Every day is different in our home because our schedule changes based on group meet ups, classes, field trips and the weather but here is an example of our typical routine.

5:30 am: I wake up and workout, work on blog, journal/mediate/bible study, get ready for the day. I don’t get all of this in but some sort of combination.

7:30am: 7-year-old gets up and plays his video game, plays in his room or I’ll read with him.

8:30 am: Breakfast. Typically the girls sleep in so some mornings the 7-year-old, who also loves to cook will assist. 

9:00 am: 9.5 year-old does her Outschool Spanish class while I get the 4-year-old ready for the day and encourage the 7-year-old to too. He’s at an age where he likes to stay in his pajamas. But we typically play outside around 11 so he knows to get ready.

10:00-11:30: Read a story together, do a project together, plan something fun to do etc. Currently my 9.5-year-old is working on writing a story so we’re putting together the parts of a story together and then she will create a book with it. If my 7-year-old is not doing legos or Pokemon cards he will listen to the story with us and ask and answer questions about it. We recently finished The Swiss Family Robinson and are now reading The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli. The 4-year-old does whatever we’re doing in her own way. She enjoys stories so will sit for a bit and snack, draw or play with play-doh while we read. She likes to talk about the books and when we attend our book club she will even answer questions too!

11:30-1 we play outside and have lunch with friends. The weather in TX has been beautiful so we usually spending the springtime outdoors as often as possible. They have been into pretend playing the Swiss Family Robinson and building all sorts of things outdoors. Here are the tools we use:

Pocket Knife – The boys love to whittle with this and try cutting small sticks up. My son does find all sorts of uses for it.

Tool Kit– Great for beginners and has lots of different tools they can experiment with.

1:15pm: They could spend hours playing outdoors but now it’s time for piano class for the big kids. The 4-year-old and I will play, read, talk, sing, paint, practice learning letters or numbers (since she’s interested in these right now). Here are some of the things we’re using currently:

Chunkies – My favorite for little kids! Even the big kids love these.

Sandpaper Letters -Nice for the sensory approach to learning letters and sounds.

Squirrel Game – She loves this one and we play it almost daily.

Memory – Another highly requested one!

We Sing– I love these song books. They have music notes so you can play along on a piano which is another nice way to introduce music. They’re classic from my childhood and all of my kids enjoy these books.

2:45-4 ish: Screen time. This can include TV shows, YouTube, video games, learning apps whatever they’re into at the moment. The 9-year-old is very focused on learning Spanish so she does her daily Duolingo practice. The 7-year-old enjoys YouTube and Nintendo Switch. On busier days I will make dinner at this time so we can get to evening practices or play outside at the park for a while. We soak up the nice weather days since we know the very hot ones are coming.

4:00pm: The kids have a snack we get ready to head out for swim or flag football. Some nights both.

If we have time the kiddo who loves videos games is also into playing with Picasso Tiles, Legos, cars, sensory toys, and often small loose toys. These have been a hit lately since they recently received them for Easter. 

5-6pm: The 7-year-old has swim team practice. 

7-8:30: The 9-year-old has flag football practice.

Our evenings have been going pretty late some nights such as this one. We’re all alright with it since we have the flexibility to sleep late and the sports are important to our children right now. 

Every day is truly very different but the overall routine is the same. We spend time together learning in a way that works for each child. Some days my son goes to Forest School for the day. Once a week we meet up with our Book Club or Pokemon Club. 

Our anchors are outdoor time, meals and reading. The rest usually fall into place and I’ll try to plan activities based on their interests and what we can all do together. Yes screen time plays a roll in our home and we try to have discussions around the use and addictive nature of devices. Our kids are receptive and understand that technology is a tool and that constant consumption isn’t healthy.