What do your kids do when they are not homeschooling?

[Jacey'sMom]

We love the LHFHG curriculum. My daughter just turned 5 and we are in week 20. My son is 2.5 and sort of just weaves in and out of our homeschooling. We are done by 10 a.m. everyday. B/c her friends are in kindergarten I am at a loss as to what to do with them for the rest of the day. I have checked into classes and programs, but there don't seem to be any during the day for her age group. Programs are available for my 2 year old, but she can't come.

She is in piano class one morning a week (with other homeschoolers) and I take them to the library one morning as well.

What do you do with your kids after homeschool during the day? I am desperate for ideas!

Thanks!
Jodi
Mom to Jacey (5) and Ethan (2)

[jensmom]

Well, we finish much later because we start later... One thing that is a big hit is the local library. We go there when we can (not very often) and they have kid's computers that dd (6) loves to play on. Also just being there and picking out her own books is a big deal.

She attends Master's Academy one morning a week and a Homeschool Running Club for 4-14 yr olds one afternoon. Besides that we have errands to run and groceries to buy...

HTH,
Judy
dd 6 Beyond

[Jacey'sMom]

What is Master's Academy? I wish there was a homeschool running club here. We live in a rural (to me) community and although there is a homeschool group, it seems to be geared toward older kids. I started my own little homeschool group with the few other moms that I know with young kids but we only meet once a month. I wouldn't mind starting a weekly thing but I think I would be the only participant.

[jensmom]

Master's Academy (mafa.net) is a Arts & History academy. Not sure if they have one near you. Ours actually recently broke off and became Artios Academies and there are locations in GA, CO, and CA (I think). They run on either a 4 or 6 year cycle and focus on a particular period of time (this year is Medievil/Rennaissance) and she has classes in Art, History, Drama and Music of that era. THey learn quite a lot over a 28 week program which meets once per week.

Judy

[3whizlets]

When the weather was nice, we went to the park at least 3x a week. Some friends and I started a preschool group for homeschoolers and had activities for our preschoolers. The "big kids" were helpers and helped organize the activities. This was great fun for all of us and my girls loved helping out. We met once a week for 1 hour. Each mom took turns teaching the kids and it was VERY laid back. No pressure at all. If we weren't prepared, we just fed the kids a snack and had mom time!!

We live in a rural area so not lots of organized activities for us. In the winter I would take the kids to the mall where we had an indoor play area and let them play there and then just walk the mall to give them a little exercise.

My school day doesn't end until after lunch these days but we still struggle with ways to fill our afternoon. School doesn't get out here until almost 4pm and then there is homework to be done so most weekdays the neighborhood kids cannot play. We try to get together with other homeschoolers several times a month just to avoid going stir-crazy!!

[deltagal]

What do you do with your kids after homeschool during the day? I am desperate for ideas!

Hi Jodi,

I love your question! Let me share with you the basic formula I use for developing our daily routine and perhaps, you can use this to develop a plan that works for you. I first write down our anchors - which are meal times, devotional/worship/prayer times and rest times. Then I schedule our work time - meal preparation, setting the table, making beds, cleaning, laundry. Then I schedule some recreational time each day - a walk, fishing, playground. And finally, learning time - reading books, crafts, working on a project together, nature study. Once these things are in place I look at the week and schedule a block for grocery shopping, a block for errands (which includes library), a block for being with friends, and a block for dong something special for someone - writing a letter to grandmother, visiting a relative, taking bread to a neighbor, etc. Finally, I look at our schedule and decide if there are other goals for each child or for myself that we have that are not being met or that I can surrender. I make sure we all have a portion of free/unplanned time each day. Using this formula - our days fill rather quickly. And of course, this formula is based on our family's priorities, which may differ somewhat from yours, but I'm sure you get the idea. Enjoy "measuring your days"....they pass quickly.

[MommyInTraining]

You may want to look at http://www.keepersofthefaith.com

They recently came out with a new keepers at home program for young girl that would be just right for your dd's age. That would give you lots to do in your spare time and be preparing her for the future as well. Also, if I had extra time to spend I would like to do more educational studies that are not included in the HOD curriculum. Like checking out Signing Time dvds from the library to learn sign language or getting a headstart on learning some foreign languages such as hebrew, greek, latin, spanish, etc. You could look into some educational games for her age and do those in your free time. How about having a craft day, a game day, a movie day, a baking day? What about tea time in the afternoon?

Hope something there is helpful...

[water2wine]

My kids are either playing in the back yard or making crafts most of the time. They do a lot of legos, playing with cars and dolls. Rod and Staff has some great craft and art things that are cheap. They are constantly doing those. They also play a lot of card games and pretend sort of like house or career games they make up on their own. They knit and crochet (including my son) and we are starting stitchery. My son likes to build things. We have a lot of craft and hobby books on the shelf (Usborn Art, R&S, How Great Thou Art things, Dangerous Book of Boys, some old craft books I had for years, The Girlhood Home Companion, The American Boys Handy Book, The Field and Forest Handy Book, The American Boys Handy Book, Keeper of the faith handbook and other items). They take those down just about every day. I also have a lot of reading books on the shelf and curriculum books that are just for looking and exploring, like science and history They do their own Bible studies and exploration. I have lots of books for them to use to explore the Bible and they will use them on their own pretty much someone is using those every day. We don't do a lot of TV and we do not do a lot of organized things either except Awana and church. I can honestly say I have never heard "I am bored" but I guess that is the beauty of having six. There is pretty much always something going on without having to organize a thing. I think investing in some good craft books is really worth it. We also have a play room and that is a good time occupier as well. My kids will also take what HOD does a step farther and use their own e\imagination to do some projects. They do that a lot after we are done with school.

Hope there are some ideas there that might work for your family.

[wisdom4us]

When the boys were the same age as your's, they spent there days playing. Most of our time was spent outside. We did not go to the library that often because my 2 year old was actually twin 2 year old boys - so they were a bit much for the library but you may want to give it a try. Our local library has reading times in the morning for that age group. You could go to the park, spend time with grandparents, if they live close and take field trips to the local pet store. The boys love doing that one still! Some of the pet stores will even let you hold their pets (including snakes and lizzards!) so make sure you ask if you go.

I also read a lot to them and we looked at magazines. When the 2 year olds were napping, I had tea time with my 5 year old. I would cut Little Debbie snacks into sections and we would drink ice tea together and just talk. He misses those days! I do too....

Hope some of this helps you. I know it can get boring at times....

[Jacey'sMom]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I will definitely be putting them to use!

Judy - No Master's Academy here. It looks like a great program though.

Shelley - I think we really need to find more homeschooling friends. I'm going to join the big homeschool group this weekend. Hopefully that will help.

Florence - I'd love to see an example of one of your days. I'm really a structured person, so planning my day helps a lot.

Terri - I looked up Keepers of the Faith, she would probably love that, especially the sewing, homemaking type things. Do you know of any simple language courses? I would love to start, but I need something that is laid out easily like HOD.

water2wine - Crafts are a big hit here, I'll check in to some of those books. I need crafts that are simple since I'm not a crafty person.

Summer - We live in Hawaii so it is nice to do outdoorsy things. Bike riding is a favorite, and I'll have to try the tea times and pet store.

[Kathleen]

Jodi,

I wanted to pop in and say hi! You live in Hawaii...I'm thinkin' BEACH! My kids could fill hours exploring there, I'm sure! (We have a tractor tire filled with sand, and they love to dig, and pour, and cover the cats and dogs... I'm actually not sure how it still has sand in it with the amount they "wear" into the house!) Seriously, we LOVE to be outside and spend tons of time out there. In Kansas we get the broad range of weather. Today the high was maybe 5...with a windchill much colder! So, our only outside time was on the way to the van for a trip to town. But, in the spring we love to go on bikerides/walks everyday. My kids' favorite thing to do is walk over to the farm (a mile away) and stop at our neighbors mulberry tree on the way for a snack and then get some cherries from Grandma's tree at the farm. (This only works in June... But it is an all-time favorite of theirs!)

OK, I know I'm rambling, and I'm probably not answering your question all that well. I love letting them decide what to do as they play with each other. Mine can be really creative if they know TV isn't an option. We do spend a lot of time outside, too.

Kathleen

[deltagal]

Florence - I'd love to see an example of one of your days. I'm really a structured person, so planning my day helps a lot.

Hi,

I would be happy to share! I need to figure out how to post a word document to this board or perhaps, I can IM it to you. I'll check into that later, I'm off to a day of Doctor's appontments. I'll even send you a worksheet.