It’s that time of year! I usually like to share our “day in the life” snapshots in the middle of the school year (instead of the beginning) because it truly is representative our real-life rhythm (versus ideal plans that haven’t yet come to life, LOL).

Life with littles looks significantly different than life with bigs. We are no longer moving as a “unit” to the same places (#bittersweet!). Currently, my kids are 12 (6th grade), 15 (9th grade), and 17 (11th grade, and a driver).

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BEFORE YOU READ ABOUT WHAT A DAY LOOKS LIKE FOR US

You can read more about our overall homeschool journey here.

Since then, we’ve just continued to move more and more towards interest-led, self-directed days as Christian unschoolers.

And actually, a term we’ve been slinging around lately (I first came across the term via a hashtag on Insta), to more succinctly describe our homeschool paradigm and approach, is “lifeschooling“.

TIME-BLOCKING FOR SUCCESS AS CHRISTIAN UNSCHOOLERS

Time blocking for Christian unschoolers?!

YES.

And you can read more about why it has worked for us here.

Ready to see what a typical day looks like for us this year?

OUR CHRISTIAN UNSCHOOLING ROUTINE

With Big Bro’s work schedule and the girls taking electives-type classes in town, our at-home routine really has simplified.

Obviously, not every single day looks like this (ALL homeschoolers can relate, I’m sure)! Hubs has a very unconventional shift schedule so when he is off on home days, we often treat it like a weekend and go with the flow so we can do things together as a crew. And of course, with budding young adults, things come up for them as well (picking up shifts or extra babysitting jobs) that requires us to pivot accordingly.

But this is a little snap of what our typical day look like right now:

AM: WE ARE OUT OF THE HOUSE!

We used to do Breakfast & Bible as a family, but those days are sadly over (cue me crying here, LOL).

Big Bro works at a coffee stand so works super early and is out the door before the rest of us even get out of bed.

The girls make a mad rush to prep their own breakfasts before I take them to town for their classes.

12:00-ISH to 1:00-ISH: LUNCH

We are usually all home by this time and grab a bite to eat. The bonus of having big kids is I no longer make their lunch … they figure out their own and even often make mine, LOL. Even though our Family Collective Time officially starts after lunch, I’ll often do a quick read aloud from a devotional to help ground our afternoons.

Two of the devotionals we’ve been reading from this school year:

Experiencing God Day by Day: 365 Day Devotional by Henry T. Blackaby

New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp

1:00-ISH to 2:00-ISH: FAMILY COLLECTIVE TIME

This time is special to me because as we continue to move towards these later years of homeschooling (aka independent learners who are basically young adults learning to take ownership of their own schedules/lives), it’s becoming a precious commodity to have all of us still sit together as family during the day. Our collective time looks different any given day but here are some of the things we do:

• while my kids mostly read their bibles/devotional on their own, we’ll often pick up the bible and read straight from scripture, particularly when we are struggling with a specific issue or if our kids may have questions or lack of clarity over the Sunday sermon from church or if we are sensing we need wisdom straight from God’s word
• learn subjects together that they expressed wanting to study (right now, we are learning about psychology and the power of mindset)
• discuss what we’ve got going on our plate for the day (and even the next)
• discuss how they are doing with their personal objectives
• share anything else they want with the rest of the crew (like dreams or airing out frustrations, LOL)
• take time to pray for specific situations and people in our life

I also share a variety of things, like news from current events, inspirational quotes or cool videos I personally come across in my own learning that I think they may appreciate, etc. On days dad is off (because of his unconventional schedule), he participates in our Family Collective Time as well.

This time is kind of like a daily family board meeting, LOL.

We used to have a dedicated family read aloud time, something that had been a staple our entire homeschool journey and was my absolute favorite part of the day (like literally up until last summer!).

There is something about the shared experience of stepping into a story together, which later serves as fodder for inside jokes or deep discussion, even when we aren’t actively “in the book”. Sadly, this isn’t happening anymore now that Big Bro and Big Sis are moving towards their own paths.

I will still read aloud fiction to Baby Sis throughout the week, when she isn’t busy doing her own things or on slow days like on the weekends. But it really isn’t the same as when she had her two older sibs listening in with her. I share this to challenge you younger mamas to really savor the younger years! It goes by too quickly and just looks so different as your older kids start to move out of the family homeschool “circle”. It’s been just as a challenge for Baby Sis to learn to adjust to this season of life as it has been for me as mom!

2:00-ISH to 5:00-ISH: INDEPENDENT LEARNING

The kids dive into their interests after our Family Collective Time. During this time, they usually first work on “eating their frogs” to make headway with any of the current objectives they have on their compasses before moving on to other things. Currently this is what it can look like for each kid:

// Big Bro, 11th Grade //

• Creating content for his Instagram theme page (it’s an online business he started and has plans to grow over the next year).
• Reading books, watching on YouTube, or listening to podcasts about success principles, leadership, entrepreneurship, biblical manhood, etc. (He is part of the Student Leadership Team for our church’s youth group, so he also gets assigned reading there.)
• He recently purchased an ukelele and is teaching himself how to play (via YouTube University, LOL).
• Working out.
• Hitting up our local ski resort to get some snowboarding runs in with his other homeschool friends and co-workers.

// Big Sis, 9th Grade //

• Math (Teaching Textbooks). She hadn’t touched any math program for a little over a year but because she recently expressed interest in attending college for film, she recognized that colleges would be looking at stuff like this and was motivated to pick up math again. She’s done this once before (took a break from math for a long time and then come back to it), but I’ve NEVER seen her work through the modules as fast as she is right now! This is what proves to me that if there is intrinsic motivation, kids can and will do what is required to reach their goals. You can read about how we’ve unschooled math here.
• Creating content for her YouTube channel.
• Learning French (she has used Outschool as well for this, but also uses other resources available to her like Dualingo, books from the library, French films and music, etc.).
• Experimenting with different recipes (she is a culinary student at the local tech center and loves to continue working in the kitchen while at home).
• Working out.

// Baby Sis, 6th Grade //

• Math (also Teaching Textbooks). She’s not super passionate about it, but it is a requirement for being able to take the fun classes at the local alternative learning program she goes to for fiber arts, drawing, piano, drama, art, etc.
• Practicing piano (she has expressed an interest in learning the cello as well!).
• God wired her with a heart for community and hospitality and planning so she is always dreaming/scheming up the next gathering she wants to host for her friends.
• Doing other creative things like crafts, putting together puzzles or Legos, making stop-motion videos, painting, writing stories, etc.
• Making a mess while doing all of the above (she’s like the Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil!).
• Working out.

// Mom //

Yep, me too! Lifeschooling isn’t just for kids!

I’ve been spending more time growing in my digital entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, so this is when I will fit that in. And, of course, if the kids need me for anything, I will stop what I’m doing to help them out.

Now that the kids are older and more independent, I’m finding that I have more time and mental capacity to pursue my own interests more seriously. What’s awesome is that this also models for my kids what going after goals looks like and has inspired them in their own pursuits!

5:00-ISH to 6:00-ISH: BLESSING HOUR

Blessing Hour is term I am borrowing from somewhere (I can’t remember exactly, but I know it is from another homeschool family) for our “household chores time”. This is when we pick up from the day (or should be, anyway!) and tackle any necessary housekeeping duties (laundry, dusting, vacuuming, etc.).

I used to simply call these tasks “house work” but I love the connotation of “blessing hour” way better – we all bless each other by working together to be good stewards of the home and possessions we have been given.

6:00-ISH to 7:00-ISH: DINNER

Again, these days with big kids, it’s getting harder to have dinner together as a family. Big Bro may be out with friends at this point or may have picked up an extra shift at work. Big Sis often babysits in the evenings as well. The kids and I are also out of the house one night a week for youth group (they attend, I’m a small group leader).

But on the days we are home together, after dinner, we clean up and usually hang together to watch a movie or a show. (This doesn’t happen always, but one of my homeschool mom hacks is to try to intentionally pick something related to what any of us are learning or a movie based on a book one of the kids recently finished reading.)

NOT TIME BLOCKED: ORGANIC DISCIPLESHIP OPPORTUNITES

Real life means real mess. And sprinkled all throughout our days is the effects of sinners doing life with other sinners. Often, bickering would turn into hurtful digs at each other as they would bring up past transgressions and instances of selfishness against each other.

Everyday, we can choose which battles to fight as a parent. Contentious moments are the ones I pick; where I have sensed deep-rooted issues affecting outward behavior (not run-of-the-mill behavior that just comes with being a kid, like forgetting to put stuff away).

This is when I’ve chosen to stop whatever I am doing and talk through the kids’ in-the-moment struggle, intentionally pouring energy into the issue at hand, helping them (and myself!) remember how the gospel should inform how we respond and deal with each other in any given situation.

Yes, it is inconvenient, and we’ve been known to cancel pre-scheduled activities with others in order to work through things. But let me tell ya – as a mom of older kids, this laying down of agendas has borne so much fruit now that they are adolescents. As they continue to grow in maturity and gospel fluency, this is not as much as a struggle as it was when they were younger (though Big Sis and Baby Sis can still have their days, LOL).

Oftentimes, this has taken minutes. But sometimes, this has been our entire homeschool day.

But, honestly, now the bulk of our organic discipleship opportunities look more like our kids downloading decisions they have to make, struggles at work or with people, their concerns for adulthood, their dreams, etc. My hubs and I listen attentively and let them have a chance to get things off their chest and then we give counsel as we feel we should as their parents. While I sorely miss those “wonder years” of homeschooling younger kids, this later season really is a different kind of sweet as you witness the fruit of all those years start to produce in the lives of your children.

ON OCCASIONAL DAYS WE AREN’T OUT OF THE HOUSE

When it’s a rare home day, we are very relaxed. I let the kids sleep in because I believe in the need for teenagers to have ample rest. If you do a little research online, you’ll find that lack of sleep is a major contributing factor to poor mental health and increased stress on our youth!

Slow mornings mean I get to tackle some work on my blog and other digital entrepreneurial pursuits before the kids get up. When they finally roll out of bed (which they end up doing around the same time for some reason), we all convene and have a late breakfast/brunch and spend time just being together.

After about an hour or so, they each get ready for their day and then head off in their own direction for whatever it is they want to read, study, or do (see above).

I’ll check in with them periodically to see how they’re doing or if they need anything, but honestly, a lot of times they initiate a request for help. It’s pretty organic in these parts.

They’ll eat snacks or make smoothies throughout day, but we don’t really have another official meal together as family until dinner time.

THAT’S IT!

Thanks for taking a peek at this year’s “day in the life” with older kiddos!