A day in the life of my interest-led learners is simply that- a glimpse at one day. We don’t follow a schedule, so no two days look alike.

Does that mean we wake up and wing it, with no clue what we’ll do until we’re doing it? No, I’m way too OCD for that.

Does it mean my daughter is on screens all day or does whatever she wants? Nope. I believe her brain and body (just like everyone’s) needs time outside, time to create, time with mentors, and lots of time to play.

What it means is we have a rhythm we follow that very much aligns with what our bodies need (food, sleep, connection) and with our interests.

So while this day, which happens to be last Friday, does not capture what every day or every Friday looks like in our home, it captures the spirit of our homeschool days.

A Day in the Life of Intrest-Led Learners

Wondering who we are? You can read more about us here.

5:00 AM– My alarm rings for the first of many times. I am a “snoozer”. When I get up, I take care of the cat, make coffee, do yoga (spending a lot of time in child’s pose) and use HeadSpace.

On this day, I go back to bed.

6:00 AM– Now two alarms are going off. I am still sleeping. Yesterday, my daughter and I were in a car accident. Our first one ever, and my body, held safely by the seatbelt, is very sore. My ego is also bruised. I rarely sleep in this late but need to today.

6:30 AM– My husband gets up and gets ready for work. He packs lunches and makes our son breakfast.

7:00 AM– My son, asleep beside me, is still transitioning to school life. Homework and long days can be challenging. He had a hard night last night. We were up late working on an assignment he saved to the last minute and he was probably also processing the wreck.

7:30 AM– The Clarks both leave. I keep sleeping.

8:30 AM– Sophia crawls into bed with me and we snuggle and talk for a while. She decides to head downstairs, and I head towards the shower.

9:15 AM– Downstairs I find her dressed and playing with the slime she made in a chemistry class the day before. She is narrating a story I only hear bits of.

“What are we doing today?” she asks.

A typical question, she’s really asking, are we going anywhere. Despite detailed calendars with activities posted, she’d rather I just tell her, and I know today is hoping the answer is nowhere. It is. At least for the next several hours. We are both in need of a home day.

I grab a mug of coffee (cup is too small of a word for the beast I drink out of) and take the dog for a walk. When I get back, I have a couple of time-sensitive emails I need to attend to before giving my full attention to Sophia. While I’m working, she gathers the things she wants to work on.

10:00 AM– First up, Totally Gross Chemistry, one of her favorite games. I picked it up at a second-hand store and it was such a good find. The only thing it was lacking was the slime. We use the slime she made yesterday.

Games are one of my favorite teaching tools. This one teaches her (us both) a bunch of scientific facts and gives her a lot of reading practice.

10:45 AM– When the game ends, she asks to play again. We make lunch and play while we eat.

Lunch often happens around this time. It’s usually a combination of leftovers and little amounts of favorite foods (we call this a mix-up) or something simple like a sandwich. Today I’m having leftovers and she’s eating salt and vinegar chips and mango while her sandwich toasts.

12:00 ish– It’s gorgeous out so we head outside to read. She’s found a new Shakespeare book and is excited to give it a try. She picks Macbeth because there is a picture of witches. We read the play, discuss it as we go, and then she wants to look through the rest of the book and asks me questions about the other plays. We decide to read a Midsummer Night’s Dream next. This book is a great elementary school intro to Shakespeare!

1:10– Next up is Beast Academy. New to us this year, Sophia finds this online math program to be a good challenge. It definitely makes us both think!

Math and reading are two things we do at some point together every day.

1:40 pm– I take the dog on another walk while Sophia gathers supplies for our online art class. Today the teacher is doing a live class so we need to be ready right at 2 pm.

2:00 pm– The art class starts off great. We are painting a pumpkin and a sunflower. Around 2:30, Sophia gets frustrated with her painting and needs a break. She loves art and has a lot of success with it, but struggles with perfection and process. She is eight and learning.

She’ll finish her painting another day.

3:00-6:00 pm– My husband comes home a little early so I can head off to work a preschool book fair. It was supposed to happen the day before, but the wreck… Sophia stays with her dad. They will go to pick up our son together.

Once home, the kids play Minecraft and Roblox together. Their friends join them online. Clark makes them an early dinner and both Clarks pack up their sleeping bags and clothes. They are spending the weekend together in the hills of Brown County at a father-son retreat.

6:30 pm– I get home, unload the car, and say goodbye to the Clarks. I make myself dinner. Sophie and I snuggle up and watch the Smurf movie. It’s a good one!

8:00 pm– The dog is being crazy and needs to go out. We pause the movie so I can walk her. While I do, I talk to an old friend about becoming an Usborne Independent consultant.

8:30-9:30 pm– We finish up the movie, walk the dog (again) this time together, and head to bed.

After the chaos of Thursday, today was the day we both needed.

Interest-led homeschooling allows us to move at the pace we need, take breaks, get extra sleep, and learn the skills we need to learn how we want and need to learn them.

It’s messy and fun and hard, and I’m so grateful we keep choosing this life.

This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s Back to Homeschool Blog Hop. Click here or on the image below to find other homeschool perspectives. Follow us all month long for more homeschooling posts and ideas!