A day in the life of LaRue and her two girls, Rachel (8) and Rebekah (7).

7:00-7:30:  I get up and ready for the day.  I usually shower, get
dressed, read my Bible & pray.

8:00:  I get the girls up.  I finish getting ready while they do all their morning responsibilities.  They are to get dressed, brush teeth, make bed,  read Bibles and pray.

8:30-9:00  I fix their hair and breakfast.

9:00-9:30  We begin school.  Our school day usually lasts until 11:30 or 12:00.  If we get started later (and don't have activities planned in the afternoon), we end around 1:00.  The subjects we study (in order) are:

Bible with the Star Light Curriculum about 20 minutes everyday.

Spelling with The Writing Road to Reading about 30 minutes on Monday
because Rachel and Rebekah are in different places.  Next year they should be in the same place.  On Mondays I dictate 10 spelling words for the week.  The Tues-Thurs of the week, they practice by writing them out; it takes about ten minutes.  They also write out trouble words they encounter during the week.  On Friday, I give them a Spelling Test.

Grammar with English For the Thoughful Child (which we recently finished) for about 30 minutes everyday.

Writing Strands 2 (which we recently started) for about 30-60 minutes
everyday.

We also copy sentences in a notebook from good literature for about 5-10 minutes everyday.

Reading for about 10 minutes M, W, F.  They read to me from Three Cousins Detective Club series by Elspeth Campbell Murphy.  These books have short chapters and are about three 10 year olds learning the Fruit of the Spirit as they solve mysteries.  My daughters really enjoy reading them.  On Friday, I give them a comprehensive reading test from the McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading.  It takes about 5 minutes.  The girls love it.

Penmanship with Basic Skills Series for about 5-10 minutes.  Rachel works on her own.  Rebekah is still learning, so I supervise.

History with the Usbourne Book of World History about 45-50 minutes on M, W, and F.  Mondays we read the 2-3 pages in the Usbourne book.  Read any related books we get from the Library.  Wednesday they color a picture of interest and caption it, sometimes I have them write a story about something they learned.  Friday we recite the Egyptian Dynasties, color a page, read related books and work out of Treasure Chest if applicable.  We are studying the Ancients this year.

Science with the Incredible Plants book about 20-30 minutes on Tues and Thurs (we studied animals and the human body earlier with the recommended books).  We will probably take some time to have the girls  plant their own flowers and vegetables this spring.  Tues we usually read and Thurs is usually experiment day.

Art with the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series by Mike
Venezia about 10-15 minutes on Tues.  We learn about one artist a week.  My daughters find this particularly interesting and will search for more  information about different artists we study on their own.
Music with Color the Classics by Carmen Ziarkowski for 15-30 minutes.  We also check out books from the library from the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series by Mike Venezia when we are studying a certain musician.  Again, my daughters find this particularly interesting and will seek additional information, on their own, about the musicians they like. Rachel was particularly interested in Beethoven and Mozart.  Rebekah was fond of Vivaldi.

They practice piano everyday, usually in the morning, for about 10-15
minutes.

Our afternoons have different activities to supplement our education.
On Monday afternoons, for twenty weeks of the year, we meet with a group of home educators for classes.  Rachel's classes have been Geography, French, Home Ec & Poetry.  Rebekah's classes have been Children's Literature, French, Sign Language & City Government (we live in the state capitol).
On Tuesday afternoons, they read or play, while I teach Speech classes
from my home to other home educated students.
On Wednesday late mornings/early afternoon, for 16 weeks of the year, the girls took classes through a local community center.  The classes were
swim, gym and art.
On Thursday afternoons, the girls have piano lessons for about 35-40  minutes each.
On Friday afternoons, we go to the library.  The girls redeem the time
spent in the car by reading books.  Some are related to what we do during the mornings, but most books are just read for the pleasure of reading.

You may be wondering about Math.  In the evenings, M-Th, my husband
teaches the girls Math.  From 6:00-7:00, he teaches Rachel from Saxon 3 and Rebekah from Saxon 2.  The worksheet side B is finished during school time with mom.

This is the first year we have used the classical education approach, but
this is the direction I wanted to teach them all along.  I was grateful to
find a resource, such as The Well-Trained Mind to guide me.
 

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