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.