Homeschooling the Older Years

I remember when my Kiddos were little it was so easy to school them.  I organized our day by chunks of time.  We had Reading Time, Creating and Cooking Time.  We always worked on Puzzles and played Games.  Even today with my youngest being almost 10 we move through our day in a similar way.  I’ve tried so many different kinds of schedules and charts to keep us accountable through the years.  Since we tend to lean on the Unschooling/Montessori end of the schooling spectrum chunks of time still works.
I have learned after all these years of feeling guilty and inadequate that less truly is more most of the time.  My oldest is 22 now and doing very well for himself in College and Work. So, it’s safe to say that my last 2 Kiddos have a more relaxed Momma.  Take a look at a day here for my High School Student…..
Here we go:
Our Mornings here are relaxed…we are all trying to be morning people, but yeah….we aren’t.  We are total night owls!  So, the mornings here start with cups of coffee, hot cocoa and talks of last night’s dreams and plans for the day.  We eat every morning a full breakfast unless we are scheduled outside the house….then we will grab a bar, or smoothie.  After the morning meal and chores are finished we slip off into Reading time.  Personal reading, School Reading and Bible Time.  Mid Morning to us looks like History Videos, Reading and Writing.  Math comes in right before Lunch Time.
After Lunch we tend to clean up our Lunch Mess and head straight into Experiments and Projects for Science.  Each year we go through Several books, videos and countless projects and journaling.  After Science we move into Arts, Foreign Language and Music.  Depending on the time of the year this could be Holiday themed or strictly educational based.  This year we are taking German once again for foreign language.  YAY!
We end the day kind of how we started it with English.  This looks like Composition, Literature, Poetry and of course Reading.  We also work on Special Skills for the Home and in our Community.  Right now we are working on Cooking, Budgeting, Shopping and Menu Planning.  Next we are looking at Car Purchasing, Maintenance, Insurance and Preparedness.
That’s what Our High School Day looks like right now…..how about yours?