It’s my 5th annual Day in the Life post! Have you ever wondered what a random Tuesday looks like in the Sloan homeschool? Well, I took notes and pictures throughout this one ordinary, crazy day so you can take a peek behind the curtain.
And be sure to read to the end where I link to the past Day in the Life posts. It’s pretty fun to see how things have (or haven’t) changed over the years!
{This post contains paid links. Please see disclaimer.}
5:20 Alarm beeps. I thrust my hand out to shut if off before it wakes up John, but instead I throw it onto the floor. It’s a mad scramble to sweep my arm around, find the little monster, and finally get the beeping to stop!
Bleerily, I head downstairs, plug in the twinkly lights above the sink, and get the coffee started. French Press coffee in a beautiful mug my friend Carrie painted bring a little bit of joy to my tired brain.
Now it’s time for a bit of my own blog work, a bit of email catch-up, and some work in my role as a social media Virtual Assistant.
6:20 Shut the lid on the computer, grab another mug of coffee, and head to the living room to read my Bible and a bit of Dante.
I’m pretty behind in my Dante reading schedule, but am reminding myself that steady plodding still counts. (Learn more about Dante and with whom I’m reading through the Divine Comedy right now here.)
Y’all know the Bible is at the core of our family and homeschool life. We read through the Bible every few years during our family devotions, and we prioritize Bible memory and study in our Morning Time. But just like we encourage our children to read the Bible on their own as well, so my husband and I have times for personal devotional reading.
Now, let’s be frank. My husband is way more consistent at this than I am and has basically read through the entire Bible every year for as long as I can remember. It takes me a little longer than a year. And I think that’s helpful to remember. Just because you don’t “finish” your reading plan doesn’t mean it was a waste of time!
I prefer to have flexibility as to which book I read next, so instead of following a specific schedule I like to print out a checklist and mark off the chapters as I read them. I can see at a glance which books I’ve finished, and which portions of the Bible I need to focus on next. You can print one off like the one pictured here.
7:00 Exercise time! I’m loving MommaStrong workouts right now, especially how they support my recovery from pelvic prolapse.
*And here is my public service announcement: incontinence of any kind is not “just what happens when you have kids.” Pelvic pain is not normal. If you are struggling with any kind of pelvic floor or abdominal dysfunction, I highly recommend working with a pelvic physical therapist. I finally did that a couple years ago and only wish I had done it sooner. Just because these issues are extremely common doesn’t make them normal, and you deserve to get help. I promise it is 100% worth the investment of time and money!
After exercise there’s a bit more work time, breakfast prep, and shower!
8:00 Normally this is when we meet for Morning Time. But today, my husband will be gone until late in the evening, so we moved our regular family devotions to the morning. Family devotions is a non-negotiable in our family life and we try to cancel or rearrange anything else rather than our time of worship together.
John heads upstairs, and the kids and I move into the other room for read-aloud time. We are almost finished with Stories from the Faerie Queen, and we are all loving it!
We also finish our breakfasts during today’s World Watch News episode. Baked eggs in a muffin tin are an easy way to cook a lot of eggs at once with minimal clean-up required.
9:15 Time for reading lesson! First grade one-on-one time with my youngest is my focus for the next hour and a half. While Mondays I usually take a few hours after Morning Time to work on things with my 4th and 6th grader; on the other days I make sure to work with the 1st grader, well, first!
Today goes smoothly and my 4th grader and 6th grader work independently, asking questions as needed today.
My 9th grader and 11th grader also work independently. My 11th grader is doing both dual-enrollment college classes (Economics and Chemistry this spring) and 2 online high school courses (Great Books and Literary Analysis). My 9th grader takes Precalculus, Great Books, and Literary Analysis online; Chemistry and Humanities with me (with the help of these online lab videos); and French and violin in person outside the home.
First Grade Looks Like:
- The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading
- Math with Confidence (see my review of the Kindergarten level here)
- First Language Lessons
- Italic
- Read Aloud (we’re finishing up The Horse and His Boy right now)
- Piano practice (he does this independently)
Today we have to whisper our way through a few of these lessons because the piano tuner arrives. Phew, the piano hasn’t been tuned in a couple years, and it is ready for a refresh!
11:00 Clap for Classics! LIVE class is on and we are so excited! Isaac looks forward to this class every week, and somehow Grace always manages to sneak in and join us, too. I love Miss Elizabeth’s enthusiasm and love for music, and it’s amazing how much about classical music the kids are learning.
Meanwhile, Emma and Joshua are in their online Great Books class with Kristen Rudd.
11:45 ish Kids, fix yourselves some lunch and enjoy an episode of Tudor Monastery Farm while you eat. Mama has got some errands to run!
Accomplished:
- Target (birthday gift and toiletries)
- Dry Cleaners
- Tailor
Home again, grab myself some food, then heading back out the door
1:00 Driving to pick up Emma’s friend and take them both to French class. This is the 2nd time this week I’ve traveled to this particular nearby suburb, but it won’t be the last. I head here 5x every week!
I love using the time in the car on the way to carpool pick-up to check in with Emma on her Great Books class. She is always full of enthusiasm and a willingness to discuss.
Emma has long desired to learn French and she’s so happy to be working on it at last. And I’m thankful for a local friend who is fluent in French and who is willing to teach a small group of high schoolers!
1:30 Girls dropped off, and it’s time to put my Aldi quarter to use! I keep a quarter in the cup holder of both vehicles so I’m always ready. Of course, I usually forget to put the bags back in the trunks, so that’s always awkward
Do I have time to pick up library holds on the way home? Sure I do.
Um. Now I’m really tired and want to be done for the day. But there’s this big pile of unfolded laundry on my bed to tackle.
But apparently first I need to tackle a kid meltdown.
And then a Mama meltdown.
And maybe a few more group meltdowns for good measure.
Sigh. Repent again. Move forward in grace.
4:15 Laundry is (mostly) finished. Back out the door, this time with Grace and Sophia. Grace takes ballet and Sophia is a dance assistant in this class.
Shhh…. Don’t tell the girls, but this 20 min drive to dance also is a sneaky time I fit in extra narration. Both girls tell me about their readings today, and then Grace goes into details about some of the things she’s learned from the documentary over lunch.
Drop girls off at the dance studio, then put my earbuds in for some podcast listening and a long walk around town.
5:30 Heading home! Get in the door, get dinner in the oven. (Chicken strips plus cucumbers is totally what the kids are getting tonight. Dad isn’t home and Mom is tired and that’s just going to be good enough today.)
Look everywhere for my copy of the bible study book I need for tonight. Nope. Wow, I’m really prepared, huh?
6:50 Hugs all around! John is still gone, but I’m heading back out… for the last time, thank goodness.
Off to my monthly homeschool moms’ meeting with my local homeschool group. We aren’t a co-op. We’re old school support group style, and I love that. We also do various activities and field trips with the kids.
Tonight we pray together for some pretty Big Needs in our circle, have a lovely time of study and fellowship discussing 1 Peter, and then have a bit of time to just catch up.
Then home, sweet home! Catch up with John on his day while getting ready for bed. Lights out and asleep by a little after 10pm.
Want to see more pictures and a few videos from today? Check out the DITL 2022 highlight on my Instagram profile page.
Curious how this year compares to past experiences?
- Day in the Life 2021 (with a 15, 13, 10, 8, and 5-year-old)
- Day in the Life 2020 (with a 14, 12, 9, 7, and 4-year-old)
- Day in the Life 2019 (with a 13, 11, 8, 6, and 3 year old)
- Day in the Life 2018 (with a 12, 10, 7, 5, and 2 year old)
What does YOUR Day in the Life look like? I’d love to know in the comments below!
