Joyful Socks Mom: A Day in Our Life at Homeschool Cooperative (with 10-, 14- and 15-year-old)

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I would say that as far as homeschooling days go, the days we spend at our local homeschool cooperative are certainly unique. Our cooperative is a Classical Christian-based program that meets 31 weeks of the academic year, three times per week. That's right, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. What you are about to witness is how a "typical" Wednesday would look for our family on a day we attend homeschool cooperative.

Believe me when I say, we are not perfect and our day rarely comes out flawless. However; four years of attending cooperative has made us better at our accountability and consistency as homeschoolers, mommy included. It has almost literally taken our family the entire four years to find the schedule and process that works best for us. I hope you will find some tip, trick or resource that may help you in your homeschooling journey.

A DAY IN OUR LIFE AT HOMESCHOOL CO-OP
(with 10-, 14- and 15-year-old)

4:30 am Mommy Rise-N-Shine
YEP! I have to get up that early to do "me" time with God & make life simpler, and make some attempt at self-care. It's a sacrifice, but totally worth it. Honestly, some days I sleep later, like until 5:00 or 5:15 am, and it does not seem to go well. Some mornings are extra special when I can share breakfast with my hubby before he leaves for work . . .

Best mornings are sharing healthy Breakfast with my husband.

6:00 am Breakfast Preparation
Kids' breakfast is usually prepped the night before, so that all I need to do is cook it or pop it in the oven in the morning. This makes the priority of breakfast that much easier to deliver.

Protein + Good Carbohydrate = Breakfast.

6:30 am Kids Rise-N-Shine, Dress & Devotionals and Eat Breakfast

7:20 am Finish loading van, Cooperate Prayer & off to cooperative.

The kids have their buckets pre-loaded from the night before, as to curb time searching for things, etc. Mommy's buckets are usually still in use in the evening, so the kids help me by loading them in the morning.

7:45 - 8:00 Arrive at Cooperative

When we arrive, the kids do all the unloading, and I usually head straight to the copy machine & make myself some "fancy" coffee. The kids help prepare for the arrival of their peers by prepping classrooms, putting out games for morning fellowship, help mom with class, etc. We are typically the first to arrive.

How do you like that view???

8:20 am

Mom's 1st Class: Reading Circle

The kids gather downstairs and visit with friends, while playing games. I begin my day with a Reading Circle time for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade students that need more mentoring in Reading.

We love All About Learning at our homeschool cooperative. I use All About Reading in our Reading Circle.

9:00 am Homeschool Cooperative Begins!
Mommy: 4th Grade World History/Texas History (Story of the World, Volume 3 & The Story of Texas)
The Bug: Life Science
The Scout & The Squeaker: Apologia Physical Science

10:00 am

Mommy: Davis Learning Strategies for Kinder through 3rd Grade

The Bug: English and Reading

The Scout & The Squeaker: English and Reading

11:00 am

Mommy: American Republic History

The Bug: Saxon Math

The Scout & The Squeaker: American Republic History

11:45 am LUNCH

12:15 - 1:00 pm

Mommy: 7th Grade World History/Texas History

The Bug: Latin

The Scout & The Squeaker: Logic & Saxon Math

1:00 - 2:00 pm

Mommy: Mentoring (I actually work the remainder of the day until 2:30 one-on-one with students who need homework help.)

The Bug: Ancient History & Journaling

The Scout & The Squeaker: Latin & Spanish

2:00 Clean-up, Load-up & Drive Home

2:30 - 3:00 Unload & Snack

3:00 - 5:00 Homework Time

Kids get homework done before dinner, since it is also Church fellowship evening.

Mommy does lunch prep for the next day of homeschool cooperative.

The Scout's favorite lunch box special: Gluten-free Pizza Pasta Salad

Mom finishes dinner preparation

Mommy works on any homework grading from her homeschool cooperative classes.
Mommy also checks that everyone has completed homework to turn-in the following day.

Here is The Bug prepping for her oral report on the Effect of Smoking on the Circulatory System.

6:00 - 8:00 pm Dinner is served & Dad takes kids to church.
Mommy: Grades, prepares lessons for following day, organizes and prepares for next cooperative day.

9:00 Lights Out!

It is essential for our family to get sleep and not fall into other "distractions" during the homeschool week. This being said, we do not allow the kids to play video games, watch movies or visit others on homeschool evenings. Our family feels these entertainment items are best left as a weekend reward.

Homeschool Co-op day is done - Wash, rinse, repeat! ;) Actually, our Tuesday & Thursday schedule runs an hour and a half later at cooperative, and I spend more time mentoring students on those days, but that's a whole other story . . .

Come and share your homeschool day over at Simple Homeschool!

You might also be interested in seeing my recommendations for a great cooperative day: 12 Ways to Make the Most Out of Homeschool Cooperative.

Joyfully Learning with You,

The Joyful Socks Mom

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Here are some more homeschool resources we recommend:

Notebooking Success - Best notebooking resource for home educators. This great eBook will help you be inspired to teach notebooking at your kitchen table too.
Heritage History - The home for excellent living books and classical history on the internet.
Thrift Books - Used books at a great price for any homeschool curriculum.

Articles that are still joyful: