help with math or write a paper.

dad joined in drawing africa

 

 

NINE: I love watching movies that enrich our understanding of what we're studying. As much as I love books, I love learning from movies too.

Finding Noah Documentary in theaters October 8 2015

 

 

TEN: I've always worked another job while I homeschooled. My first year I had a photography business, then I started various jobs through Classical Conversations, and now I am a blogger. The best jobs for me have been ones that overlap with our homeschool pursuits. Tutoring is easier than being a Support Manager, and blogging is better than photography.

Blog Elevated 2015

 

ELEVEN: We love to spontaneously take a reading day. That means all of our regularly scheduled studies get set aside for a moment while we immerse ourselves in a good book. Sometimes it's all together, other times we all have separate books. It just depends.

Lolly's book shelf

 

 

TWELVE: My greatest homeschool moments come when we are at rest. Elaborate plans stress everyone out. Simplicity rules.

Girls working together in homeschool

 

 

THIRTEEN: I consider personal projects extracurricular activities. I love seeing my kids gather random things from around the house and fabricate something fascinating from their pillaging.  What I love about activities like these is that they cultivate creativity and caring for one another.  They are always making something to "bless" someone else. Working through difficulties that inevitably arise from projects like this, my kids are refining their problem solving abilities and refining their craft.  While it's not an organized sport, it is a great value to their education.

Art of Fall preparations

 

FOURTEEN: I never wanted to homeschool...now I can never imagine not.

swirl

If you enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of our homeschool, you might enjoy some more articles from the iHomeschool Network team of bloggers.  Click the image below to find more!

Thingstoknow

3 Comments

  1. Amanda - Raising da Vinci on January 12, 2016 at 7:14 pm

    Love this! Number 10 haha I’m just starting my blog and leaving my photography studio of 10 years behind. (Well slowing it down until I can completely stop) you are so right blogging is much better. Lol. And number 14, yep. I never wanted to homeschool but here we are. Isn’t it amazing how life unfolds?!

    • Betsy on January 12, 2016 at 9:21 pm

      Wow Amanda! How exciting. I just checked out your blog! Beautiful pictures and it was so fun reading your story about not really homeschooling your 1 year old. I totally did that too! Didn’t even know what I was doing, but we had lots of fun. I look forward to following your blog!

  2. Homeschool Literature on December 26, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    Learning from movies is something I have always enjoyed also! Movies have such a great way of bringing to life whatever it is you’re learning about, in a way that books can’t quite touch. YouTube is also a great resource for this, especially for grasping concepts like science. I love the visual aids! Also, just taking reading days are the BEST. We wouldn’t have them very often, but I wish we had them more. It just makes the week so much better. <3

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