While I don’t know that “typical” homeschool days happen often at our house, we do like to stick to a general schedule and routine. Years ago, I was more of an unschooler but my Special Needs kiddos really need structure so we have found that following at least a general outline works best for us.

Here is our general homeschool schedule:

Devotions
Prayer (see how we set up and use a prayer wall)
Apologia Textbook reading – Who Is God and How Can I Know Him
memory verse
Brain Break

Story of the World reading
SOTW Review Questions
chapter in whatever book we’re reading
Science Textbook reading
Brain Break

Snack

Sight Words
Super Sentences (you can read how we do that here)
read aloud
Brain Break

After this portion of the day where I have been doing the reading and leading things, the kids transition to their workboxes. You can read a detailed explanation of how we use our workboxes here. I have pre-filled them with any map work, worksheets and activities that correspond with the lessons from the morning.

The workboxes also contain the kids’ Daily Grams, Handwriting, notebooks, journals, and rotating activities. The rotating activities include things like the Sensory Bin, auditory station, file folder games, educational busy bags, Math (because it’s on the computer) and hands-on activities. Many of the rotating activities are sensory stations.

After they are done their workboxes, there are a few kids that have things like reading practise or attachment work but generally, they are done “school” for the day.

We start homeschooling by 9 a.m. and are usually done by lunchtime but this is our first year with this science curriculum and we didn’t do science last year really so it may take until early afternoon to complete everything in our new schedule.

Planning:

I do try to plan as much as I can and be prepared by having photocopying done ahead and materials ready for any hands-on activities. I usually start off well with the planning at the beginning of the year and then it dies off a few months in. Things go so much more smoothly when I plan.

I also try to plan out snacks and lunches for school days so that I’m not scrambling. Lunches are really hard for me to think of so I have just started sharing them on my Facebook page and others are sharing theirs. I find that I’m getting good ideas this way and also staying accountable to actually thinking of something! If you’d like, pop over and share your lunch ideas.

I also jot out generally what is in the workboxes that week.

Here is a rough weekly schedule:

Mondays:

I try not to book appointments. Sometimes it can’t be avoided.

Tuesdays:

piano lessons in the morning (the teacher comes to our home so the kids take turns doing their lessons during our regular homeschool time)

Snuggle Puppy’s program for trauma and attachment

Jui jitsu for Snuggle Puppy in evening

Wednesdays:

in second semester, swimming lessons in the afternoons

Thursdays:

art classes in morning for girls/ outdoor survival classes for boys

Jui Jitsu for Snuggle Puppy in evening

Fridays:

every second week Miss Optimism has her injections

I still need to find a day that would work for Miss Optimism’s sewing lessons and also fit in audiology appointments for Dancing Queen, therapy for Dancing Queen and Snuggle Puppy, and speech therapy for Dancing Queen and Granola Girl.

This also does not account for any field trips. It’s busy y’all!

If you’re interested in finding out more about how we homeschool, you may find these helpful or at least somewhat interesting:

This is how a homeschool day in our house really looks.

Our 2014/2015 Curriculum

How I teach history to multiple ages

How I teach Language Arts to multiple ages with special needs

How I teach Math to multiple ages with special needs

How I teach Fine Arts to multiple ages with special needs