Q&A {daily schedule and homeschooling}
So today’s Q&A is a collection of some of your questions related to our daily schedule and homeschooling…
A day in the life of the Campbell family post? This will probably never happen. I can’t imagine the logistics of trying to document a day or how incredibly LONG that post would be. Though our days are simple, they are also full – especially for me. And every day is different! I’m too much IN the day to even begin thinking about how to record a day! It is a great idea, but I just can’t figure out how I would actually make that happen!
I’ve always wondered if you are a good sleeper. How many hours of sleep to you get each night? Once upon a time I was a good sleeper, then I had kids. Last night I was technically in bed for 8 hours, but was woken up 11 times (5 kids, a cat, dog, a thunderstorm – they seemed to all gang up on me!). I’m drinking my second cup of coffee right now. Most nights are not like that, but I also don’t remember the last time I slept uninterrupted for 8 hours. Even if all the kids and the animals sleep…something else will figure out a way to wake me up – like the train that runs behind our house. There was a time in my motherhood that I resented how rarely I was able to sleep all night. I’ve come to terms that I’m in a season where sleep doesn’t look like it will in 10 years. I’m okay with that now. For the first two years my youngest daughter was home she woke up between 4-6 times a night. I thought that season would never end. It did. Most nights now she peacefully sleeps all night. One day I will too!
Do you require the children to have a rest time during the day? Yes and no. I have great intentions of holding to rest time, but I don’t always. My kids individually often go find a quiet space to read or be alone. In a way they do self-initiated rest time.
I would really like to know details about your daily & night routine, including your commitment to exercise. How do you fit it in? What time to you begin your day and when do you ‘crash’? The only thing I do at a certain time is workout. I wake up at 6:00am and head straight to Crossfit every weekday (regardless of how restful the night was). I started this about a year and a half ago and it has been one of the very best decisions I have made for myself in a long time. I am able to wake up without anyone needing me, which puts me in such a better mood when I get home. Working out in the morning gives me so much energy – far more than coffee or any other thing I could eat or drink. It has been a game changer for me. I could go on and on about this topic, but I’ll stop.
After Crossfit, I come home, get ready for the day, read my Bible, and eat a slow breakfast outside with whoever is still at the table. Next we do school, followed by house stuff & blog stuff in the afternoons. We usually eat dinner at home together every night and then play outside or go to sports practices. Once we come inside it is time for bedtime routines. After I talk and pray with each kid, I pick up the house, finish up any work, hang out with Chris and then head to bed. In my dream world, I would go to be at 10pm. That never happens. I need to get better at getting to bed earlier!
I would love to hear a little about your system of organizing your to do lists, lesson plans, project timelines, goal setting, etc. I live by my planner. I tried to use digital planners and phone calendars, but I need things on paper. This year I am using a Passion Planner. It is full of everything. If I lost it, I would be lost.
I wondered if you might share why you chose to homeschool if that’s not too personal? Without going into too many details (personal to our son), in a very basic sense our decision stemmed from seeing our oldest son lose a passion for learning. He was in a wonderful school with phenomenal teachers – an environment that fostered learning. However, much like I was as a student, he started being consumed more with perfect grades than the joy of learning. He went from reading all the time to having very little time to read. In many ways I felt like I was losing my son, so we made a drastic change. The plan was to homeschool for a year to give him a break from a demanding schedule and help him return to his love of learning. This month we will begin our 4th year of homeschooling. Needless to say, we feel like our kids are thriving and we will continue until we feel otherwise. (my oldest read this and gave his approval for sharing it)
Favorite homeschool subject? History. I thought it would be art or writing, but I have developed such a deep appreciation and interest in history as a result of homeschooling.
Would you consider a post about your favorite resources? Pinterest! Seriously, I find so much on Pinterest. I do a search there on every topic I am teaching – I can find activities, YouTube links, reading lists. So many homeschool parents have put great resources together that I don’t feel the need to reinvent anything. Pinterest. Hands down my favorite homeschooling resource.
I think there is commonly a tension between “freedom” and “enough” (are my kids learning enough, am I doing enough, etc). What is your approach? I feel that tension all the time. I find when I talk to one mom, I leave feeling like I am not doing enough of one thing. Then I talk to another mom and feel like I am not doing enough of something else. I have to consistently and constantly go back to our goals for our children’s education and these seasons of their lives. Our goals will be different from every other family. We will do things differently than other families. I have to remind myself of OUR goals and walk towards those without getting distracted by what others are doing or not doing.
What does a typical school day look like for you? How do you juggle so many different grade levels? We begin the day together sharing prayer requests, praying, and Bible study. We also go over a few things we are all working on like sign language. We are a part of Classical Conversations, which means we do core subjects with a local homeschool community. Together we go over our Classical Conversations curriculum and I often expand on it (history projects, science projects, etc.). I then work with the younger ones, while my older kids do independent work (math, typing, etc.). After I finish with the younger ones, I work with the older boys. Juggling the different grades can be challenging, but not near as bad as I thought it would be. My oldest is very self-motivated and he sets a great example for his siblings.
I must admit, part of me feels funny about answering these questions. I am not an expert at anything. I’m figuring out this parenting, homeschooling, scheduling thing every day too. We try stuff. We keep what works and try something new for what doesn’t. Ask me these questions in a year and I am sure my answers will change as I learn from others!
