Guest Post-A peak into the average day of homeschooling little ones!

My homeschooling years

There are many things which I am grateful that my parents did right. One was the choice to educate their children at home. They are part of wonderful childhood memories!

I must confess that I loved being home all day, learning by my mother and having fun with my siblings. The world outside was too big, very complicated, and as I discovered later, very unfair. My character was being formed on a solid foundation as I was under the care, protection and love of the two people who loved me most. When I failed, I was corrected with love and with the principle of making me a better person. I do not recall having been teased, criticized or humiliated at home. Was life perfect? No! But I will forever be thankful for such a godly upbringing.

Why did we choose homeschooling?

You can guess that I am thrilled to homeschool our own children! If there is one reason I am homeschooling is to make my children better disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, I want our whole lives to revolve around this. Needless to say, just like any other disciple of Christ, choosing to do what God says is not usually a popular choice in the eyes of the world.

I want to make sure my children are taught the truths of life according to the Bible alone. I want them to be able to easily identify and reject any idea contrary to that of the Bible and joyfully choose God’s ways as their own. This is my prayer, goal and earnest desire.

A peek into our day

No day in our home is the same! But I do have a structure in place. I use it as a guide and reference and it makes a big difference in the productivity in our day.

We start our day with a good hearty breakfast, because mommy and kids need energy for the day ahead! Then we do a devotional (because my first language is Spanish, I am reading through a children’s Bible in Spanish; 95% of our reading is in English though.)

After devotional time, we do a quick clean up which may include laundry, setting their bedroom or bathroom straight, etc. Then we do ‘homeschool time’. I picked up a preschool book at BJ’s which my daughter (4) loves. She even homeschools herself on Saturday and Sundays, as I insist I rest on those days. I am just glad she has a hunger for learning! We do our school work in our dining table. I set a bucket of crayons for both children. While my daughter is doing her workbook, my son (2) is enthusiastically working on his coloring books or construction paper with both with crayons and scissors (he loves scissors!). I sit the entire time with them, about 20-30 minutes.

When school work is complete, I let them play outside. We live in an apartment complex, so we don’t have a backyard of our own. I will do some reading for myself as they play ball or with chalks, or I will just open up the kitchen door and watch them from there as I fix lunch.

After lunch, together we do a quick clean up of the dining area and kitchen. Then we sit for reading aloud time for about 15 minutes. When I am done reading, I let my 2-yr old take a nap. My daughter will just sit quietly in my bed with books to ‘read’ or with a notebook and pen. I try to have this nap/quit time last as long as possible, as they need to rest and mommy needs ‘me time’, about 1-2 hrs.

When nap/quite time is complete, I let them either go outside to play, or we’ll take a walk together, or I’ll just let them watch a DVD about 30 minutes and. After that is free time!

We will have yet another read aloud time before bedtime. Daddy usually does this reading. So although they only complete assignments on workbooks for less than half an hour a day, they are learning as I read to them, play outside, and help mommy with household chores.

Again, no two days are alike. There are rainy days, there are errands to run, and there are sick days. But, this is the basic structure to my days with toddlers.

Each day I thank God for the privilege and blessing to serve Him as I serve my family, honor my husband and nurture our children.

Karisa was born and raised in Central America. She is the oldest of 6. She currently lives in Sunny South Florida, and is married to her beloved, Abe Rivera. Together they have two precious children, Madison Esther and Jordan Caleb and are expecting a third bundle of joy. God is the center of their family. They live to fulfill the Great Commission.

Karisa enjoys encouraging woman from all walks of life to radiate God’s powerful love through her websites, www.KarisaRivera.com and www.MujerRadiante.com