Shared By:

Heather of Texas

Meet Our Family:

Hello I’m Heather, a stay-at-home mama to E, my 2-year-old and Little E, my 3-month-old.

E loves dinosaurs, farm animals and the color yellow.

Little E loves his mama and tummy time.

I enjoy reading, online shopping, and spending time outside with the family.

Our dad loves to play golf and we all think he is the funniest guy.

I am currently going back to school myself as well as homeschooling E so our family runs on lots of coffee (for Mom) and God’s Grace.

We have two Australian Shepherds, Ranger and Cowboy. Wherever we are during the day so are the dogs. They are the best fluffy shadows.

Our Morning:

Mom starts her morning with coffee and gets Dad off to work and then sits down to knock out as many school assignments and reading as she can before E wakes up.

Once E is up we make “cookies” for breakfast, also known as oatmeal, and have some fruit too.

We usually turn on a Leap Frog movie while I get the baby fed and down for a nap and then we jump into Timberdoodle! I try to do things like Farmland Math, Mathematical Reasoning, and Building Thinking Skills first thing in the morning because his attention span seems to be better then.

We then go into free play while I get housework done and fix a snack. I try to do something he can work on alone late morning so I can do housework, prep lunch, things of that nature.

Our Afternoon:

After lunch we read a few books while we unwind before nap time. Sometimes they are books S picks, sometimes we read books for a specific subject.

I knock some more of my own school work out while E naps.

Lots more playing in the afternoon, sometimes it’s Paw Patrol, sometimes it’s LEGOs and sometimes it’s with a paper towel tube and a box.

We do another snack, play outside and check the mail.

Our Evening:

Dad comes home. We do dinner and then we usually have one or two more school goals for the day that Dad does with E. Usually games like Day and Night or Bunny Peek-a-boo.

Then it’s time for E to feed the dogs, pick up toys and it’s off to bath time. I usually clean the kitchen while Dad does bath time.

Then we all pile into E’s bed, Little E included, to read more books before bed.

After E is asleep I usually work a little more on my schoolwork and some chores and then I reset for the day. I put away things and pull out the things I would like to achieve the next day.

Sometimes we get everything done during the week, sometimes we knock off a few checklist things in the weekends. We are super flexible with school and still try and focus mostly on learning through play.

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

Day and Night. E loves not only doing the challenges but that game gets lots of free play too. He loves stacking over and over with it

Shared By:

Jennie, Maine/California

Meet Our Family:

Good morning! Welcome to a day in the life of the Bryants.

Daniel is a prior service Marine who works on submarines and hopes to start his own business.

Angus, 9, is a Star Wars and Shakespeare enthusiast and the family extrovert. We wouldn’t know nearly as many people without him and we probably should have had a few more children so he’d have more people to talk to during the day.

Iona, 7, loves to cook, craft, make art, and dance. She’s making lunch as I type this up.

I (Jennie) am a writer and run vacation rentals of our home when we’re on the road. Daniel and I were both homeschooled as part of our own educations (6 and 3 years.)

Our Morning:

This morning, I got up at 7:00. I meant to get up at 5:00 to do my quiet time, practice French, and work out, just like I intend to do every day. I bet I’d get around to it more if I didn’t stay up until 11:30 every night watching inane YouTube videos. As it is, I woke up when Angus started creaking the floor above me. He and Iona climb onto my bed and we read a Psalm together, then they watch me do French on Duolingo for awhile until they decide they want to start practicing their own apps. Yes–school started before breakfast, voluntarily!

On the perfect day, I will have eaten breakfast before they get up and will read a chapter of a read-aloud while they eat, usually oatmeal with apples or blueberries. On an average day, we will listen to a chapter of Story of the World audiobook, which is good, too, except that I think I (and maybe the kids) retain more when I read it aloud.

After breakfast, we do our book work. I find that if it doesn’t get done before lunch, we’re in for a battle after. Book work includes Daily Geography, A Reason for Handwriting, Daily 6-Trait, sometimes Language Smarts and/or Mathematical Reasoning, Critical and Creative, Explode the Code, and Editor-in-Chief. It may also include Story of the World maps and Apologia Astromony text and workbooks. We also do Splash Math and are hoping that Beast Academy launches their app soon!

While the kids do some independent work, I try to do the budget, pay bills, do a little cleaning here and there, manage our cabin rental, etc. I usually have big plans that don’t pan out.

Our Afternoon:

After a late lunch of leftovers or some fresh veggies, fruit, cheese, and/or eggs, we might do some reading together, finish up the morning’s work, do an art project or lab, or have our pleasure reading time–30 minutes of silent reading that we all love!

On Tuesdays, we go to the local school for a Good News Club run by Grandma. Sometimes we go over to Grandma and Grandpa’s to play games or practice Dance Mat typing on their desktop computer (can’t do it on the ipad.)

Our Evening:

Around 3:30 or 4:00, I start supper in order to have it ready when Daniel gets home at 5:00. He has to get up very early for work, so it’s a bit of a rush to get every one in bed fairly early.

The kids have free time for awhile, then get their pjs on.

After supper, we finish getting ready for bed. Sometimes we have a Bible story or read-aloud. Always, we pray together and then kids read in bed with flashlights. It amuses me that a classic kid misdemeanor–reading under the covers–is a regular part of our family life. I love to read, so it’s not surprising!

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

We’re all big fans of Editor-in-Chief. I actually do some freelance editing and I truly enjoy it, so it’s fun that the kids like it, too.

I absolutely love Story of the World. It’s exactly what I was looking for, a story-based history that is worldwide, not just Euro-centric.

I love seasonal activities and just generally find Critical and Creative fun.

We loved Aquarellum and math Wrap-Ups and Slimy Space Slugs and all the graphic novel books that we bought.

More About Our Family:

We road-school a lot, traveling with my husband’s job–I’ve described a typical day in Maine, but actually, we are in California for four months right now. I tore out all the pages we had left in our workbooks (traveling light), finished history and science before we left, and added in some California history and nature to our studies while here.

One of the photos I included is from a three week roadschooling trip to Daniel’s family in Alabama! Have school will travel. 🙂 We hope in the future to be able to do even more with our travels!

Shared By:

Angus, Maine/California

Meet Our Family:

My name’s Angus and I have a sister named Iona and she likes to do cooking projects. My mom likes to write books. My dad likes to hike and go on adventures. I like to play with my cousins. We had a pet fish but he died. I like underwater and around the world and Shakespeare.

Our Morning:

I wake up and it’s when we go on a field trip and go shop for other people for Christmas. We get up, we eat breakfast, and then we drive to Auntie’s house and start the day. At Auntie Bee’s we brush our teeth and soon we go out on our field trip. We go out to some shopping places and we find stuff that we want to buy for other people. First, I’ll go with my mom or my auntie. We’ll go to Whole Foods. After some shopping, we’ll have lunch.

(Mom’s note: every year, we do this field trip. We work on budgeting and math and try to incorporate other skills. One year we studied simple machines and then hunted for levers, gears, etc. at a local Christmas themed shop.)

Our Afternoon:

After we went to lunch, we go to some other places. Soon we go home and wrap them or wait for a different day, usually wait for a different day. Then we wrap them and prepare for Christmas.

Our Evening:

We had supper and after that we’d go to bed and either read books or just go to sleep.

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

I like Smart Cookies. I like Story of the World. I like Daily Geography.

More About Our Family:

My birthday is in June. On my birthday I got the ship model and protein bars. The protein bars are yummy. My sister’s birthday is in January.

Shared By:

Iona, Maine/California

Meet Our Family:

My Mumma is very cute and I like to cuddle with her in the morning.

My bruzzy is someone who likes to watch Star Wars.

My Daddy always wears the same hat every day.

I like cooking so I like Smart Cookies because it’s cooking, and when I play it, I use a chair for an oven when I’m done putting the cookies on the pan the right way.

Our Morning:

I wake up and have oatmeal and then we do school.

We start with doing (Explode the) Code,(A Reason for) Handwriting, (Daily) Geography, Daily 6-Trait Writing, and Critical and Creative. Then we go on to Astronomy, which we finished now. And Splash Math and Mindsnacks (French app). We also do Story of the World.

And at lunch time, we have lunch. Usually by lunch, we are done with school and we play.

Our Afternoon:

I play with the toys that are stored down in the basement like pop beads and critters and sometimes Legos.

Our Evening:

For supper, we usually have healthy things. Sometimes we have pizza but we use wraps for the crust. Sometimes we have chicken. And sometimes salad.

And then sometimes we watch a movie, but not usually. Then if we do watch a movie, it will be late. One week, we watched three Narnia movies in one whole week in a row!

And then when we go to bed, we usually read to ourselves and then go to bed. We usually do two books.

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

Daily Geography. I like that it’s easy and I like to color the maps. Sometimes I don’t do all of it.

More About Our Family:

We have monkey bread at Christmas. We have a daybed.

Shared By:

Crissy-Sofia, Bulgaria

Meet Our Family:

Since our oldest 2 have moved out and live in the US, we are a family of 3. My husband, Keith, works here in Bulgaria and enjoys the outdoors. I homeschool our son, Leo who is 14, and I enjoy reading on topics of interest. Leo enjoys hanging out with friends, gaming with friends, reading, and boxing.

Our Morning:

As a family we most look forward to Fridays. Our mornings begin with Keith leaving for work before the rest of us are up.

I roll out of bed about 7:30 or 8:00 to grab a shower before waking up Leo at about 8:00 or 8:30. We don’t usually eat breakfast preferring to wait until lunch.

At 8:30 I like to read from the Bible and discuss any thoughts we have regarding the readings. Right now we’re in 1 Samuel and the Psalms.

We head out the door at 9:00 to be on time for boxing.

Once we return home, he runs the recyclables across the street to the big, community recycle bin.

Our Afternoon:

For lunch we usually have sandwiches or leftovers from dinner.

Afterwards he likes to get a shower, and hang out with our cats, Pancake who is our sleek, black panther and Sky who is gray and cuddly.

Where he works differs. Sometimes he hangs out in his room, at the kitchen table, or in the living room at the coffee table. Because of boxing, all his work– English, math (Math-U-See), science (Biology 101), history (Mystery of History), and language is accomplished in the afternoons on an alternating schedule.

Our Evening:

On Fridays we have family movie night so Friday evenings are the high points of our Fridays and of our week really! Once Keith gets home, as part of the fun, we order pizza and soda for dinner to enjoy with our movie.

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

Leo enjoyed Biology 101 so much that he wants Chemistry 101 and Physics 101. I found myself getting sucked into watching it with him so his desire to watch the other two pleased me. I plan to order them so that we can watch them as part of the physical science kit that we already own or maybe even over the summer as something interesting to watch.

Shared By:

Leo-Sofia, Bulgaria

Meet Our Family:

Hi! My name is Leo and I am a homeschooler. I have two family members, which are my father and mother. My father is a military man and is currently working. My mom is my teacher and works hard to teach me! I don’t have a career so far but I hope to be able to have a musical hobby.

Our Morning:

Today, June 30th, 2018, I awoke at 11:30, later than everyone else. I don’t know when everyone else awoke but definitely earlier than me! When I awoke I wasn’t all that hungry so I had a small bowl of cereal.

Our Afternoon:

This afternoon I went online to upload some music to my soundcloud, I haven’t eaten lunch yet but that might be a good idea! Later I plan to work on my musical hobby!

Our Evening:

It isn’t evening yet but we will probably just eat leftovers. So far as the day has gone on the only highlights are my music. I hope it goes well but we will see!

Shared By:

Jenny of Georgia

Meet Our Family:

Hello! My name is Jenny. I am a homeschool mom and the Children’s Ministry Director at our church. My husband and I have two kids, a daughter, age 7, and a son, age 2. Our daughter is very social and takes less than five minutes to find a new BFF. Our son is mischievous and is always trying to make us laugh.

My husband and I were both homeschooled and swore we would never homeschool our kids. We got our daughter into the school of our dreams and thought we were set until college. We were so terribly wrong! This year was our first year homeschooling and we have loved it!

Our Morning:

On Mondays, my husband wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and leaves for work.

I don’t set an alarm but the kids and I wake up between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m.

We eat a quick breakfast, my daughter takes care of the dog, and the kids have free time until about 10:30. This is when my two-year-old takes a nap and we start school.

We have tried doing school at a few places around the house but have finally settled on a permanent setup in the guest room. My daughter sits at an office desk or on the bed. We use Math-U-See, Story of the World, Apologia Astronomy, First Language Lessons, Spelling You See, a weekly journal, Critical Thinking workbook and toys, Education.com worksheets for U.S Geography, and Education.com games for math and reading. By law we have to do at least four and a half hours of school. We do math, science, history, and spelling no matter how long it takes. The other subjects we do at least once a week or more often to make sure we hit our mandatory time.

Our Afternoon:

My son usually wakes up around 12:30 and we eat lunch. This Monday we had turkey sandwiches and cantaloupe for lunch.

After lunch we let the dog outside and play for awhile. Then we get back to school work.

My son plays with toys that we keep in the guest room while my daughter and I finish her school work. At 4:30 my daughter has a thirty minute piano lesson at the house.

Our Evening:

My husband gets home from work at 6:00 p.m. This Monday we had salmon and a prepackaged salad kit. It was a quick and easy dinner.

We were done eating around 7:00 and went into the living room to watch TV and play.

At 8:00 my husband took the kids upstairs and I took the dog outside and then locked up the house. By the time I got upstairs the kids were ready for bed and running around like it was their last chance at freedom for the rest of their lives. I spent about fifteen minutes reading to the kids before they had to go to bed. My son goes to bed easily. My daughter, however, turns into a theologian, philosopher, and scientist as soon as her head hits the pillow. She has very deep questions that must be answered right away and somehow turn into discussions. By the time every one is ready for bed, the books have been read to cure the craziness, and the philosophical questions have been answered, it is around 9:00 p.m.

My husband and I then go to bed and try to remember all of the things that we needed to talk to each other about but didn’t have the chance until the kids were in bed and the dust settled.

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

We love, love, love Math-U-See! My daughter has a brain for math (she really struggles with reading, though) and we have been able to fly through the curriculum. She will be on a fourth grade level by the time she is eight years old because of how well it fits her learning style.

More About Our Family:

We love to turn everything into school. When the owner of the property we were fishing at found out that we homeschooled he offered to dissect and explain a fishes anatomy to us. He took the opportunity to teach us about all different aspects of his property. The attached picture is the trailer where we had our amazing science lesson.

Shared By:

Rachelle of Missouri City, TX

Meet Our Family:

Hello! I’m Rachelle and a part-time teacher at a University Model School. My husband is a part-time stay-at-home-dad (and a full-time grad student). Our daughters A and Y are 3 years old and 6 months old. Our dogs don’t get much attention since Y was born, but luckily they enjoy sleeping almost all day 🙂

Our Morning:

Every day, my husband wakes up first to walk the dogs. Then together we get the kids up and fed.

On stay-at-home-dad days, he plays with A (using Timberdoodle curriculum – her fave toy changes every month!) while Y chomps on some toys nearby, then they walk to the park.

On stay-at-home-mom days, I start the laundry, take the kids to ballet or the library for story time, then finish the laundry during lunch. We get A LOT of books at the library; A loves to “read” (look at pictures while we read to her).

Our Afternoon:

Lunch is leftovers for me, milk for Y, and A has delicious baked chicken made specially for her by my husband.

If A finishes her meal early and can help me babysit Y while I finish laundry, she gets to watch a cartoon afterwards.

A still naps once a day, though sometimes it’s just quiet time where she plays or reads on her bed.

I try to work (grading and lesson planning) while they both nap.

Our Evening:

After they nap, we walk the dogs.

My husband’s family lives 4 doors down, so we usually walk over for dinner.

A and her cousin ride bikes after dinner, then its bath and bed time!

The high point of the day would be a restful kid-free evening 🙂

Favorite Timberdoodle Tool:

Bunny Peekaboo – she has really grown, and learned a lot of vocabulary like above, below, left, right, in front, behind, etc.

More About Our Family:

We borrow lots of Spanish books and Chinese books from the library!