Friday, January 30, 2009

A homeschooling day 1/29/09

Morning:
I woke up around 7:00 and Sophie woke up at the same time. She brought her pillow and blanket into the living room and asked me to snuggle and read to her, so we read her bible books together.  Afterwards I got on the computer for a few minutes and looked at a couple blogs, then I went upstairs to wake the boys. They stay up so late talking and reading that it's hard to wake them in the mornings. I made fried eggs and toast for breakfast to encourage them get up.

After breakfast, Sophie and Christian watched "Sid the Science Kid" on PBS while I took and shower and got ready for the day. The older boys did their morning routine, cleaned up the kitchen and fed the animals. Then I helped Sophie and Christian do their morning routine, including baths. I spent a few minutes talking with Christian and watching him play with the remote controlled submarine he got for Christmas before he got into the tub.

Next, Isaiah and I took turns reading aloud from A Cricket in Times Square. Christian sat between us, and Sophie sat on my lap. I braided her hair while Isaiah was reading. I think that's only the second time I've done that, and I was happy that she let me. She has never liked me playing with her hair. After reading, Christian got on the computer and played a few educational games like Math Blaster. Isaiah wrote a summary of the Chapter we read, and then completed a page in Easy Grammar Plus. He also corrected the page he did yesterday.

During this time my, high school students worked independently. Charles took a Biology test, completed an Algebra 1 lesson, then got on the computer for geography. Andrew worked all morning on his senior project, actually he worked all day on it because in the evening he had a meeting with the school board to see how his project and research was coming along.

Afternoon:


I planned to make homemade pizza for lunch but the time got away from me, and it was 12:30 before I started the dough. Sophie helped me and we talked while we mixed the dough, she especially had fun with the kneading. While the dough was rising, the boys played outside in the snow. Sophie played with her dolls and I took that time to read A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, my all time favorite book on homeschooling. It's my 3rd time reading though it, the first time was back in 2000.

After everyone ate lunch, Sophie took a nap. That doesn't happen very often anymore, so it was a blessing. Charles did Spanish, history, and English. Isaiah did math and cursive writing. Yes, he is doing cursive in 7th grade, and his writing is finally looking nice. I helped Christian with math, but lately, it's been difficult getting him to sit down and work. After getting a little frustrated that he wouldn't focus, ( I tried not to show it to him) I gave him a break. He's been extremely hyper and has had a hard time focusing lately. I think much of it has to do with some of the foods he eats. We are going to be starting the feingold diet with him next month.

I realized that I had hardly prayed all day, so I spent some time in prayer. I prayed for more patience, I also prayed for my husband, who hasn't been feeling well. Then I sorted and folded laundry. I also cleaned up the kitchen that had pretty much been left a wreck after lunch. Andrew needed my help getting his Senior Project binder ready for the meeting, he had gotten a call asking if he could come an hour earlier. So plans for dinner changed, and I just had everyone help themselves to what they wanted to eat.

Evening:
While I went with Andrew to meet with the school board, my husband stayed home with the other kids. They seemed very impressed with what Andrew has accomplished so far, and gave him some good input and advice for the second half of the project. After the meeting, Andrew and I made a quick stop at the grocery store. The older boys played video games and Christian and Sophie played hide and seek and Charades. Then the kids went to bed and I looked over the Beyond Five in a Row curriculum. I'm deciding what book we are going to use for our next unit study. That was our day!

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like a productive day!! Do you know which book you are rowing next? I need to order a couple of books our library doesn't have.

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  2. Wow! I loved reading this! :)Sounds like a good day. :)

    We recently went 2 weeks with a very strict no dairy diet (not only the obvious ones, but all the hidden ingredients like lactylate too). We saw no behavior differences in anybody in our house, but one family member did have some pleasant digestive effects. I'll leave it at that. ;)

    Even though we didn't see any of the differences we were looking for I was very glad we tried it. I've read about the Feingold, but haven't worked up the nerve to do it.... big commitment.... good luck!

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  3. I really enjoyed reading about your day. :) And thanks for the link about Feingold, very interesting stuff.

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  4. We are currently reading "The Saturdays".

    We have used a time line on and off through the years but also never stuck with it. I think in theory time lines are GREAT, but I can never translate the theory to an actual timeline.

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  5. I like these blow by blow posts of a homeschool day. I never tire of them. I have sensed that my readers on my blog do tire of them though so I try not to do it too often. Only about half of my readers are homeschoolers. But for those of us that do homeschool we could read these posts all day! LOl

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  6. I've never heard of that diet but I can't wait to hear how it goes for you. My gang loves Sid the Science Kid too. He's so cute. I loved reading about your day. I'm going to have to post something like this when I get the time. It's been hectic around here lately.

    Have a blessed weekend!

    Oh, I enjoyed your oldest son's post on HOTM and so did my oldest. Very good!

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  7. sounds like it was a productive day! :)

    It will be interesting to hear if doing the Feingold diet produces any difference. :)

    Thanks for stopping by! I was wondering who "Andrew" was that posted on my blog! LOL!!

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