What do we do all day?

It's interesting to find that the longer we homeschool, the more our family and close friends who don't homeschool find our lifestyle a curiosity. I suppose it is compared to mainstream America, but for us, it's just life and what we've always done. If you'll endure it, I thought it might be interesting to share with you what a typical day holds for the Kronz family.

I start the day early, as does Joe. He's usually out the door by 6:00 a.m. and I've been up for nearly an hour by that time. It's in the wee morning hours that I do my email, blog, and write. I wake Josiah up at 6:30 a.m. to go downstairs and exercise (he lifts weights and rides the exercise bike while watching the local news) while I take a shower and get ready for the day. Isabelle and Isaac are awakened at 7:00 a.m. -- Isaac reads his Bible while Isabelle listens to hers as do I while I shower and prepare for the day. By 7:45 a.m. everyone is dressed and ready for the day including beds made, rooms tidied, and teeth brushed. The animals eat before we do so all the children head out into the cold, dark morning to feed the chickens, cats, and dog before coming in to help me prepare breakfast.

We enjoy big breakfasts here at the Kronz's! I enjoy reading from the Catherine Vos "Children's Story Bible" (the best out there!) each morning while the kids eat. We're also going through the Catechism for Children which opens up the floor for all sorts of theological discussions. This morning however, all of this was interrupted at the shout of "It's Snowing!!" at which point all the kids piled out to frolic in the timid snowfall and plug in the Christmas lights Josiah had set up on the swing set.

While I do the breakfast dishes, the kids dismiss for their first instrument practice of the day -- Isabelle and Josiah head downstairs to do review practice together with their violins while Isaac heads to the piano. The kids are so far along in their music studies that we've found it helpful to break up their practice into two shorter practices rather than one long one. It's during this time that I do my morning cleaning (vacuuming, straightening up, laundry, etc). I love to start our formal school time with a clean house. By this time I've usually completed one load of laundry (I typically do one or two loads a day so that I will have minimal laundry or no laundry to do on the weekend). The boys do their own laundry and have so for about 2 years. They do a great job at it! Now if I could just teach them to iron .... ! The kids head out to the garage to do pushups, situps, jumprope and generally get a LOT of energy out before we begin our academic work.

We start our formal school work at 9:00 a.m. but keep in mind that by this time the kids have studied their Bibles, completed music study, accomplished life skills with their animal care and breakfast preparation, and done some basic P.E. Our formal school work in the morning involves a solid 3 hours of various academia. I spend one hour with each child individually working on different subjects. The other two hours they have designated subjects to study, a schedule to follow, and designated areas in which to study. The older the child gets, the less "teaching" time they need with me. Rather, I serve as a facilitator of their learning as time goes on, rather than as a teacher. Being able to discuss a subject and talk candidly with my children as they mature has been very rewarding as a homeschool mom.

We cover a variety of subjects during the academic portion of our day and as the week progresses. For example, Isaac covered 5th grade Math, 6th grade language arts (English grammar, spelling, and literature study), Spanish, Latin review, Science, copywork, Penmanship, Bible Quizzing, Critical Thinking, History, Geography, Creative Writing, Music, and P.E. during our first semester this year. This doesn't include his participation in Upward's Flag Football, Crossroad's Bible Quizzers, Science Club, or Asprire Homeschool co-op! Josiah's subjects are fewer but with greater degree of difficulty. Isabelle focuses mostly on the three R's, but also enjoys studying art, science, and some homemaking skills alongside me.

At around noon, we break for lunch. This is my favorite time of day because we always engage in an interesting read-aloud during our lunch time. Currently we're reading "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" by Louisa May Alcott. She is, by far, our favorite author and we've read nearly all of her books with "Little Men" being the hands-down favorite. We've also read many of the classics during this time -- "Stuart Little", "Trumpet of the Swan," "Ann of Green Gables" etc. After our reading and lunch break, we take a walk in our neighborhood. I should rephrase that -- I walk while the kids run, bike, rollerblade, or any other contraption with wheels that they can put to use. Our neighborhood walk is just about 2 miles if we repeat a section. This is a glorious time for me to LISTEN to my children. I'm their captive audience without any other household chore calling my name. We've had our best times and our best talks on these daily walks.

When we return home, it's time for the children's second instrument practice. It's during this time that I give them one-on-one attention for their music studies. Mostly I work with Isabelle on her violin and piano. We focus this time on her current learning piece. Right now, all the children are practicing especially hard for a performance they will be putting on as a service opportunity for single and widowed women at a local church in early December. After instrument practice we focus on our history, geography, and writing projects. Typically, Isabelle listens to an audiobook (Black Beauty is the new favorite) and plays quietly in her room during this time; but for the holiday season we are doing a fabulous unit study on the History of Classical Music which involves a lot of listening to both the music and biographies of the famous composers, studying the various instruments in an orchestra, and learning about the musical time periods. Because this is something that she can easily participate in, she has been joining us for this time.

Most often the younger children have completed all their school work by 3:30 p.m. and tumble outside if the weather is at all tolerable. During spring, summer, and most of autumn, I head out with them to do an hour or so of gardening and yardwork which I love to do (most of the time!). During the winter and windy months the kids will often play dress up downstairs or I'll pull the car out and they'll go crazy in the garage. We're also working (secretly and all together depending on the project) on our homemade Christmas presents in the afternoons.

Josiah, now that he is in 8th grade, often is not complete with all of his schoolwork until closer to 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. or possibly even later. He spends the extra hour finishing up seatwork which he wasn't able to complete during his 3 core hours; but also frequently has a paper he is writing for an assignment, a geography project (he and Nana made a fabulous salt map of Europe during the Middle Ages), or a computer assignment for Uncle Jason that he needs to complete (Josiah is fortunate to have his very capable Uncle teach him all about computers, web design, Photoshop, etc. once a week for an informal "class"). When he has spare time, he loves to read the latest Vision Forum blog (www.visionforum.com) and keep up with all that is happening on Generation Joshua (www.generationjoshua.org). He also is best friend to his brother and they enjoy a variety of sports and "manly" pursuits!

At 5:00 p.m. I usually pick a child and we make our way to the kitchen to prepare dinner. This is a blessed time to teach about food preparation as well as just be alone with one at a time. I've found that "three's a crowd" and so, during this often cranky time (for all of us!), it works out best to leave two to play together and one to help me in the kitchen. Joe arrives home by 6:00 p.m. and we share dinner together. Everyone helps with the dishes unless I'm in the mood to be alone and would rather work in silence (this happens frequently -- it's not always easy for an introvert to homeschool!). The kids and Daddy romp, create minor earthquakes, and speak and scream at unbearable decibals during this hour. I try to find a quiet corner, but occasionally they'll suck me into their play. Tonight it involved sitting around the computer making home movies of all of us being silly and loud.

Bathtime and preparations for bed include cleaning up the homeschool room and having FDT's (probably 3 or 4 nights out of the week). FDT's stand for "Family Devotion Time" and involves sharing any offenses or confessions, praying through spoken prayer requests and reading something together. In the past we've enjoyed family stories such as "Ten P's in a Pod", or adventure stories such as Ballantyne's "Coral Island"; but currently we are each taking turns reading portions of the Gospel of Luke and then discussing what we read. When we make this a priority, we all are blessed by it. Bedtime for Isabelle is 8:00 p.m., for Isaac 8:30 p.m., and Josiah 9:00 p.m. Everyone, with the exception of Isabelle (but not for long!), reads prior to going to sleep. The kids always choose right before bedtime to discuss serious matters so it takes a lot of patience at this point to sacrifice my own desires and share in these precious moments of shared secrets, concerns, and dreams. I'm privileged to be here to hear them. I have found that character training is not something that can just be taught with a book or curriculum, but instead must be lived out daily in our everyday walk with God and eachother.

At 9:00 p.m. I escape to prepare for bed, spend time with husband, and finally READ. I'm currently reading 3 different books -- "Parenting in the Pew", "Family Driven Faith", and "Desperate Housewives, Passionate for God" -- but I'm anxious to get to the Francis Schaffer book called "L'abri" I just received in the mail! I never know what time I get to sleep. I just read until my eyes won't stay open anymore. Joe's usually snoring long before that happens!

Thus ends a typical homeschooling day at the Kronz house. Of course, often our days are not typical. Sickness, visitors, vacations (whenever we want!), or holidays come into play. We enjoy engaging in hospitality at least one evening or afternoon a week and greatly value the opportunities our children have to socialize with a wide variety of people of all ages -- from babies on up to senior citizens -- true socialization isn't about being in one room with the same-aged children all day long. This is one of the plethora of reasons we homeschool! And on Wednesdays we forgo all such routine to go to various lessons (piano, violin, and sometimes tennis), stop for cinnamon rolls and read aloud in the quaint sections of downtown Nampa, grocery shop if needed, occasionally go swimming, and every other week attend our homeschool co-op called "Aspire" which is made up of 5 other homeschooling families with kids that my children have literally grown up with now! They are all very close friends and it's an incredible blessing!. The kids still have schoolwork to accomplish on these days as well, but usually less.

Our Saturdays are work days and we all engage in chores of various sizes. The children have all been taught from a young age to work alongside of us. We typically spend Saturday morning doing household chores as well as barn chores and those things necessary to maintain 7 1/2 acres filled with over 100 trees (Idaho-sized trees that is), gardens, pasture, and yard. Usually Saturday afternoons are family excursion times or times to entertain guests. Sundays are quiet after church and our Bible Quizzing responsibilities are complete. Sunday afternoons are typically the only time of the whole week when the t.v. is turned on as we all enjoy watching "This Old House" and "Ask This Old House" on public television complete with a huge bowl of popcorn drizzled in butter! Family walks, hot tub time, and planning for the following school week finishes up our weekend.

Now when you think of us, you can imagine us within the realm of our typical homeschooling day! As you can see -- we don't just sit around, but instead enjoy a variety of tasks (academic and otherwise) which we're fortunate to share as a family. You're welcome anytime!!!