Our homeschool day is pretty simple.  I sometime worry that we are not doing enough, and maybe we aren’t, but we have been through A LOT to get where we are. 

We started out super structured, super pushed and super stressed.  After autism, OCD, threats to set oneself on fire, holding a knife to one’s chest and more… let’s just say we had to try another way.

Then there was the year and a half in private Christian school where they learned that everyone does school and they could do so much WITHOUT crying or complaining as well as learning some foul language and the art of girls treating girls like dirt… our journey has been long. 

What we are doing is working, our days are peaceful and our kids are learning - so here we are. Charlotte Mason was the best thing I ever stumbled upon and I haven’t looked back since.

So, here is how our day looks. All times are approximations!

8:45ish to 9:00 AM: Family work

This is where we do literature, any science or history reading and narration, picture study, music study, scripture memory, hymn study, nature study, geography, etc.  What we do in this time is different based on the day of the week.  We do a lot of different subjects, spread throughout the week.

9:30: Independent Work

Bible study, copy work, math, typing grammar, guitar, Spanish, life skills, personal development, dictation, reading, WordSmithery etc. – all stuff that they can mostly do on their own with a little guidance.

10:00: Break

At 10 we take a 30 minute break.  I exercise during this time and we eat a snack. Right now the kids have a show on PBS that they watch during this time.  In the past and when the weather gets good again, we take a walk during this time.

10:30: Back to work

30 minutes isn’t enough time to finish all their independent work so this goes until around lunch time.

12:00: Lunch

And that is our day.  Sometimes it goes fast, sometimes there is more to do after lunch.  This is our first year integrating our most difficult child back into homeschool so I have taken this first half of the year pretty cautiously and will start to push more and more as he can handle it. 

Our littles know that they have to play quietly during family work time and they come in and out of our school time during the independent work time.  Nathan has started getting out his “math book” and doing some work in it.  Maury likes to color and mostly do whatever.  They also do puzzles, play with blocks and generally just enjoy themselves. :)

I use the Charlotte Mason Organizer from Simply Charlotte Mason and I love it.  Everything is in there and set up, I just click on today's work and we are ready to go. Our curriculum choices also mostly follow the SCM Curriculum Guide.