Hi friends!
A few of you have asked me to share what our daily rhythm looks like now that we have started relaxed homeschooling with my 4yo Pre-K daughter (and our 2yo is along for the ride). Now that we are into the swing of things a bit, I finally have a pretty good idea on how the days go during this season. If you’re interested in seeing, keep reading. And if you’d like to download the same template I use for this, I’ll include that freebie below.
Since this is our first year homeschooling and my daughters are only 4 and 2, we do not over-schedule or complicate our day. To be honest, it feels a lot like our old rhythm with a few minor tweaks (adding in lessons, really). This feels good to us right now because it’s slowly easing us into what the future holds. We won’t be starting strict/formal lessons until my oldest is 6, so until then, a lot of seasonal fun, interest-led learning. In fact, we were not planning on starting language arts/reading until next year, but she has been asking for us to teach her these things, so we listen. As long as she wants to, we are full steam ahead. If she wants to take a break anytime this year, we can do that. We are in no rush! The main focus in our home is to continue to play, build, create, explore, read, and question. You can see more about our pre-k goals HERE, as well as the seasonal themes/books/activities HERE.
One more note: this rhythm is going to change constantly. While we are in winter, it is robust with reading, indoor activities, etc. Once spring comes, I am interested to see how we shift. And if you guys like seeing these kinds of posts, I would be happy to share how things change throughout the year. We live in a place where the four seasons are strong and we like to sink into each season completely – our lifestyle reflects that.
So without further explanation, here’s a look at what our rhythm looks at this time.
Here’s a quick glance with more details below!
5:30 – 7:30: Wake Up / Me Time / Free Play
7:30 – 8:00: Breakfast and Books
8:00 – 9:00: Get Ready and Free Play
9:00 – 10:00: Morning Circle + Seasonal/Theme Activity (or Play Date)
10:00 – 11:00: Snack and Free Play / Lunch Prep
11:00 – 12:00 Lunch and Free Play
12:00 – 12:30: Homeschool with Willow and Fiona Nap
12:30 – 2:00: Quiet Time
2:00 – 4:00: Errands / Free Play
4:00 – 5:00 TV Show / Dinner Prep
5:00 – 6:30 Dinner and Family Time
6:30 – 7:00: Bedtime Routine and Lights Out
8:00 – 10:00: Relax!
5:30 – 7:30: Wake Up / Me Time / Free Play
I am up early and like to get me-time in. Sometimes that looks like blog/social media work, prepping a lesson, reading for pleasure, listening to a podcast, or catching up on some YouTube videos. It changes every morning! My husband handles the kids when they first wake up so I can do this. I get up around 5:30 and start my day and my kids start getting up between 6-7. When they are up, my husband takes them downstairs to play with them before he gets ready for work. They will have a piece of fruit and some milk to hold them over until breakfast.
7:30 – 8:00: Breakfast and Books
Once I am ready and downstairs around 7:30, I make a fast breakfast and we all sit down to eat and read books together. A typical breakfast might be one of the following: warm oatmeal, baked oats, toast with nut butter/jam/avocado/or hummus, cereal and fruit, tofu scramble, pancakes (reheated from the batch I make over the weekend). We are currently taking out plenty of books based on our weekly themes and enjoying them immensely.
8:00 – 9:00: Get Ready and Free Play
Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, and then free play while I prep any lunch/dinner/cooking I need to do before our day begins or sometimes I tackle a few house chores that need to get done (laundry mostly). The girls are usually building something or engaging in imaginary play together. If it is really nice out, we just all get outside for a while… sometimes we skip the next hour of morning circle entirely because the kids are having too much fun outside (and that is fine by me!)
9:00 – 10:00: Morning Circle and Seasonal/Theme Activity (or Play Date)
For morning circle time, we review things like the date/calendar/days of the week, the weather/season, address and phone number memorization, etc. We will also do a seasonal/theme activity that we have going on this week, art, OR play date. If we don’t have a morning play date, we do something based on the theme of the week. It might be a craft, baking, or reading some of our themed books. If we get done with that quickly, sometimes they want to paint, color, draw, use play-doh or kinetic sand, etc.
10:00 – 11:00: Snack and Free Play / Lunch Prep
Snack break and play with me before I have to prep lunch. I will sit down with my girls and engage in whatever they want for about 20 minutes. They love my attention and I make sure I get down on their level to play at LEAST once or twice. Sometimes I will also put on TV show or documentary for them in the background. If the weather is looking pretty good, we may be outside (in the spring/summer/fall, we go out much much more but we do what we can as winter nears!)
11:00 – 12:00 Lunch and Free Play
Lunch time and then free play while I clean up. Again, free play could mean puzzles, building blocks, coloring, imaginary play, etc. Whatever they are drawn to! You’ll see a repeated theme here… LOTS OF PLAY! My kids are still young (4 and 2) so that is the priority in our home.
12:00 – 12:30: Homeschool with Willow and Fiona Nap
Willow and I spend under a half hour on our Language Arts workbook (we are doing Explode the Code). This is also the time that we will practice writing her name, work on cutting skills, play a board game if she wants to or do puzzles together. It changes every day based on what she is interested in doing. Our homeschool half hour is relaxed and pretty much led by her at this point.
1:00 – 2:30: Quiet Time
Quiet time for Willow and Mom. She can choose to watch a show, play quietly herself, or play an educational game on the iPad. I spend this time working or reading or a little of both.
2:30 – 4:00: Errands / Free Play
Errands and you guessed it, even more free play. The whole afternoon might be playing if we have no errands to run (and by errands, I mean TARGET DRIVE UP, BABY!) Sometimes we may go visit family or have friends over, but it depends on the day. The afternoon is pretty unstructured until dinner.
4:00 – 5:00 TV Show / Dinner Prep
I prep dinner while the girls will watch a show or movie. Sometimes they come and help me with / watch me make dinner and that is cool, too.
5:00 – 6:30 Dinner and Family Time
We eat dinner as a family and as soon as my husband walks in, everyone gets a burst of energy to play with Dad. They spend quality time with him while I pick-up the kitchen after dinner and put away anything else that is out of place from the chaos of the day. He will help them clean-up their toys before we head upstairs, too.
6:30 – 7:00: Bedtime Routine and Lights Out
Baths, brush teeth, comb hair… the whole routine! The girls get lots of stories and cuddles before they go to sleep.
8:00 – 10:00: Relax!
Hellllooooo, freedom! My husband and I spend some time together and then some days will veer off and do our own hobbies. I like to read before bed most nights, but some days I will write, do crossword puzzles, or watch a tv show. Oh, and we almost always share a big bowl of popcorn with nooch because #simplepleasures.
Our days are full and it is very helpful to follow this loose rhythm so everyone knows what to expect.
I created my own daily rhythm template to map out the day.
It’s mostly a guide for me without all the details that I shared here, but it is nice to have where I can see it as a reminder. You can download it for free HERE if you want to use it for your family. x
