School Day Sampler

Here's a glimpse at part of our school day and schedule minus lots of pictures. I would like to do a blog post on "A Day In The Life..." at some point, but this post is really just about schooling my mancubs.

8:15AM - 8:45AM: Breakfast and Bible time. We're reading through Exodus now - we recently started there because we are learning about Egypt (the ancient world) in our history class using The Story of the World materials. We are memorizing the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. Yummm...made from scratch pancakes - I've got a great recipe if you need one - and NYS maple syrup! We finished the bottle and it's a sad day other than the fact that I don't have that massive bottle clogging up my fridge space. But back to school...

9:00AM: Everyone is dressed, fed and ready to begin. I give Elijah a run down of what we need to accomplish that day and he chooses the first subject. See my lesson planner (3 ring binder) leaning against the wall behind Eli's chair. That is it's permanent home. On this day, I choose Spelling first and Luke wanted to work on his handwriting.

9:15AM: Practicing those spelling words before the test tomorrow. I like to use manipulatives with the boys to break up the monotony of always writing or using flashcards, etc. Old metal cookie sheets serve as our magnetic boards.

9:30AM: Still playing with the letters. Eli works on spelling words, Luke spells his name, Isaac throws them.

9:45AM - 10:00AM: Break, do morning chores (gathering garbage and dirty laundry), play Legos while mama sorts and starts a load of laundry.

10:00AM - 10:30AM: Elijah's first choice almost 100% of the time - Math - we're learning calendar facts, weather graphing, doubles addition, writing number sentences, more and some more stories, getting tired of counting to 100...so we skip that most days!

10:30AM - 10:40AM: Practicing our other Bible memory verses for Christian Education at church. Elijah is so blessed to have his mama and daddy as school teachers and CE teachers...at least we can say for sure what he is learning!!! We're working on Romans 3:23-24.

10:40AM - 11:00AM: Break to be wild and crazy while mama does something...probably laundry...

11:00AM - 11:30AM: Phonics lesson using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Grammar lesson using First Language Lessons.

11:30AM - 12:00AM: Mom disappears on account of the laundry monster while the mancubs ascend to the second floor to build forts in their bunk beds and pretend there is a fire everywhere but on their beds...yes, there is loud shrieking and screaming, cries for "HELP!" and warnings of "FIRE" that can be heard all the way down in the basement. I'm praying the neighbors don't hear us...

12:00PM: TV time...A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and The Mayflower Voyagers (another Charlie Brown story) have been the recent favorites.

12:45 - 1:15PM: Lunch consisting of yummy leftover pasta with basil pesto and veggies...for mama...while the mancubs plead for something "better." Okay, flour tortillas with peanut butter and raisins, peas, more raisins and milk. Sweet smiles asking to have a "picnic lunch" as we like to call it meaning that I lay a blanket on the living room floor so they can watch TV while they eat. I probably do it more than I should. More TV...A Charlie Brown Christmas. Can you tell we just bought two new movies?

1:15PM - 2:15PM: I can't remember...I'm amazed that I remember this much so far...definitely more playing and probably folding laundry now on my bed. I've found that if I fold it on my bed, it doesn't get "stuck" in laundry baskets lining the walls of my room to be picked through as needed. I can't go to sleep with piles of clothes on my bed forcing me to take care of them.

2:15PM - 4:45PM: Isaac goes for his nap

2:30PM - 3:30PM: Science, our last subject for the day loosely following Christian Kids Explore Biology. We're studying birds right now and on this day, owls. We read lots of non-fiction books borrowed from our awesome library system. The boys fill out an animal fact sheet for each animal we learn about and then draw a picture of that animal. Facts might include - Does it fly? Does it have a backbone? What does it eat? Is it endangered? These questions and idea for the fact sheet were pulled from a book I reference frequently, The Well Trained Mind. In addition to our animal study this day, we were able to include our "artist of the month" study as well. John James Audubon is well known for his life like animal drawings, especially of birds, so he was an obvious choice for this month's artist.

3:30PM: Done with school stuff for today until Daddy comes home...so the boys and I each do our own thing for a while...dinner prep, sitting around for a few minutes, checking emails, playing, etc.

7:00PM - 7:20PM: Elijah does his independent reading time with Daddy looking over his shoulder to help with harder words...and to make sure he is really reading and not just guessing the story line based on the pictures...

7:30PM: Family read aloud time...we're reading Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski. I like that I can make up a southern accent to read it, Luke just loves strawberries, Isaac pays attention when I show a picture and Elijah keeps asking why they talk that way...it's a little slow go with this one, but we press on.

11:00PM: Mama finally hits the sack knowing that tomorrow will be just as busy yet content and confident there isn't any other alternative as beneficial and rewarding for our family.

Pattern Blocks

Elijah is learning new shape names with wooden pattern blocks (trapezoid, parallelogram, hexagon). The boys love to play with these manipulatives using a pattern block activity book. The books contain everyday, well-known black and white pictures of items (toothbrush, dog, gift, candle, etc) with the outlines of each block to be used to complete the picture. Advanced pages allow you to figure out which pattern blocks to use without the outline clues.

Do you know your shapes???

Elijah creating a "free-form" design...this is really his favorite way to play.


Chaos ensues in the living room during Math on this day...and on most days!

Little Pilgrim's Progress

Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L. Taylor

We just finished reading this children's version of the classic John Bunyan allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. Taylor has simplified some of the vocabulary and ideas behind the allegory but still maintains a richness of words and imagination. Little Christian is a boy who takes a journey from his burden [of sin] to ultimate peace and rest the Celestial City with the Prince [Jesus]. He meets a variety of characters along the way, Sloth, Obstinate, Ignorance, servants of the Wicked Prince [Satan] who entice him to leave the Way of the King for an easier journey. But Little Christian also meets other pilgrims along their journey as well, Evangelist, Faithful, Hopeful, Discretion who encourage him to stay on the Way of the King.

My boys LOVED this book - soldiers, danger, battles, armor and ultimate victory. There were mornings when the first request was for reading about Little Christian and begging for "just one more chapter...please!" at bedtime. It has been an awesome avenue for talking our relationships with Jesus or the need for one. Now we sometimes refer back to "...remember when Little Christian faced...?" I cried at the end when Little Christian sees his mother in the Celestial City for the first time. He had been asking exactly when he was going to see his mother throughout the entire story and that moment was so emotional for me! (I think especially about my Grandpa Givens...)

As a note of caution, there are situations in the story where characters are beaten, harassed and one even dies because of what he believes. I used these situations to talk about how Jesus died on the cross when he didn't deserve to. But He did it because He loved us so much, He was willing to die in our place to take our sins from us. The character in the story who dies loved the Prince [Jesus] so much that he was willing to give up his life for him.

I highly recommend this book! I usually would stick with the original, unabridged versions of books, but for my boys, aged 2-5, this was perfect! Even Isaac sat for most of reading time!!! As as added bonus, the story of Christiana, Little Christian's friend from the city of Destruction, is included as part two of this book. We haven't read that one yet, but plan to in the future.

Day by Day a Week Goes Round

Day by Day a Week Goes Round by Carol Diggory Shields

I found this sweet book through my library system and love the catchy, rhyming verses for learning the days of the week. The author also has another book called Month by Month a Year Goes Round following the same format.

At the beginning of each of these books there is a poem I thought would be fun for memorization. Elijah is working on it right now and has it almost perfected. We're calling it "Day by Day" because there is no official title so we used the book name as the poem name.

"The sun comes up, the moon goes down,

By tick and tock a day goes round.

The days go dancing, one by one,

When seven pass, a week is done.

The moon is counting in the sky,

As week by week a month goes by.

Month by month the seasons swing,

Summer, autumn, winter, spring.

The moon comes up, the sun goes down,

And month by month a year goes round."

Big Brother Reads

Elijah has gotten to a point where he can sit with his brothers and read stories to them. We attempt to have independent reading time for 20 minutes everyday as well as reading picture books, supplemental school reading (mostly for history and science), and family read alouds. But I think Isaac especially loves it when Elijah reads to him.

Elijah reading "This Train" to Isaac.

Franklin stories are some of Luke's favorites.

Cuneiform Tablets

We are using The Story of the World for our History studies this year. It presents a chronological study of history in four volumes. We are really enjoying this curriculum for it's interactive nature, the way it links to our studies of people in Bible times (currently reading through Exodus), the use of supplemental reading and the great activity suggestions for each chapter. I love that we read about a topic then Elijah narrates back to me about what he remembers. Of course, I help him by asking questions to discover what he's retained. Then we (I write for now) write a few sentences about the important facts of our study for that day. Elijah usually draws a picture depicting the narration we've just written. Currently, we are learning about the Egyptians and Sumerians and their discoveries of the first forms of writing, hieroglyphics and cuneiform. One of the suggested activities was to make our own cuneiform tablets.

Daddy helping Elijah in forming his name and initials on his clay tablet.

The top row spells "ELIJAH" and the bottom row spell "EMF."

Luke usually participates in all our history studies and was very excited to make his tablet...though I ended up creating his name and initials for him.

The top row spells "LUKE" and the bottom row spells "LDF."

In case you've ever wondered what Isaac does when I am teaching...he loves to join in at times and I highly encourage it! Often he plays with blocks, puzzles or cars on the floor nearby or colors pictures or scrounges in the cabinets for something to eat...Today though, he definitely wanted to join in on the fun. He loves playdough and daddy's screwdrivers.

It looks like a cookie...sort of!

RPO OrKidstra Concert

Elijah, Luke and I went to an OrKidstra concert performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra this past Sunday. This series of concerts is geared for ages 3-9. It was phenomenal!

Prior to the concert there was an activity time where we were able to participate in several workshops...creating our own composition then having the RPO pianist play it for us, violin and cello petting zoo where Eli got to play "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with the help of a Hochstein music student and circle time playing with small percussion instruments, parachutes and scarves. Much to my boys dismay and at the same time pleasure that I didn't make them participate, there was also a ballet class...they peeked in the door and immediately asked to go to another activity. Too many tu-tus!

Once the concert started, the conductor was so adept at explaining the various styles of music, engaging the children in question and answers, and making it fun! It was an interactive, noisy, relaxed, superb concert. We arrived early enough to secure front row center balcony seats for the best view. I loved seeing Elijah and Luke leaning at the edge of the wall caught up in the music. The best part was Eli pretending to be and mimicing the conductor. Arms flailing with crisp, although late cut-offs.


The music selections were from Copeland, Pachelbel, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Piazolla and Bartok. My favorites were from Aaron Copeland, while the boys both loved the Stravinsky because "it was loud and sounded like a lion!"
We will definitely attend the remaining three concerts!