Our Homeschool Day {in pictures}

Hi and welcome to our home in beautiful East Tennessee!! We are a very eclectic homeschooling family, meaning we are not committed to one certain method or way of homeschooling. We are a little bit unit-study-ish, a little bit Charlotte Mason, a little bit traditional, a little bit unschoolish with a little bit of classical thrown in there with our Greek/Latin roots and lots of memory work! All of that said, here are some pictures from a “typical” day in our household!!

For those of you that are new here, our kids are 5th, 4th and 2nd grade this year! If you’d like to see a list of the curriculum we are using for the 2012-2013 school year, you can go here.

We usually start the day off with reading, devotions, memory work and Bible time on the couch. We always have a pile of books beside the couch that we are reading through. Right now, because of our new chicks, we have started a new Chicken unit study and are reading a lot of books about chickens and eggs!

After we get done reading all together with our read alouds, memory work, devotions, etc. we get started on our independent work.

Caleb will read to me…

I will help him with his math, handwriting, and language arts…

So, that is generally how our days go around here…but I do want to add one more thing to this post. What these pictures don’t show you is how hard it is to homeschool. I’ve had it on my heart to share this lately and thought it would be a good place. Please don’t ever get the idea, from reading my blog, that it’s all perfect here in our home! I generally don’t take pictures of the bad moments. (but I have been known to in the past once or twice!) I generally don’t share about the millionth time I have asked my children to complete their chores. I generally don’t share about my frustrations with myself in how I discipline or can’t be consistent as a parent. I generally don’t share that I want to give up sometimes. I generally don’t share that I have a lack of patience a LOT of times with my kids.

But, those things are all true. Don’t look at my pictures and think I’m a good homeschooling mom. I’m not. I do this because I feel called, not because I feel I’m a better teacher than anyone else, not because I’m some super-woman who is uber-patient and not because I feel good at this AT ALL. I feel called to do this for my children and I do it. Honestly, a lot of times, I want to throw in the towel…but I don’t feel that God has given me that permission yet. 🙂

At the same time, we are SO blessed by this homeschooling life. And it is just that – our LIFE. We have centered our life around learning, field trips, growing in Jesus, reading good books, being outside in God’s creation, and just living this awesome life God has given us. I’m learning to be content here in this home with these sinful children who have such a sinful mother. I’m learning to be content and grateful for it all – the good and bad!!

Homeschooling has been such a huge part of God growing ME. God has taught me more about Himself and His love for me through my children and my days at home teaching them. God is changing me, chipping away at all the bad habits and struggles I have. I’m so thankful that I have chosen to live out this life of faith and obedience in homeschooling my children.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know WHO holds my tomorrow, and I am trusting Him to teach and grow us all until we meet Him face to face someday! 

{I am linking up with the TOS Crew Blog Cruise, which will be live Tuesday, March 26th.  Head on over to take a peek into the lives of other homeschoolers and what their days look like!}