5 Ordinary Homeschool Days - Monday

Welcome to (what I hope will be) 5 Ordinary Homeschool Days!

My goal this week is to give you some idea of what homeschooling most often looks like at my house here in Realsville. Here in my real world, we are sometimes tired and often disorganized; we have fun but we can also get frustrated; we have lesson plans and a schedule, but they have to be very flexible because seldom are two 'ordinary' days or weeks exactly the same. So over the past couple of weeks, I've been taking notes (and pictures) to combine into what an Ordinary week might look like. Ironically, this week and the rest of April are probably the least likely to be typical because of all the crazy things that are going on - my hubby travels for work around this time each year, softball season is starting, one of the older boys has a different work schedule this week, and we have a choir trip coming up too!

At any rate, here is what Monday should look like, and what today should look like.

Let's start off right, with a cup of coffee!

Mondays can be my favorite day of the week because I think of it as a new start. A whole new row on the calendar, and new checklist of things to get done during the week. However, Monday doesn't always feel like a fresh start first thing in the morning. Here's the background: Landon and Kennady have part-time jobs as scorekeepers in their dad's hockey league, and those games are played on Sunday night. As in, late enough on Sunday night that they usually don't get into bed before midnight. Because they are growing kids that need their sleep, and because we don't have to start school at a certain time or catch a bus, our standing plan is to start school about a half-hour later than usual on Monday mornings. Maybe an hour if it was a really late night. In the real world, it's actually pretty hard for them to remember to reset their alarms (like they wake up to their alarms anyway - HA! I'll get to that on one of the other days in this Ordinary week!) so they just leave them off; and it's also pretty hard for me to watch the clock and make sure they are up in time to start school. So the Late Start Monday is often later than we'd like it to be.



Once we are ready to start, we can usually be pretty productive though. History/Social Studies is the first hour block on our daily schedule, but since we start late most Mondays, I try to have something for that subject that doesn't take as long, or have them work on something on their own. Sometimes we'll skip Social Studies on Monday altogether and just head straight to the next thing on the schedule. That's Math for Landon, and Literature or Fine Arts for Kennady. Landon is using VideoText Interactive for Algebra, so he spends part of his math time each morning at the computer watching the lesson and printing his worksheet. As long as Kennady doesn't need me, that's a good time for me to get to a household chore or two, such as laundry.



Despite having breakfast later, the kids still want lunch at the same time. But I try to keep lunch break a little shorter on Mondays because of the late start. Rarely does that work out, but I can dream. Lunch is usually something simple like sandwiches or quesadillas. Landon and Kennady don't often agree on what they'd like for lunch, so on Mondays and Tuesdays I tend to stay away from things like mac & cheese where it's easier to make a larger quantity.

Getting back to schoolwork after lunch break isn't always the easiest thing in the world either. And I tend to be distracted by whatever I'm doing (like reading blogs or email, or checking Facebook. Oops.) so I'll procrastinate on reminding them that lunch break is over. What has helped me is having a weekday alarm set on my phone for 10 minutes before school time, since I don't always look at the clock. After lunch, we usually work on Science and English. Kennady especially likes to practice piano on Monday, when the older boys aren't home, so she gets in some extra time there on Monday afternoons.

Sometime between 3 and 4 o'clock, the kids usually finish up for the day, and can have some TV or video game time before dinner. Starting this week, Kennady will have softball practice or a game on Monday evening, so dinner has to be early enough to get her out the door on time.

new softball cleats!

After dinner has been cleared away, we hope we have some time to relax in the evening, whether at the softball game or at home. And probably it's a good night for milkshakes or hot chocolate.




Coming up in this week's 5 Ordinary Homeschool Days, I'll share a bit more about our daily schedule, how we try to keep track of everything, and the curriculum we're using. What's ordinarily on your homeschool schedule for Monday? Leave a comment and let me know! And please stop by again tomorrow for another coffee break!

Visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to see all the Crew bloggers participating in this "5 Days of... Blog Hop". There are more than 60 bloggers sharing on a variety of subjects. You might want to start by visiting the following featured blogs:
AnneMarie at Future.Flying.Saucers - Christian Worldview 101
Marya at Suncoast Mama - Homeschooling Special Needs
Lisa at Farm Fresh Adventures - Our Favorite Family Recipes
Dawn at Double O Farms - Helping Your Struggling Learner
Gena at I Choose Joy! - Homeschooling Middle School
Christine at Our Homeschool Reviews - Free and Frugal Homeschooling
Monique at Living Life and Learning - Homeschooling with Lapbooks
DaLynn at For the Display of His Splendor - Diagramming the Proverbs

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