Charlotte Groeneveld

What are your school plans for the Fall? What will a typical day look like?

We are back to in-person school for both of them, and even though this comes with some level of anxiety, we are optimistic and trusting in the way the schools are set up and handling everything, and very happy for the kids they are with their friends and new teachers! 

Our days are very structured - we all do really well when we know what happens when, and who’s doing what. We really missed the everyday routines. It helps us avoid a stressful morning rush or a hyped evening routine.

Thomas and I get up between 6 and 6.30 to get ourselves ready and give the kids some time to wake up. They need that. I put their clothes out and start preparing their breakfast. Meanwhile they get dressed and Thomas checks in on the progress. Then breakfast is on the table, usually a sandwich, fruit and cheese on the side, a cup of water or tea. One vitamin gummy for the Fall/Winter months. The kids eat well and diverse, still we add a supplement to give a little extra in these colder months.

I brush their hair while they eat, we chat about the day coming, and quickly brush teeth. They pack their backpacks and we are out of the door by 7:30! Sometime in there I got myself dressed and ready, too.

And how will you mark the transition from Summer to Fall? Any ideas for making homeschool feel special?

As much as we love being in the countryside, we were extremely excited for school to start and being back in the city! We were on the fence for a long time but both schools put in the effort to make it as safe as possible, so we felt we had to give it a try. From this moment onwards we started freshening up some things they learned before summer with those math and grammar workbooks. We were surprised how eager they were and this made for a good start approaching the big first day back in school!

What are the most important lessons you hope to teach?

If this year taught us anything it is that we are a close and well-functioning family in some of the most unexpected situations. This is something beautiful, a silver lining. We learned to make the most of every situation thrown at us, and take comfort from the little things. We had so much more family time than ever before, which is something so precious considering our lives were pretty hectic before. This is something we hope our kids will remember and cherish growing up.

What is the best part of your day? Or anything that has surprised you about this moment in time?

I love how our kids became incredibly good and adventurous eaters now that we share almost every meal together. We don’t have to prepare things separately for them anymore, and it’s so much more practical, obviously! We are a family that loves to prepare food together so we did a lot of that over summer, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is bringing us closer together and we all enjoy that still so much. It's something we will try to keep going as much as we can!