A Day in the Life: Dow Family

Our first A Day in the Life post is here! For our new families or new-to-the-blog readers, A Day in the Life is a series we started 5 years ago where a current family shares their typical homeschool day. This series peeks inside what real SLOCA life looks like behind closed doors.

Questions you may have had over the years (or weeks!) may be: “What does this educating for life really mean?” “What does it look like?” Or if you sometimes look around your house on a home day and wonder: “Is this normal??”  “Am I the only parent still homeschooling past lunch??” We are certain there are many more of those type of questions floating out there. We are also positive that we do not have just one answer to any of them. What we are certain about is what we can offer and that is: community and camaraderie. You are not alone and this series will prove it. We’re here to assure you that every family is different. There’s a dynamic within your family unit that is unique to only you. And that’s the beautiful part of it.

As we share in this educational journey together, it is always so encouraging to hear stories of how others are doing this path less traveled life we call SLOCA. Please join us in our first Day in the Life post with the Dow Family this morning.

Grab your favorite beverage, settle in and read on!

A day in the life of THIS homeschooling family at SLOCA

I have to start this article with the details that always draw me in. I am always interested in “the WHY”. I am intrigued with the reasons that inspire a homeschooling or private schooling family to begin their journey. The responses are always varied and insightful. Often, if you listen closely – you can identify key values for the parents (and thus the family) you are talking with.  It’s a curious thing. I know many other people wonder about it…about us…about why and HOW we would ever choose this “path less traveled”. The reasons are as unique as fingerprints.

We began our SLOCA journey seven years ago after homeschooling my oldest for two years. Our educational journey began when my husband was deployed overseas with the CA Army National Guard. At that time, our daughter was ready to begin Kindergarten. She was reading above her grade level and had a good grasp of basic kinder math. I decided we would take his year abroad to focus on making learning fun and to emphasize self-care. We were a bit of a wreck with my husband gone for an extended period of time. It just made sense for us.

Two years later, as my youngest was approaching Kindergarten, I knew my little extrovert was definitely going to need more people in his daily circle. Thankfully our solution presented itself. As the owner of Academic Associates – a private reading tutoring service, I was working with students daily. While providing reading assessments and tutoring services, I had encountered two SLOCA families. Both times I was impressed with the students. Though they were struggling with the basics of reading, their love of learning was evident. I was delighted – even uplifted by the students as I engaged with them. The second time it happened, I knew I needed to visit SLO Classical Academy and better understand more about the school. Shortly after, we embarked on our SLOCA journey with a 2nd grader and a Kindergarten student.

To be honest, I had planned to take one year to give my children a “frame of reference” for a classroom, a class teacher, peers, etc. I had then planned to enroll them in our local public school. Somehow, in that first year – that plan dissolved. We fell in love with the stories, with the focus, with the learning and doing it together. We haven’t looked back. We certainly have not regretted one moment of our journey.

This is the first year at SLOCA that I am not engaged in several other activities. This year, with one student on the cusp of high school, I resolved to be present in each homeschool day. I also resolved to keep more of a schedule than I have in the past. We agreed that we would start our school day at 9 AM. (8 AM was too early for our family on a homeschool day.) I wanted the kids to be up by 8, do their 5 things, have a good breakfast and knock out their daily chore. We aren’t perfect at it, but we just keep “practicing”. We have done fairly well for the last 6 weeks at starting school at 9.

Chloe is in 8th grade. She prefers to work in her room, snug as a bug, on/in her bed. Along with all of her core work, she has online Latin work and literature papers to type up. I invite her to take a break with us at 10:30 for a snack, some time on the trampoline and to get some sunshine. After a break, she is back at work until lunch. We usually take a 45 minute break for lunch and just eat, chat, etc. After lunch Chloe revisits her plan for the afternoon. She works until 2:30 when we take an afternoon break. If she still has school work, she will wrap it up at her own pace. We agreed to be done with school work by 4 pm. This fall she has soccer and other activities to focus on in the evenings.

Jed is in 6th grade. On a regular homeschool day, he prefers to spread out on the couch, or work at the dining room table. Jed usually starts out with his math work and then just works through his grid. We always try to spend a few minutes online testing Latin vocabulary on homeschool days. We stop for breaks at 10:30, noon and 2:30. Often he is finished by 2:30, but not always. Stopping at 4 PM helps us to wrap up, clean up and make room for our family to spend time together.  One thing that can move our homeschool days around are the days when Jed has an acting audition. Those days are pretty wild. They start early with a road trip to LA. Thankfully, Jed is usually able to do all of his schoolwork in the car. Chloe prefers to stay with family nearby to ensure she gets all of her work done.

We are thankful for our blended private and home school opportunity at SLOCA. We are grateful for the friends we have made along the way. We are enjoying the journey.

Thank you, Wendy and family, for sharing with us!

For you readers out there who are current families at SLOCA, we welcome your contributions! If you are interested in participating in a Day in the Life post, please let us know!

SLO Classical Academy is not affiliated with any of the above-mentioned websites, businesses or organizations.