A Day in the Life: The Staniec Family

Hello and happy Wednesday. We have a Down Home favorite for you – A Day in the Life. Prioritizing homeschooling among all the other demands of life is a tricky balance and it is always encouraging to see how others juggle it all.

Today, Track A SLOCA mom, Jennifer Staniec, gives us a glimpse into a day in her life with her 3 kids, Ella (6th grade), Emily & Jacob (4th grade). Jennifer is a veterinarian and part-time lecturer at Cal Poly squeezing work in while the kids are at school. The Staniecs have been at SLOCA since 2012 when Ella was in Little Wonders and Jennifer says, “We love SLOCA, it feels like home.”

We hope you will love reading Jennifer’s honest and humble approach to her home days and life.

5:45 a.m. – Phone alarm goes off. I press snooze…twice. Then, Morty, the cat gets in on the action walking on top of me; stepping on my hair, and licking my face. I can’t seem to find his snooze button. 

6:00 a.m. – I slide out of bed and put on my comfy homeschool day attire…half pj’s, half sweatpants. I get homeschool glam: brush teeth and splash water on my face…don’t even bother brushing my hair. I then lurk past the kids’ rooms’ slowly closing the doors. “Don’t wake up! Not until I’m ready.” Once downstairs, I realize I forgot to set the coffee timer. Bad sign. I get that going immediately…is 6 cups too much coffee? I reach across the counter to mix my collagen drink with my morning full glass of water routine and step on the crackers Ella left on the floor. Do I clean it up? No. I will politely ask her to sweep them up when she comes down. I’m choosing not to share what I am thinking in my head. Next, I set out my daily motley of vitamins…are 10 tablets too many? I walk across the kitchen to turn on the heater. I step in the crackers again. 

6:25 a.m. – I spend about 20 minutes of quiet time with my daily devotional by Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, then prayer and meditation and reflect on where I personally am at the beginning of the day and where I want to be. Making sure my perspective is productive and kind. 

6:45 a.m. – The coffee beeps to me…”I’m ready!!!!” I race over, step in the crackers again, and pour my first cup. Just the smell of coffee can wake me up. I then spend about 15 minutes doing a Wordscapes app and Elevate app to wake up my brain.

7:10 a.m. – I take my first look at my calendar. I remember that “Auntie D,” a dear friend that has helped take care of the kids all their lives, is on vacation this week. Better put my roller skates on for today. I usually set the first item on the calendar to send a notice to me 30 minutes beforehand, so it doesn’t sneak up on me. It looks like we are having Nutella and banana crepes this morning. I sprint through my personal emails, usually deleting the trash. (So satisfying. Like I’m actually getting something done already.) I glance at my work emails making sure there are no urgencies to handle before I start the day with the kids. So, in all this, I’m also building a house. I just saw an email from Idler’s that the dishwashers I chose for the house and guest unit are on backorder for several months. Uggh! I spend a few moments responding to that email and searching up reports on the alternative brands suggested. 

7:25 a.m. – The first one is up. Very sleepy but moving. Ella has sat down and opened her backpack to find her grid. I’m impressed. The other two stagger in about 15 minutes later and start their reading assignments for history and literature. They have become independent readers. 

7:30 a.m. – I’m off to my second cup. Crackers…again! That reminds me to ask Ella to sweep the floor after she takes care of the cats. I start setting up everything in piles for the school day. Tabbing pages, copying sheets if needed, and laying things out for each of the kids. 

8:15 a.m. – I’ll start breakfast. The kids play the 10 Questions -Places game with the globe on standby. 

I begin breakfast while they play and listen to The World and Everything In it podcast while I cook. (Thanks, Merideth) Once the kids finish a game, they all pick a book to read from their grid assignments. It’s quiet. Too quiet.

8:30 a.m. – Breakfast. Light conversation.

8:45 a.m. – School starts. The twins and I discuss their readings. I ask several questions from the Socratic questions deck and grid discussion questions. 

9:00 a.m. – I check Emily’s hamburger paragraph FD and she makes a few corrections. Jacob puts dishes in the dishwasher and dries the rest to put away.

9:15 a.m. – Emily starts vacuuming. What? I’m not going to ask. Just grateful. Ella scoops the cat litterbox. So, I sit down with Jacob and we review his paper together. We change a few things and make grammar corrections. They put their work in the turn-in section of the BOB.

9:45 a.m. – I send Jacob and Emily to take vitamins, brush teeth and make beds. Ella has her singing lesson in a few minutes at the house. I’m so grateful I don’t have to go somewhere for her lesson. 

10:00 a.m. – Spelling with Jacob and Emily while Ella takes trash cans to the curb, then she works on her art assignment.

10:30 a.m. – I review what Ella has done so far on her own. We discuss Elijah of Buxton reading.

11:10 a.m. – I have a Cal Poly department meeting on Zoom. Ella works on her IEW. Jacob and Emily do their handwriting, Mental Math warm-up, and once Ella is done with the computer, they will do their timeline projects for the classroom.

12:00 p.m. – I make lunch.

12:45 p.m. – The emotional crisis of the day. I’m genuinely surprised it has taken this long. Emily and Jacob are both melting down with getting their Timeline piece finished. It ranges from formatting, spelling, and spacing. I have to keep my cool and slowly describe the difference between doing best work and perfectionism. They are in good company, so I know where this is coming from. This is a speech I need to hear myself. 

1:10 p.m. – Ella has her riding lessons at the barn. This is a good time to take a break and get us out of the house.

1:40 p.m. – We get back and I check some emails and make some calls about the house and setting up some meetings with the contractor and his subs. The kids run around outside. 

2:00 p.m. – I finish up the grammar lesson with Jacob and Emily. I make a snack and then we get out the dry erase board for them to start the math lesson together. Some days we will do some multiplication flashcards, but today we are running behind. After I review the lesson foundation, Jacob and Emily take turns doing the math problems on the board and I watch. I make a few suggestions on different ways to do the problem and occasionally ask them to try doing it in their head. Math took a while and we needed to review some corrections on their mental math.

3:45 p.m. – Jacob and Emily get ready for ninjas class and I drop them off at 4 pm and then I head over to pick up Ella from the barn.

4:30 p.m. – Ella and I return home and go over some of her math problems that need to be corrected. I then ask her to review her homework that she has completed earlier. She only needs to review her Latin later tonight after Krav Maga class and dinner.

5:00 p.m. – We pick up Jacob and Emily and then I get ready for my kettlebells class that I take while Ella does Krav from 5:30 to 6:30.

On Tuesdays after our classes, we go out to dinner. We rotate on who gets to pick and it’s Ella’s night. Chipotle it is.

7:30 p.m. – I send Jacob and Emily up to take a bath/shower and get ready for bed while I review the last of Ella’s work with her. 

Bedtime starts at 8:00 and takes about 20 minutes for me to get everyone to bed with tucking them in and individual prayers. 

So, at 8:30, it just depends on how sleepy I am as to what I might try to get done. Tonight, I read for about 30 minutes and then end the day. 

In summary, we have had a lot going on this year. I teach at Cal Poly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and home school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ve been working with all the building tasks and choices that will also filter in on the homeschool days.

We really don’t have much of a set schedule because of all of that but my basic goals are to get school started by 8:30 am and get the kids in bed by 8 pm. What gets accomplished in between is considered a blessing. Sometimes the laundry gets done! Total score! This pace has forced me to be more flexible and let a few things go and cut myself some slack. That’s not easy for a typically type A personality, but for now, I just need to accept this is a really busy season in our lives. 

The kids have adapted pretty well. They have become more independent which is great. Sometimes, I can even ask them to work together: reading to each other, asking each other questions, and working math problems together. Ella can be a great resource for some of the lessons. There is a little bit of bickering that may develop but they have recognized that working together can get homework done sooner if I’m busy with working on something for Cal Poly or the house build.

A huge “Thank You!” to Jennifer for giving us a glimpse into one of her family’s home days. It is always so fun to hear how those in our community embrace the SLOCA life.