Day in the (Homeschool) Life

We've got 2 full weeks of homeschooling under out belt and it's going pretty well! We are having some issues here and there, but they are more heart issues than academic/curriculum issues. I feel like we've got a pretty good routine going, and next week I actually plan on adding in a little bit more to our day because I feel like we can do that.

I began my Thursday with some God....and jungle animals.

Lucas requested to be woken up at 6am to make muffins. I woke him up at 7.

A really weird selfie.

Andrew is obsessed with this old tricycle, and somehow it always ends up in the kitchen.

While the kids are eating, getting dressed, and running around, I try to get a few minutes of work and emails done.

And I take a quick look at my school planner. I usually fill in a few things in pencil for the day, but then go back and fill it all in at the end of the day. Kind of a reverse planning method.

I try to get the kitchen mess under control before we begin school.

I take Ryan and Lucas into the backyard to read about Paul in our Child's Story Bible. (still love it!) We started the New Testament at the beginning of the year, and we have just 1 story left!(Ryan was sanding a hotwheel car while he listened)

Back inside I got Jenna set up with her Explode the Code and Handwriting books.

And I sat down to do Language Arts with Lucas.

My Dad comes over very morning to do math with the boys. First up was Ryan.

Lucas took a little break to play with the train set.

And then came back down to do a piano lesson. He really seems to be enjoying it!

I got started figuring out science for the day. Our next science lesson looked like a long one and I just wasn't feeling it, so I decided to press pause on our formal lesson and use our Usborne books to learn more about coral reefs.

Lucas finished piano and flopped on my bed to do some independent reading. He is currently enjoying this book.

Jenna began her phonics lesson.

And Andrew glued cotton balls onto paper. For about 5 seconds.

Jenna attempted a piano lesson. (We're using Hoffman Academy)

Ryan finished math and was famished, so he decided macaroni and cheese was the perfect snack at 10:30am. (He never eats breakfast)

While Lucas did math, Ryan and I sat down to do Language Arts....and this was his face. Actually, this  is often his face. I could use some prayer for my oldest.

After we finished, I had Ryan help Jenna with her math lesson.

While he ate, Ryan helped Andrew with an ocean search-and-find.

Lucas finished math.

The kids took a break and started watching Finding Nemo, so I sat down and ordered printer ink. I don't like letting the kids watch any sort of TV during our school day, but I'm finding it hard when we're all ready for a break, and that's the only thing they want to do. I need to get better about enforcing no TV until after school.

I got a fun surprise in the mail from Usborne!

I attempted to put Andrew down for a nap but it was a big fail. So we started on science. We read about Paul Klee and his Golden Fish painting.

We read about what type of fish live near coral reefs, and then got to work drawing and coloring our ocean scenes with crayons, and then painting over them with watercolor paints. (We were replicating Paul Klee's methods of using both oil and watercolor paints)

After art/science, Andrew filled up the wading pool.

And the big kids finished watching Nemo.

This girl and I sat down to do some reading together. She read her very first little book to me yesterday!

Around 2:30 the girl cousins arrived to play in the backyard. Look at Andrew surrounded by girls!

While the kids played, I did exciting things like laundry, dishes, house pick-up, blogging, and breaking up fights. Around 4:30 I started making an early dinner (tacos) for Adam and the kids. At 5:30 I took the girls home and headed to my good friend's house for dinner and a lovely chat by her pool. She served us taco salad, sangria, fruit enchiladas and fried ice cream!

It was just what this Mama needed after 6 months of being at home with very limited friend interaction. Dinner was absolutely delicious, but now I need to get back on track because Adam and I are part of an August weight-loss challenge!

4 Kids Right Now

 RYAN - 10 yrs, 4 months

Ryan right now is obsessed with electronics. And I don't just mean video games (there is that, though). Sometimes when he is bored he will walk around the house and search through closets, looking for old electronics. Things like my old camera, and most recently, a really old GPS in our car. I thought is was dead, but he somehow brought it back to life and now he enters in every address and gives me directions when we're driving. Ryan's other new skill is making homemade donuts using our mini donut maker. Reading the recipe is good practice with fractions, and it makes him happy and gets him to eat, so it's a win-win!

LUCAS - 8 yrs, 3 months

Lucas recently switched bedrooms with Ryan, so he now has the downstairs bedroom all to himself. He has done a fantastic job keeping it clean, and I will sometimes find him in there cleaning it without being asked! He is definitely one of my most organized kids. Also, when I asked him last week what his favorite thing was about homeschool so far, his answer melted my heart. "My teacher!"

JENNA - 5 yrs, 9 months

Ever since Jenna found out I still have my American Girl doll from my childhood, she asks me almost daily when she can have her. I plan on giving her Felicity for her 6th birthday, but don't tell her that! She's going to be SO excited. Something else she was happy about was her first year of soccer...until it got cancelled for her age group. So she asked if she could invite her girl cousins along to the boys' practices, bring her pink shin guards and pink ball, and form her own little girl soccer team on the sidelines. How could I say no?

ANDREW - 3 yrs, 6 months

Andrew is the funniest little guy. He says the weirdest/most hilarious things. Lately he has been telling me his body parts are exhausting. Like Mommy, my legs are exhausting! I tell him Andrew, you're exhausting! He is also a very expressive singer. He sings rock songs at the top of his lungs and does some pretty awesome air guitar playing at the same time. Future musician? Actor? Professional Trouble Maker?

First Day of Homeschool 2020/2021

Well, the big day has finally arrived!! Homeschool 2020/2021

SO much thought, prayer, planning, and research has gone into this. I woke up at 6am, a little nervous and a little excited. I took one last picture of our beautiful school room before it was destroyed.

I wanted to have a chance to get some things done before school dominated our morning. (School begins at 9am sharp here). Things like making Adam's breakfast and saying goodbye, laundry, dishes, getting myself ready, making beds, breakfast, watering plants, baking, and definitely getting some Bible time in. I needed to fill myself up with encouragement for the day.

I'm realizing Andrew will need his own "preschool" area. He makes SUCH a mess, and I know this will only frustrate the older kids. I am looking in to getting him a little desk or table for this corner.

In the meantime, I've bought him some fun things to distract him....like window markers!

Jenna and Lucas both woke up excited for the first day of school! Lucas bounded out of his room all dressed, and told me he had made his bed and cleaned his room. I caught this sweet moment of him brushing his sister's hair to get her ready for school pictures.

Andrew was a little confused. He kept talking about going to his "flower school", which is the 3's class at church. We keep reminding him that we can't go there right now, so preschool is at home. I absolutely can't believe he is a few months older than his brothers when they began preschool. He seems so.......NOT ready. Ha!

Jenna was super excited to begin Kindergarten!

Lucas was ready to rock 3rd grade!

And Ryan was.....okay. School just isn't his favorite. Not even close. But he put on a smile and seemed okay.

The kids had the brilliant idea of pulling in one of our end tables for Andrew. Voila....his preschool corner! We gave him some toys, paper, crayons and kid scissors. And hoped for the best.

We began our morning with a little devotional, and then got out our language arts books. Here is how I did it. I began with Ryan, and gave him my full attention for Language Arts. Meanwhile, Lucas and Jenna worked in their handwriting books independently. Then I switched to Language Arts with Lucas, and Ryan and Jenna did handwriting. Finally, I did phonics with Jenna and the big boys did handwriting. Once our typing program arrives I will alternate handwriting with typing, since both can be done without my help.

We took a break for some homemade banana bread and sunshine.

After our break we started in on Math. To be honest, it wasn't great. Jenna's was fine....basic counting and learning numbers. Lucas got frustrated but ended up doing fine. He got through half a lesson. Ryan gave up about 1 minute in. With him, I chose to give him an evaluation to make sure he was ready for Level 5 Horizons Math. He didn't understand the very first question, and that spiralled him down into a big funk. I got him through about half the assessment, but he made it very clear it was dumb, terrible, awful, useless, stupid, etc. I'm thinking we'll begin with the Level 4 review tomorrow and see how that goes. I'm a little confused because Math has always been Ryan's strongest subject. But, everything about this is totally new. So we'll take things slow. Meanwhile, things at Andrew's desk started getting really messy.

I let all the kids play with play-doh while I got ready for science. We will be alternating between science and history every day. Today we began with Marine Biology Lesson 1.

We learned about the oceans and currents, and did a fun little experiment with blue ice cubes. Lucas and Jenna were super into it, and proudly worked on their science binder assignments. Ryan.....not so much. By this point Andrew had somehow found paint and started painting his playdoh. He made an enormous mess, and I'm thinking he needs a tarp under his little desk!

By this time it was noon. I fixed lunch and we settled down for some reading. Most days I will have the boys do independent reading. Today, I had them pick out their first books and they will begin them tomorrow. I chose to continue with our current read-aloud so that they could eat and just relax and listen. We are reading this fun book. By 12:45 we were done with our first homeschool day.

And now I'm letting them watch some TV.....because honestly, it's a million degrees outside and there's nothing else to do. I need to figure out what our afternoons will look like. I don't want to just let them sit in front of screens, but without any sort of extracurricular activities, our options are limited. What do your kids do in the afternoon after homeschool or distance learning?