World schooling daily education routine – what does our day look like?

We are pretty strict on education, which may sound ironic since we took our kids out of school in July and began home schooling them. But it really is a core fundamental for us. We want our kids to study, love learning, gain GCSEs and A-Levels and have the option to go to university/ get an apprenticeship/ intern abroad or whatever it is they want to do. The key for us is them having choices and options. The choice to do what you want (within reason!) and open doors to new opportunities.

We are rigid with our homeschooling routine when the days are steady and predictable. On the days where we travel for longer or experience set backs (like the red warning storm or a gas issue with our motorhome!), we adapt and hit the core skills. We don’t push it too far, as our experience has shown us that if our kids enjoy the learning they stop clock-watching and engage in their learning for much longer.

We do maths and English everyday. This includes 30-60 minutes of maths daily for both kids (usually a bit longer for our 12 year old who has started GCSE maths) and 60-120 mins of English (that includes a mix of spelling, grammar, punctuation, composition, comprehension, vocab, plus independent and group reading, story writing, creative writing, poetry and journaling).

We do a few hours of science per week, mixing it up between biology, chemistry and physics. For this area, we use workbooks, as there is so much content to cover in science! The kids read the information about the topic, do extra research on the iPad if they need to and then answer the questions in their books. We also ask Chat GPT to create a 10 question multiple-choice quick test on each individual topic they learn, as a consolidation exercise (or retrieval!). They mark their scores in their books, so they can see the areas they are great on and those they might want to work on again.

They have both just finished a science project on reptile ecosystems in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, and it was really good fun. They topped it off with creating a bar chart to show their results.

We saw this guy the most! But would have loved to spot an Ocellated Lizard!

Our day:

Between 9-9:30am we start maths.
By 10-10:30am we move on to English (focused learning on SPaG, comprehension, vocab or composition).
After this hour of English, we do either Science, independent learning/ research or something creative like art.
By 12pm we’re done and the kids have covered their core learning.
In the afternoon, we exercise, get out into nature, visit museums or take trips out.
Around 4-5pm we will read as a group as part of our family book club. We take turns reading and following along with the text. At the moment we are reading ‘When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit’ by Judith Kerr.
Then we do independent reading/ research or the kids write in their journals. They also play with other kids they meet or just chill! Whatever they fancy.
Mixed in with this, the kids are both learning new languages as we travel (they are keeping translated vocab lists in their workbooks, as well as using language in spoken conversations with natives), cook with us, do regular chores such as washing up and emptying the bins, they socialise with other children we meet, learn a ton about geography as we move and study our maps, pick up on history through our travels and museum visits… and lots more!
Being able to travel has really accelerated our kids skill building in that sense. They do a lot, so are almost experiencing a paradigm shift into becoming more independent learners and individuals more quickly.
They also see and help us plan our next day/ travel day/ rest stop and this is hopefully shaping their planning skills.
Having also had some problems, they are watching first hand how we manage an issue and have helped us with the problem solving process.

It’s very exciting to get so close to their learning and see them understand their own strengths and challenges! As they mark a lot of their own work alongside us or by themselves, they see where they need support or can take on extra depth.

It’s not always perfect, and life does get in the way! For example, H-9 is currently in the pool with her new German friend playing, talking their languages to each other and having fun. So maybe our book club will be shorter tonight. But we roll with it and make sure what needs to get done gets done, that the kids are enjoying it and then the rest of the learning and experiences are cream on the top!