Life has definitely shifted after adding Bug to the family. That 2 to 3 transition is no joke…and honestly, I feel like we are still working on that. Our homeschool daily routine on the other hand I feel like we’ve got it figured out!
Quick Facts before we delve into the homeschool daily routine
Hi, If you’re new here I am Megan, a stay-at-home mom to three wonderfully wild little girls. Bitty is our oldest as of spring 2024 she is 6.5 years old. Bean is our middle child and just turned four. Bug is the newest addition and just turned one year old. I homeschool the oldest two, so we are together all day every day, and let me tell you our homeschool daily routine is the only thing that keeps me on top of life.
Our homeschool daily routine is akin to a block schedule, in the sense that time rarely has too much importance. A few things stick to a time (the baby’s nap) but most parts of our day just follow an order of events. For the sake of walking you through our homeschool daily routine, I will break our day down into hour chunks.
Naturally, every day is a little different, between swim lessons, playdates, classes, and appointments each day is unique, BUT they still tend to follow my basic homeschool daily routine.
7:00-8:00 : Wake
The older girls have an OK-to-wake clock that lets them know when they can come out of their room. Bug is still in the room with us so, and her wake times are a little more random, but generally, everyone is awake after 7.
The older girls have some TV time, as this allows me to have a cup of coffee and actually wake up before we get the day going. Bug tends to start in with them and then toddles out to me in the family room playroom at some point.
About midway through this block Bug and usually Bean will come in search of fruit. Think of it like an appetizer before breakfast.
8:00 – 9:00 : Breakfast time
Most days I make breakfast for the girls, but Bitty has reached the point where she is capable of making some breakfasts on her own, and if she does that she usually fixes enough for everyone.
I often use breakfast time as a chance to get myself rolling. Hair, skincare, deodorant. Just the quick basics taken care of while they eat.
Usually, by 8:30 at least a couple of the girls are ready to get rolling as well. We pick out clothes, do hair, and brush teeth. Both the older girls are capable of dressing themselves but Bean still needs a little help with outfit selection and they both have long enough hair that they need help styling it.
9:00 – 10:00 : Out and About
This is our free window in our homeschool daily routine. It can be anything we need it to be. On this day, we hit up the library to pick out new books and play for a bit. We aren’t always out the door by 9 but I usually aim for 9:30 at the latest so we aren’t in the car too close to morning naptime.
10:00 – 11:30 : Snack and Nap
If we went out, we are usually still out and about during this time slot. Snack (if we remember to have it) is usually around 10 and Bug’s morning nap is usually in the sling wrap around 10:30. It used to be 10 but as she has gotten older it has pushed back and is much more of a catnap now. (In full transparency we are in the process of cutting that nap altogether. She is doing wonderful with the morning portion, but it does seem to be affecting her nighttime sleep…though she has never done GREAT with nighttime sleep…so take that at face value.
11:30 – 12:30 : Lunch and chores
I TRY and feed the kids as close to 11:30 as possible, this allows for a slower more casual lunchtime for them, not feeling rushed to get to schooltime afterward. I also try and use lunchtime to get caught up on dishes and unpack any bags from the morning.
If Bug did not take a morning nap I put her down at 12 or 12:30
12:30 – 1:00 : Free Choice School Time
Think of it as a warm-up period. a few minutes to get their bodies settled into school mode and it gives me a few minutes to gather any supplies we might need for the day. We have some work shelves in the school room, and everything on them is open for free choice during this time. They can also work on a self-selected project if they have something in mind. Usually, this time is spent on art and fine motor work
1:00 – 1:30 : Group Unit Lesson
We do a group lesson that is related to whatever our unit or culture lesson is for the month. This is usually a quick book or discussion followed by some kind of worksheet or art project. This month we were studying time and seasons. Fridays are our catch upday day for the unit and we didn’t have anything we needed to do, so Bitty and Bean just had extra free choice time. Bug is just toddling around generally causing chaos and getting into everything. That has been her MO for months and I am looking forward to her being down for a longer nap in the afternoon to limit her time in the school room and save me some sanity!
1:30 – 2:00 : Bug Nap/Preschool Lessons/Kindergarten Work Plan
This is a busy slot in the homeschool daily routine. I leave the big girls with free choice/ work plan work while I put Bug down for a nap, thankfully she is usually exhausted at this point and only takes a few minutes to get down.
When I come back, Bean gets some one one-on-one time to work on her lesson for the day. She rotates between math skills and phonics skills. On this day she was working with the sandpaper numbers and sand tray working on number symbol formation
Bitty has a work plan with some independent options that she can work on while I am busy with her sisters. It varies from day to day, but as long as she can find the supplies for the work she can handle these on her own, though I do have to remind her to stay on task regularly.
2:30 – 3:30 : Preschool Quiet time
Midway through our afternoon I set Bean up for quiet time. This is a standard part of our homeschooldaily routine and something that she looks forward to. I have a post all about HOW we do quiet time as well as some of our favorite items to get out during quiet time.
Bitty carries on with homeschool, though by this point of the day, she transitions to more one-on-one lessons versus independent work.
At some point in this window, Bug gets up from nap and hangs out with us while we finish up school for the day.
3:30 – 4:30 : Outside and Snacktime and Tidy Up
Everyone is up and outside; as long as the weather is cooperating. They all have a small snack and we get a bit more outside time in!
On this particular day, the kids wanted to go for a bike ride, so Dad took the big girls out for a bit and Bug and I stayed home.
I also spend this time block cleaning up from school. We ALWAYS end up spreading out and working in multiple rooms, so by the end of the work cycle there are things everywhere, and with dinner on the horizon, we need the table and kitchen counters cleared.
4:30 – 5:50 : Free Time
Often this is TV time, but as the seasons shift I know that it will end up as more outside time for us and I couldn’t be happier!
5:30 – 6:30 : Dinner and Closing Shift
We eat dinner as a family most nights and afterward we all pitch in to do closing duties. Clean up from dinner and deal with the dishwasher. Clear the table of anything that got left out. Pick up the family room playroom and outdoor play spaces, as well as the bathroom and guestroom TV room. Tidy up any laundry lying around. Typically one grown-up handles the kitchen while the other manages the kids and living spaces.
6:30 – 7:30 : TV and Family Time
On an average night, this is when we all go down to the basement family room and watch TV or in Dad’s case, play video games.
This particular evening it was the first really nice night of the spring and we decided we wanted a campfire so the grown-ups sat by the fire while the girls played in the dirt from the garden beds and the mud kitchen.
7:30 – 8:00 : Bedtime
Divide and conquer is the name of the game when it comes to the bedtime portion of the homeschool daily routine. Dad takes the big girls and gets their hair and teeth brushed, jammies on, and reads with them. Currently, they are working their way through the Hobbit. I will pop in and say good night at some point.
Meanwhile, I am dealing with Bug. I get her diaper changed and jammies on, we attempt to brush her teeth (she’s not a fan currently), then I nurse and rock her to sleep.
8:00 – 9:30 : Personal Free Time
If everything goes according to plan, everyone is lights off just after 8 and the evening is ours for the taking. Dad usually games for a while longer, and I do computer work or watch TV or homeschool prep or some other random mom life thing. We go to bed not long after the kids if I’m honest. Dad wakes up very early and Bug is not a great sleeper. Between the two of us, we never seem to get enough sleep, so in this season of life, we go to bed quite early.
So there you have it a Day in the life of a homeschool mama, a 6-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 1-year-old.
How does our day look different? What do we have in common?
If you want to see more snippets of our homeschool daily routine and our crazy colorful life check out my Instagram where I tend to share quite a bit of our daily routine.
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