A Week in the Life, Day 1 | Renaissance Festival

We’re early in our homeschool journey, but already I get a lot of curiosity, questions, and skepticism about homeschool life. I get it, because I was actually extremely anti-homeschool until it came time for us to make the decision for ourselves. 

Homeschool fits our lives so perfectly that I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way. That isn’t to say that we’ll NEVER go another direction, but for now, we’re LOVING it. I can definitely say we’re living our best lives! ;) 

This week, I decided to document what our days look like. I'm excited to record it for our own memories, to share with our friends and families what it looks like to do homeschool in our family, and address some frequently asked questions (and concerns ;)).

Common Misconception of the Day:

Common Misconception: Homeschool is a reproduction of traditional school, just in one's home.

Our truth: This has been one of the hardest mindsets to overcome for this public school teacher! Homeschool does NOT mean replicating how a traditional classroom would look and function. It's soooo much more relaxed and liberating than that!

What Today Looked Like:

6:30am - Pretend to wake up
7:30am - ACTUALLY wake up. Get ready, clean some, prep for the day, etc.

8:30am - Math for both kiddos 

9:00am - Leave (memory work in the car)

10:00am - Renaissance Festival
5:00pm - TaeKwonDo 

Today's Story:

Mondays are usually our sleep-in and stay-at-home day, recovering from crazy weekends. However, twice a month our homeschool community gets together for a field trip (which I get to plan, cuz it’s my happy place) and this week the trip landed on Monday. We started the day knocking out an early math lesson, and then spent the rest of the day at the Renaissance Festival, which aligns with our history memory work for the year (more on that later).  

One question and concern that I know is often directed at homeschool families is how we know we’re teaching the “right” thing and how we’re sure they’re getting everything they need. 

Here’s the thing: no matter HOW your child is educated, they will never learn “everything.” Our goal is not to check all of the things off some magical master list to guarantee success. Instead, the goal in our family is to teach HOW to learn and a LOVE for learning. We want our kids to enjoy new experiences, appreciate science, history, and culture, and (of course) be voracious readers. That way, no matter what they’re interested in, they’ll be motivated and equipped to learn more. 

Last week, in preparation for the Ren Faire, we checked out and perused a stack of books on knights and castles, and started reading Magic Tree House: Knights at Dawn, and took notes on what we learned.

The Festival was SO much fun. They got they got to attend to a fantastic demonstration on glass blowing, see some incredible acrobats, hear story telling, experience a jousting tournament, visit fairies and mermaids, eat turkey legs, pet neat animals, and more! Dad got to join in the fun too, which always makes everything way better.

Beckett's favorite part of the festival was the acrobats. He and his friend Anna just talked through the whole performance about how amazing it was. They were mesmerized and adorable!

Charlie's favorite part were the fairies. They were allowed to search the garden for small shinies, and trade them in for a "big shiny" (basically fish tank rocks & sea glass) and the kids were sooo entertained. It was magical!

It was a very fun day, and the perfect blend of learning and adventure! The kids were exhausted, but intrigued. Beckett read up on Castles all the way home! Charlie read for a little bit and then crashed hard!