A Day in the Life of "The Fun School Factory"

Welcome to the new "A Day in the Life" series! This weekly string of blog posts will feature individuals or families here on the Big Island, describing what "a day in the life" (or a week!) of a homeschooler is like. This weeks post is by Tamara, mother to 5 year old Rogelito and 2 year old Katalina.

Here is a little peak into our home school..."The Fun School Factory" as my son has officially named it (he made a sign for the school room door one day).  My son, Rogelito, is 5 and in kindergarten.  My daughter is 2 and is our official master of distraction. Our days are never the same, so this is a typical Wednesday.

5:45am I hear my husband leave for work, then drift back to sleep.

6:15am Rogelito comes sneaking into my bedroom to snuggle and spend some time convincing me to wake up and eat breakfast with him (he is one of those people who wakes up immediately thinking of food).

6:45am Katalina wakes up and yells for me from her bed so now I have to get up and get her.  I bring her back to my bed and try to keep the two kids still so I can "sleep" a little longer, but eventually I give in and get up.

7:00am Breakfast time. Oatmeal for Rogelito. Waffles for Katalina. Cereal for me, and COFFEE.

7:30am Kids are playing while I do the dishes and throw a load of laundry in the washer. During this time Rogelito comes running to tell me that Katalina hit him with the toy sword. Katalina says Rogelito hit her with the sword.  I didn't see so who knows. They both apologize and we are off to get dressed.

7:50am I have gotten myself dressed in my "day sweats", helped Katalina pick out the perfect princess dress, and convinced her to let me comb her hair. I asked Rogelito to dress himself before I started all that. I go to check and he has on underwear and socks. I convince him that he needs to at least put on shorts for it to qualify as being dressed. He eventually gives in and puts on shorts.

8:10am We head to the couch to read a couple chapters of James and the Giant Peach, our current read aloud chapter book.

8:30am We head to the school room for calendar time.  Rogelito fills in the date, and sets the hands on the paper clock. Katalina looks out the window and reports the weather. Rogelito fills in his monthly weather bar chart.  We do some memory work, reviewing the names and places of the continents, mom's phone number and the kids' birthdates.

8:45am We race out the door for Katalina's mommy and me gymnastics class. Rogelito plays IPAD games while I chase Katalina around the various apparatuses.

9:40am We are back home and head back to the school room. We all sing a song from Rogelito's phonics program. Then I get Katalina going with a stamp pad and a letter D stamp. She stamps away while Rogelito and I complete a page from his Phonics book. We all sit on the couch to listen to Rogelito read a few pages from his reader. He asks is we can do "mommy reads a page, I read a page" and I say yes. Katalina starts singing and skipping around the room about a page into the book and Rogelito is totally distracted and frustrated. I try to get her to play in her room but she doesn't want to. I ask her to play quietly in the room we are in and she tells me she "NEEDS to sing." I turn on a 15 minute hooked on phonics video for her in another room while Rogelito finishes his story.

10:10am We all play a game of Sound O. Rogelito gets upset that Katalina is not following all the rules.  I explain that she is two and doesn't know enough to really play right yet.  He is still upset, so Katalina and I become a team and everyone is happy.

10:00am We head back to the school room for Brave Writer. I read this month's book, A Kiss for Little Bear, to the kids. Katalina stops at least once every page to ask me about the pictures. Rogelito stops me at least once every page to ask about the meaning of a word, or what I think will happen next, or why someone did something. We make it through the book and Rogelito copies a short sentence from the book.  He comes close to a meltdown at one point because he is having a hard time making a "perfect" letter 's'...I tell him it looks great to me, but he disagrees.  So, I explain to him that it is ok and that is why we write in pencil and have erasers. He gets his 's' written to his satisfaction and finishes off the passage.

10:20am We head to the kitchen for a snack. Katalina tries to talk me into cookies for snack. I want her to have an apple and cheese. We compromise and decide on peanut butter crackers.  Rogelito is easier. He is happy with anything. Then the kids play a bit while I switch the laundry and sweep the kitchen because half of the peanut butter crackers somehow ended up on the floor.

11:00am We head back to the school room for math. Katalina builds castles with the Cuisenaire rods while Rogelito uses them to complete addition and subtraction problems. Then Rogelito gets out his math journal. He examines a plastic cone and describes it while I write down what he is saying. Then he hunts around the house for cone shaped things and draws them in his journal.

11:25am We play a game of Sum Swamp which surprisingly finishes without a single argument.

11:45am We watch a Brain Pop video on magnets. Then we tape magnets to the top of toy cars and push them down the hall using other magnets to learn about what happens when you put north next to north or north next to south. We have a few races down the hall this way, which leads to an argument about who won the most races, which leads to a discussion about how winning isn't everything and as long as we are having fun we all win. Rogelito agrees with this idea, Katalina still disagrees, but we all agree to move on for now.

12:15pm We have lunch. Bean burrito for Rogelito, grilled cheese for Katalina, and tomato soup for me.

1:00pm We head to the library. I remind the kids in the car to use inside voices, walking feet, and not to bother each other. We get there and they immediately start running through the doors yelling "Yeah! New books!" and pushing each other out of the way to get in first. I let them pick a couple books each, then I pick up my holds at the front and we get out of there before the librarian can give me anymore stink eye.

2:00pm We are back home and reading our new library books.

2:30pm It is mommy's time to work out. Rogelito works on a sticker mosaic, Katalina plays with her doll house, and I get to do 40 minutes of Pilates.

3:20pm The kids play together while I shower. I have one of them poking their head in the bathroom at least once a minute to tell on the other one for something. I do my best to mediate from inside the shower and end up having to get out quickly to settle a dispute about who has the most super powers. Then I head back to the bathroom to rinse the rest of my conditioner out in the sink since my shower was cut short.

4:00pm We bake oatmeal cookies...our house favorite. The kids actually do pretty good taking turns stirring and measuring ingredients, YEAH!

4:45pm The cookies come out of the oven and  the kids both want one NOW! I say they have to wait until after dinner. That is followed by a lot of complaints and attempts to persuade me otherwise. Eventually they give up and go to play super heroes while I cook dinner.

5:30pm Papi is home!  Everyone is always thrilled by this. The kids hide behind the door to "surprise him" as they do every day.

5:45pm We eat dinner. Lentil soup, which Rogelito loves and Katalina despises...you can never please them both at the same time. So, Rogelito gobbles down a big bowl and Katalina whines her way through half of hers.

6:30pm Bath time. Papi is in charge of this while I clean up dinner.

7:30pm Brush teeth, put on PJs and read bed time stories.  The kids are very excited to have Papi read their new library books.

8:00pm Bed time.

I absolutely love homeschooling and being home with my kids and wouldn't have it any other way. I love watching all the discoveries and insights that they have each day. I love watching them develop such a close sibling bond that I know they wouldn't have if they were separated from each other in school all day. I love being able to make learning more relevant for my kids by making connections to the things we do in school all day because I know exactly what we my kids are learning about.  I have the best, most rewarding job in the world (though I do definitely have the occasional moment when I question my own sanity ). Our days are busy, but we are always having fun laughing, learning, and enjoying life together. I feel very lucky to be in a position where we are able to home school.  I also feel very fortunate to have a husband and extended family that are so supportive of our decision to do so. 

 Thank you Tamara for not only a fun and detailed description of your day, but a real and honest look into the day of a homeschool Mama!