I have been asked several times what our days look like. This especially happens when I am talking to someone that is interested in homeschooling. I have had many opportunities to share about homeschooling since we moved to Baltimore. So I decide that I would finally sit down and log a week so that I can refer people to it when they ask. So here it goes...
We got a late start to the morning because we did not hear Ron's alarm go off. Oops.
Every morning they have a routine they are supposed to follow but I usually have to remind them of something they forgot. The routine is: make bed, get dressed, brush hair and teeth, and pick up the bedroom floor (they share a bedroom). The girls are in charge of getting their own breakfast now that they are big enough. Each week the girls rotate 3 jobs. This week Gracie is dinner dishes and empty the dishwasher, Naomi feeds the birds and cleans the cage on Saturday and Johanna takes care of trash and recycling.
I get dressed to exercise and then go down to fix breakfast for Ron and me. Ron has a kefir smoothie and I have a smoothie made from almond milk, think peppermint mocha frappacino with protein powder added. I also pack Ron's lunch, unless we are out of leftovers and then he usually buys lunch with the guys at work.
Gracie and I go down to the basement and do spelling. Last Friday she finished level 5 of All About Spelling. We are going to be taking 2 weeks off for Christmas so we are not starting the next book but taking this week to just review her words. Yep, running through all 240 words. She loves her spelling- well most days.
I come up and exercise. I have a couple channels on youtube that I use. The routine varies; mini trampoline, kettle bells, pilates, strength training and cardio. Then I shower and by the time I am dressed and ready it is lunch time. While I exercise the girls do their individual work.
Gracie is doing Rod and Staff 4th grade English. I read the lesson to her and make sure she understands. So far this year she has done division and multiplication drills for math because it was just not clicking. She has made so much progress. After Christmas we are switching her from Singapore math to Teaching Textbooks at her request. She will be doing level 3. For reading Gracie has been picking Dear America books this year. This is amazing to me. Last year was such a struggle and now she goes off and reads to herself. She is still not able to do it for long but it is progress. They all just finished the Classically Cursive books and will be doing typing only now. We use Typing Web, where they each have their own account and I can check their progress on the teacher portal. Next year we will pay and start the whole program over with the goal of improving speed and accuracy. We go to Community Bible Study on Tuesday and they each have their own class and lesson book. They have 5 days of study to do and then they go over it together in their class.
Naomi is doing Rod and Staff 6th grade English. She also has been drilling multiplication and division so far this year. Naomi will also be switching from Singapore Math tot Teaching Textbooks after the Christmas break. She will be doing level 4. She is so like me, math is a huge struggle. For reading Naomi has a list in the back of her planner to choose from. She picks on and I divide out what she must read each day. She is finishing Cheaper By The Dozen. If a book has a movie they are not allowed to see it until they have read the book. It cracks me up to listen to them watch a movie after reading the book. There is much grumbling about how bad the movie is. She is also doing Typing Web and her Community Bible Study lessons.. Naomi does Wordly Wise 3000 for spelling.
Johanna is doing a book called Jump In: Writing for Reluctant Writers. Hehehe. Can you tell by the title that writing is not her favorite thing to do? Ron and I find it amusing since she loves to read so much. She has actually been enjoying the book much better more than she expected. We switched Johanna from Singapore to Teaching Textbooks for math last year because math is not my strong suit and she needed the lecture and explanation. We could not wait for daddy to get home to explain things in the book. She is half way through Algebra 2. For reading Johanna also has a list in the back of her planner to pick from. Right now she is reading Tale Of Two Cities. She cracked me up recently by saying, "I sure can pick the most boring books from that list." She also does Typing Web, Community Bible Study lessons and Wordly Wise 3000.
Lunch time is again the girls preparing their own meals with some supervision. They love leftovers, soup, or sandwiches. While they eat they are allowed to watch one episode of a series. We watch old 80s/90s tv shows, 19 kids and counting, or Duck Dynasty. This is all the tv they watch for the most during the week. I started doing this because they needed a little bit of down time in order to be able to continue on. Today we are watching part of the live Peter Pan that I recorded for them.
After lunch we do our together work, history and science. For history we are in the third book of the Mystery of History. We love it. We have a notebook divided by continent that we have kept since book one. We do projects and maps. Sometimes I can find a video on Amazon Prime to watch that goes with our lesson. This is great for Gracie because it really makes it stick for her. We are just about to finish up the Reformation. For science we are doing the Answers in Genesis Elementary/Middle School curriculum. We are speeding through the one on plants right now. When we finish this book Johanna will use the rest of the year to speed through the other books left in the series because next year she will move on to high school level science. Since I still have 2 years before Naomi hits high school we will take the next 2 years to finish the series.
Once history and science are done everyone goes back to individual work if they have not finished. They also must do 30 minutes at least of piano practice daily. They must do at least 10 minutes of exercise before they are allowed to have computer or device time. I have let it slip but will get back to it after the Christmas break.
On Monday the big girls need to be done most of their school work by 4 so that they can walk over to St. Rita's. They meet others from the Middle School group to help serve the weekly meal to the needy. It is a high light of their week. While they do that Gracie and I come home. Gracie usually does her piano, grabs a shower, and then has some time to play on the computer before the girls and daddy get home and we have dinner. I usually prepare dinner, then check school work, and catch up quicken. If I have time I either sew or work on a class I am doing online. I just finished Essential Oils and Natural Health and started Healing Foods both are taught by Vintage Remedies.
Most Mondays after dinner I go grocery shopping all by myself. What a blessing to be able to have this bit of time to myself, well kind of. I can get it all done much faster without dragging 3 girls in and out of stores. I also do not usually come home with extra stuff and I visit far fewer bathrooms. While I am out shopping Ron is home with a list for each girl and sometimes one for himself too. Today was a tough one because Naomi had not completed all her work even though she told me she did before going to St. Rita's. So she had to complete that and redo her English because she did it all wrong.
By the time I get home Ron has the girls in bed. He helps me unload and put stuff away. Then he and I sit. Sometimes we chat or watch football or some other show. I usually surf the internet for a bit (Facebook, Pinterest, or email) or cross-stitch while we watch something. Then it is off to bed to start it all over again the next day.
We have a pretty similar schedule most days so I will not go into as much detail the rest of the week. In other words the rest of the week the entries will be much shorter. You are welcome. hehehe
We got a late start to the morning because we did not hear Ron's alarm go off. Oops.
Every morning they have a routine they are supposed to follow but I usually have to remind them of something they forgot. The routine is: make bed, get dressed, brush hair and teeth, and pick up the bedroom floor (they share a bedroom). The girls are in charge of getting their own breakfast now that they are big enough. Each week the girls rotate 3 jobs. This week Gracie is dinner dishes and empty the dishwasher, Naomi feeds the birds and cleans the cage on Saturday and Johanna takes care of trash and recycling.
I get dressed to exercise and then go down to fix breakfast for Ron and me. Ron has a kefir smoothie and I have a smoothie made from almond milk, think peppermint mocha frappacino with protein powder added. I also pack Ron's lunch, unless we are out of leftovers and then he usually buys lunch with the guys at work.
Gracie and I go down to the basement and do spelling. Last Friday she finished level 5 of All About Spelling. We are going to be taking 2 weeks off for Christmas so we are not starting the next book but taking this week to just review her words. Yep, running through all 240 words. She loves her spelling- well most days.
I come up and exercise. I have a couple channels on youtube that I use. The routine varies; mini trampoline, kettle bells, pilates, strength training and cardio. Then I shower and by the time I am dressed and ready it is lunch time. While I exercise the girls do their individual work.
Gracie is doing Rod and Staff 4th grade English. I read the lesson to her and make sure she understands. So far this year she has done division and multiplication drills for math because it was just not clicking. She has made so much progress. After Christmas we are switching her from Singapore math to Teaching Textbooks at her request. She will be doing level 3. For reading Gracie has been picking Dear America books this year. This is amazing to me. Last year was such a struggle and now she goes off and reads to herself. She is still not able to do it for long but it is progress. They all just finished the Classically Cursive books and will be doing typing only now. We use Typing Web, where they each have their own account and I can check their progress on the teacher portal. Next year we will pay and start the whole program over with the goal of improving speed and accuracy. We go to Community Bible Study on Tuesday and they each have their own class and lesson book. They have 5 days of study to do and then they go over it together in their class.
Naomi is doing Rod and Staff 6th grade English. She also has been drilling multiplication and division so far this year. Naomi will also be switching from Singapore Math tot Teaching Textbooks after the Christmas break. She will be doing level 4. She is so like me, math is a huge struggle. For reading Naomi has a list in the back of her planner to choose from. She picks on and I divide out what she must read each day. She is finishing Cheaper By The Dozen. If a book has a movie they are not allowed to see it until they have read the book. It cracks me up to listen to them watch a movie after reading the book. There is much grumbling about how bad the movie is. She is also doing Typing Web and her Community Bible Study lessons.. Naomi does Wordly Wise 3000 for spelling.
Johanna is doing a book called Jump In: Writing for Reluctant Writers. Hehehe. Can you tell by the title that writing is not her favorite thing to do? Ron and I find it amusing since she loves to read so much. She has actually been enjoying the book much better more than she expected. We switched Johanna from Singapore to Teaching Textbooks for math last year because math is not my strong suit and she needed the lecture and explanation. We could not wait for daddy to get home to explain things in the book. She is half way through Algebra 2. For reading Johanna also has a list in the back of her planner to pick from. Right now she is reading Tale Of Two Cities. She cracked me up recently by saying, "I sure can pick the most boring books from that list." She also does Typing Web, Community Bible Study lessons and Wordly Wise 3000.
Lunch time is again the girls preparing their own meals with some supervision. They love leftovers, soup, or sandwiches. While they eat they are allowed to watch one episode of a series. We watch old 80s/90s tv shows, 19 kids and counting, or Duck Dynasty. This is all the tv they watch for the most during the week. I started doing this because they needed a little bit of down time in order to be able to continue on. Today we are watching part of the live Peter Pan that I recorded for them.
After lunch we do our together work, history and science. For history we are in the third book of the Mystery of History. We love it. We have a notebook divided by continent that we have kept since book one. We do projects and maps. Sometimes I can find a video on Amazon Prime to watch that goes with our lesson. This is great for Gracie because it really makes it stick for her. We are just about to finish up the Reformation. For science we are doing the Answers in Genesis Elementary/Middle School curriculum. We are speeding through the one on plants right now. When we finish this book Johanna will use the rest of the year to speed through the other books left in the series because next year she will move on to high school level science. Since I still have 2 years before Naomi hits high school we will take the next 2 years to finish the series.
Once history and science are done everyone goes back to individual work if they have not finished. They also must do 30 minutes at least of piano practice daily. They must do at least 10 minutes of exercise before they are allowed to have computer or device time. I have let it slip but will get back to it after the Christmas break.
On Monday the big girls need to be done most of their school work by 4 so that they can walk over to St. Rita's. They meet others from the Middle School group to help serve the weekly meal to the needy. It is a high light of their week. While they do that Gracie and I come home. Gracie usually does her piano, grabs a shower, and then has some time to play on the computer before the girls and daddy get home and we have dinner. I usually prepare dinner, then check school work, and catch up quicken. If I have time I either sew or work on a class I am doing online. I just finished Essential Oils and Natural Health and started Healing Foods both are taught by Vintage Remedies.
Most Mondays after dinner I go grocery shopping all by myself. What a blessing to be able to have this bit of time to myself, well kind of. I can get it all done much faster without dragging 3 girls in and out of stores. I also do not usually come home with extra stuff and I visit far fewer bathrooms. While I am out shopping Ron is home with a list for each girl and sometimes one for himself too. Today was a tough one because Naomi had not completed all her work even though she told me she did before going to St. Rita's. So she had to complete that and redo her English because she did it all wrong.
By the time I get home Ron has the girls in bed. He helps me unload and put stuff away. Then he and I sit. Sometimes we chat or watch football or some other show. I usually surf the internet for a bit (Facebook, Pinterest, or email) or cross-stitch while we watch something. Then it is off to bed to start it all over again the next day.
We have a pretty similar schedule most days so I will not go into as much detail the rest of the week. In other words the rest of the week the entries will be much shorter. You are welcome. hehehe
No comments:
Post a Comment