Sadie was so excited for the first day of homeschool co-op this year!

If anyone is new here, we’re part of a homeschool co-op that meets once a week. There are a little over 30 homeschooled kids who meet up for a day of learning together. It’s a pretty structured program, which is wonderful! Sadie is studying Zoology this year and also learning about Pennsylvania history, art, music, health, and taking a gym class.

Mordecai and I are of course along for the ride! He gets to hang out in the nursery and I’m a helper in other classrooms. This is our second year being part of the co-op and it was so great last year. Homeschooling can feel isolating, so to have a community that we regularly meet with that is in the same boat as us is just a beautiful thing! We’re really excited for the 2024-2025 school year.

Okay, here’s a rundown of our first day this year.

I got up at 5:30 am so I could have time to read my Bible, drink coffee, and pack everything up! I spent some time studying The Lord’s Prayer with this study, drank a warm mug of coffee, had some sourdough toast (made by my sister!) with eggs, cheese, and bacon and then it was go time.

First, I packed up Sadie’s lunch. I always joke that she’s on the air diet because she is *such* a light eater. I have learned to pack her mostly snacks when we go places.

Next up was Mordecai’s lunch. He’ll eat just about anything, but I wanted to give him food he could easily feed himself that wasn’t going to make him messy!

I also packed up my lunch, which was just leftovers: barbecue chicken, cornbread, and veggies.

In between the packing of lunches, Sadie and Mordecai woke up. Sadie got herself dressed, ate breakfast (lately it’s yogurt and hot cocoa), and brushed her teeth. I got Mordecai dressed and ready and before we knew it, it was time to head out.

We live about 40 minutes away from our church (where the co-op is!), but rush hour traffic usually makes this an hour-long drive. That’s the only hard part of the whole day–the driving! Anyways, we made good timing and were even able to take a picture. Look at the difference between last year and this year. Mordecai looks so grown up!

I was in charge of snacks for all the kids for the first week, so I brought along some alphabet cookies and dropped those off at each classroom before I dropped Sadie and Mordecai off to their classes.

Sadie’s first class was Zoology! They’re using the Apologia curriculum, which has been great. The textbook is so colorful and is Christian-based, which I love. I was helping out with the older elementary class and we met up with Sadie’s class for a couple of experiments to learn about water pressure and gyres.

After an hour of science class, it was time for Pennsylvania history. I was in the older elementary class helping out again, but Sadie reported she enjoyed history and brought some homework home. After 45 minutes, it was time for assembly.

Assembly time is used to do the Pledge of Allegiance, learn about U.S. government, and pray before lunch. I was hanging with Sadie in assembly until I got a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Mordecai fast asleep in someone’s arms!

I was so surprised to see Mordecai sleeping before his nap time and wondered how he fell asleep in a room of children! I guess all the fun wore him out. Once he was transferred to my arms, he woke up and we headed to the fellowship hall for lunch. Sadie sat with us after she finished with assembly.

Everyone ate lunch and the kids had some time to play before gym class. Sadie was off to learn about football for 30 minutes and I hung out in the nursery with Mordecai and a few other babies and parents.

Before we knew it, it was 1:00pm and time to head home! We battled the highway traffic on the way home and both kids fell asleep. I munched on a snack bar and enjoyed some silence 😎

I was able to transfer Mordecai to his crib for the rest of his nap when we got home and then Sadie and I spent some time together working on erupting volcano cakes. I had ordered her this kit and was so excited to combine science and baking together with her.

I was torn on doing her “regular” school work with her that afternoon, but I think she needed a break after all the learning in the morning. Plus, the volcano cakes combined a lot of things we work on in school anyways!

I also happened to get an Etsy order that day, so I made cranberry orange and gingerbread granola for the order and got that ready to ship out the next day.

Before we knew it, Jimmy was home from work and Mordecai was up from his nap. We all went outside–the kids played with Jimmy and I folded laundry on our patio table. Then it was dinnertime and I made a quick run to the store.

After that, we went on a walk around the neighborhood and then put Mordecai to bed! Sadie and I ate popcorn on the couch while Jimmy did some work and then Sader Tot and I read a few chapters of a book in bed together. Once Jimmy laid her down, I stayed up a little but to read but eventually gave in to sleep.

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There you have it! The first day of co-op and also a day in our life. It was busy and full and such a great day 😊