My day begins at 5:30. I am a morning person and love that quiet time for personal scripture and gospel study.

At 6:30 Bon Bon and Semisweet join me at the kitchen table for seminary. In our church all high school aged youth attend seminary, a scripture study program. It is usually held in the early morning before school starts.
By this time Mr. Ferrero Rocher is also awake studying the scriptures at the desk in our room. He watches Hershey if she wakes up during this time so I can teach seminary. Around 7am we can hear most of the other children getting up. They start their morning routines of getting dressed, making beds, and personal prayers.

7:35am. We are done with seminary and morning chores are underway. The four older girls are each in charge of a weekly zone. The three younger ones rotate daily as their helpers. Thursday’s post will tell all about our chore system in detail.

7:55am. Mr. FR weighs a load of hay. The kids run out to help strap down the bales on the truck.

8:10am. We have family prayers before eating breakfast. The conversation usually turns to what we plan on doing during the day and the funny dreams we’ve had.

After breakfast Mr. FR and Bon Bon leave in the hay truck to deliver the load to Fallon. The rest of us finish any chores that still need to be done, clear the table, and get ready to start school.

8:45am. Our school officially starts with a morning devotional which includes a song, prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, and scripture memorization.

9:00am. While the older children work independently I help Special Dark (4). We do a short lesson in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons then we cover numbers. He writes the numbers I say in cornmeal. When he’s done he runs off to play with his trains.

9:15am. Time to help Cookie (6). We go over new math concepts, I listen to her read, and I give her the spelling list for the week. She practices her words using the letter cards she made herself. The vowels are a different color than the consonants.

9:45am. Fudge (8) only needs help with her math today. She is studying multiplication, the 1 – 5 times tables. She summarizes what she read in her literature book and I check her grammar work.

10am. Break time. Guess what the baby was doing while we did school?

10:15am. While changing the baby’s diaper during break time I remembered I was supposed to have a post up at Latter-day Homeschooling. The girls are glad for a longer break while I hurriedly put a post together.

10:30am. Unit study time with Brownie (12), Truffle (10), Fudge, and Cookie. We are learning about the heart, its chambers, veins, arteries, and blood circulation. While we are studying at the table, Semisweet is practicing Alla Turca on the piano.

Special Dark is looking at books and the baby is down the hallway making another mess.

11am. The little girls are completely done with official school for the day. They run out to play at their ‘fort’ with Special Dark. I go over Brownie’s grammar and math. I remind her how to reduce fractions and she completes a review worksheet. Truffle summarizes her reading assignment. We check her math and grammar together. I forgot to get their writing assignment together. They show great disappointment. NOT!

11:30am. Hershey is getting tired. We rock in the recliner until she falls asleep. While we sit, Semisweet and I talk about the World History she reviewed today in preparation for the final exam we still need to order. I go lay Hershey down in her crib and find she was having a great time pulling binders and books off the school bookshelf.

Noon. Everyone does a quick pick up of their chores while lunch cooks on the stove top.

12:30pm. Lunchtime. This is our main meal of the day. Because we farm Mr. FR is able to eat all three meals with us. Today, though we are missing him and Bon Bon while they are delivering hay.

1pm. Mr. FR and Bon Bon are still gone so we postpone our regular family scripture study for tonight when everyone is home together. Quiet time starts. All the kids go to their own rooms. They read books or play quietly. If the baby is awake someone takes her with them to their room so Mom can get some rest. I usually take a nap on the couch. Rest time ends at 2pm.

1:25pm. Hershey wakes from her nap but still acts tired. We snuggle on the couch for about 15 minutes until she’s ready to get down and play some more.

1:45pm. Rest time is over early when I start grinding wheat to bake bread. Special Dark is the kitchen helper today.

2pm – 4:30pm. In between bread risings and baking I work on my current project of sewing cloth diapers. This is free time for everyone. I usually work on blog posts, check e-mails, etc during this time too.

The kids from Truffle to Special Dark spend most of the afternoon outside grinding wheat at their fort with rocks. 

Semisweet folds laundry while watching the BBC version of Emma. Brownie played outside for a while and then joined Semisweet in watching Emma.

4:35pm. Mr. FR and Bon Bon get home. He drops Bon Bon off and goes to work at the shop for a bit.

Bon Bon can usually be found reading in the afternoon. This time the book is Sense and Sensibility (while also watching the end of Emma!).

4:45pm Special Delivery! Packages come at least three times a week. Sometimes they are from grandparents (like the flowers were), sometimes it is just tractor parts, and sometimes it is something I have ordered. The other package was a huge bolt of muslin to use when making our Easter dresses.

5pm. Time to start evening chores. After an afternoon of free time the house is typically in disarray at this point.

Fudge butters the tops of the bread loaves for me.

Mr. FR comes back from the shop and winds down from the day on the recliner with kids gathered around.

Dinnertime is usually fend for yourself as lunch is our main meal of the day. Today most ate fresh bread with butter and honey.

7pm. We gather everyone for scripture study. We are working our way through the New Testament. Today’s reading covered Acts 6.

After scriptures Brownie read a story about service and helped the little ones create service chains. On slips of paper they wrote ways they could serve this week, then made the slips of paper into chains. Each morning they are supposed to cut off a chain link and perform whatever service is written on it sometime during that day.

8pm. We have family prayers. Everyone gets ready for bed. Hershey fell asleep on Mr. FR’s lap. Special Dark has a meltdown because he doesn’t want to change into his pajamas. We finally get that figured out, read him a few books, and settle him into bed. He goes to sleep listening to children’s church songs on the tape player.

Mr. FR and I make the rounds checking on the younger girls, helping them say their prayers, and making sure they’ve brushed their teeth. Cookie, Fudge and Truffle are in bed by 9pm. The older three stay up until 9:30pm.

Before heading to bed myself I go over the next day’s seminary lesson and also the school assignments for tomorrow. Mr. FR studies more scriptures or reads a church book. By 10 pm we are both headed to bed. This is our time, finally. We usually talk about our day, laugh at the funny things the kids have done, and then read a church book or discourse together. We take turns reading paragraphs and discuss what we are reading. After our couple and personal prayers it’s snooze time.

Looking back on our day mornings are usually very structured while the afternoons are a free for all. Interspersed throughout are prayers and scripture reading. I hope those are the main things my children will remember when they are grown and gone. We always tried to keep the Lord foremost in our thoughts no matter what else we were doing.

Tomorrow’s post . . . GUEST POST: Day in the Life of a Large Homeschooling Family (find how how this family of seven’s day typically goes)

Heart of the Matter has partnered with 16 of the most inspiring, lovely, and just plain awesome bloggers in the homeschool community to bring you 10 days, 160 posts full of resources for those starting out, burned out or need new ideas.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

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