2nd Grade: A Day in the Life

Welcome to a day in the life of homeschooling at my house! Please note upfront that what I am about to write is when things go well and fall into place. ( We've already had a day where everything fell apart and we had to throw in the towel... or should I say grab a towel since we all got wet!)


To begin with, the boys are up at 6:20 AM every morning and ready to hit the floor running! Ugh. I finally started telling them to let me sleep until 7:00 and that has really helped. They get up and play in the toy room nicely until about 6:45 - that's usually about the time I hear the first scream or fight. LOL! A whole 25 minutes of not fighting. Boys!

We have really been lazy with our early mornings so far. I generally check my email and make coffee and breakfast (usually a random combination of fruit, milk, sausage or cereal/granola).

They continue to play or sometimes watch PBS cartoons (Curious George and Dinosaur Train are their favorites). If all goes well, everything finally comes together about 8:30 or 9:00. The tv goes off and I corral all the boys to the dining room table.

We work for about an hour at the table. Generally, Will is doing his handwriting or spelling words while I do the dishes and the other two boys do PreK worksheets. Then Will moves on to his reader and reads it out loud to everyone. After his reading, I'm usually finished in the kitchen and can give them more personal attention. Will and I move on to his Language Arts worksheets that go along with the story he just read.

And right about now, Wittman (age 3) is screaming for "MORE SKOO WORK, PEAS!" :) He's a workbook-aholic. I'll usually give him scissors to start cutting up the page he just work on and he's happy again.

Nathan (age 4 1/2) is pretty content to do whatever. That's just his personality. Sometimes he gets frustrated and gives me a "No moe skoo work - ever ever!" but I'll try to calm him down and tell him that he doesn't need to do anymore, but he does needs to sit at the table with us. Inevitably, he'll sit for about 30 seconds and then pick up what was frustrating him and try again. :)

Once the handwriting and LA portion of the day is done (which is the hardest for Will) and depending on everyone's attitude, we will all take a small break or I'll tell them they can take a play break while I read to them (Bible and/or World History). I've got some big-time kinesthetic learners on my hands. It amazes me how much they comprehend while they are busy doing other things. Personally, my brain would explode - give me paper, pen, and a quiet lecture please. :)

After the "break" we'll do some math and maybe some science. This is where it gets hard though because RightStart Math is really more of a one-on-one kind of curriculum and very teacher intensive. It's not really possible to teach 3 different levels at the same time so usually the two little boys are off playing again. We are wizzing through the math lessons right now, though, since they are mostly review... which is nice!

We usually eat lunch around 11:00 - 11:30. My boys are not big breakfast eaters, so they get hungry early. There is usually a long break period after lunch where I hop on Facebook or do laundry. Usually Facebook. :)

Nap time for the two little guys is around 1:00. So at about 12:45, I start rounding them all up again and have them all lay down in their beds and listen while I read a chapter or two from Charlotte's Web. Then Will and I leave the room for them to nap.

Will gets a book that he can read quietly by himself. When he finishes a book, he gets a sticker on his reading chart that we started mid-summer. The rewards are: Picnic in the park, Ice Cream, Chuck E. Cheese, Make a Pinata, 1 hour computer time, Make cookies, Visit the Dog Pound, New Train.

After reading, he is allowed to turn the tv on for 30 minutes to watch CyberChase on PBS. From 1:00 - 2:00 is MY quiet time. YAY! I'm usually folding laundry and watching Days of Our Lives, but hey... it's quiet and it's my time. :)

Around 2:00 Will comes in and asks for some computer time on PBSKids.org. He likes the Ruff Ruffman games which are more on his level.

Starting next week, I'll probably incorporate TyperIsland before PBSKids.

Will usually gets a good 30 minutes of computer time before Wittman wakes up and then it's his turn. Then Nathan will wake up and it's his turn.

Then they have free time to do whatever they please. Right now it is way too hot to even go outside, so we are all generally in the house for the day. The boys love leggos and Kid Kinex! Will usually has paper with him at all times writing down his stories and drawing pictures.