We are fairly relaxed homeschoolers, and my kids do a lot of independent projects (DD7 writes and DS9 programs). I consider our school to be 7 days a week. On the weekends we don't do any book work, but it's not unusual for DH to give the kids a lesson in programming, or to pull out a science kit and play with it. We don't call it school (that would be a disaster!), but learning doesn't end at 3pm on Friday.
A lot of our learning happens during lunch and snack time. I've got both kids as a captive audience, so that's when I'll read a few pages from our history or science books, then have a discussion about it.
We also do a lot of car-schooling (again, captive audience). We used to listen to SOTW (history) a lot, now we tend towards fiction audiobooks. Yesterday I gave an impromptu lesson on blood types/basic genetics while driving to a friend's house (and texted their grandparents when we got there to see if they knew their type). It certainly wasn't planned and I can't even remember how it came up. But learning happened! Our car thermometer gives us a daily math problem (is the temp above or below freezing? Boiling? By how much?)
That said, I still often feel like we're not getting enough "formal" schooling done during the week. We are miles behind where I thought we would be in history, and our science units seem to take longer than expected. It *would* be much easier for me if I could just check some boxes each week and know that we were finished. But one of the big reasons we're homeschooling is because my kids don't do well with checking-the-boxes.
I try not to compare myself to other homeschoolers (different kids, different rhythms, different needs). And I try not to be too hard on myself when we "fall behind," because if I'm not comparing myself to others, than who are we behind?
So, take a break for a week and only focus on fun science projects, or museums, or something like that. Skip the formal math for a week and check out some living math books from the library instead, or play some games that require math, or have the kids double a recipe for cookies. Skip formal language arts and practice writing in the form of a letter to a relative or a favorite author.
And be easy on yourself! Homeschooling is not a walk in the park, especially kids who challenge the status quo.
