A Day in the Life

Liana asked me the other day if I would teach her how to write in Curtsy. When I was telling my dad about that later, she indignantly piped up, "Mama, I meant CURTSIES writing!" oh, ok. I have no doubt that she will have curtsy writing very soon. ;O)

Our computer recently C-R-A-S-H-E-D. Good thing my hubby is a computer guru (I didn't use the word "geek," but just between me and you...) ;o) He salvaged my pictures and documents after a few days of staying up Way Late and trying to find them and extract them, or whatever he had to do to get them. I was *very* distraught at the thought of losing my digital pics and videos from the last year. I didn't cry too hard, but you know, that's just a horrible feeling. I had many, many pics burned onto disks, but my videos weren't, and it made me rather Ill.

So, after he found them and saved them, I sat and watched video after video of the last year. I noticed that I had taken individual videos of the kids a year ago this week, and so this week, it is my mission to take videos of the kids talking about the same subjects "a year later." It's amazing to see/hear how far the kids have come in a year. I cried more than a few times listening to how much their accents have faded (Leksa no longer says things are blue-tiful *waaa*)

School has been going smoothe as silk now that the holidays are well behind us. Our morning routines have been going off without a hitch, and it really sets the tone for the rest of the day. I wake up before the kids, and if I wake them up myself, they "remember" their routine lots better than if I let them sleep til they're done. They wake up wild - completly reveling in their "freedom" otherwise. Not cool. They almost inevitably wind up in trouble over something or other... Playing too rough and hurting someone, etc. They are still at the point where they need structure and routine *badly.* I get up at 6:30, either shower then, or sometimes I shower before bedtime at night, then I have my morning quiet time/tea/computer time. John gets up at 7:00, takes his shower, gets ready, and before he leaves for work, I make his lunch. I wake the kids up either right as John leaves, or a few minutes before. Adam takes his shower, gets dressed, makes his bed, etc., while the girls get dressed and make their beds. (It takes the girls as long to get dressed and make their beds as it does for Adam to shower PLUS do all of that. They're putzers and often need reminding of what they're doing. (They're getting better, however). While everyone is getting ready, I make my own bed and get dressed, plus set the breakfast table, and then sneak in as much more computer time as I can before everyone is ready to go. About every other day, I use this time to go on a house-cleaning kick. Bathroom germies are freaky to me, so I usually clean the kids' bathroom every other day at least. Since cold/flu season have hit, we've been Lysoling the door knobs, etc. too. The kids also straighten their rooms up after they are dressed. (Those are usually just fine from the previous day's pick-up). Then breakfast. We're usually done by 9:00 or 9:30, and then start in on school.

We have school time divided into two parts. Half is the seat work, which is their language, math, handwriting workbooks, "thinking skills" books, oral reading, plus a log they keep for their Patch Club. Then the "Book Time" is our our read-alouds, science, history, lit/poetry books, etc. During their seat-work time, I like to haul out the sewing machine (when it is working!), or baking/cooking up something, or do some more cleaning or computing.

This week we've been having lots of fun reading Greek history (I confess, I'm as much as a geek as my hubby; just in different areas!) I love history/lit - we've read about the Trojan War this week, and the kids have been at the edge of their seats hearing about the soldiers hiding inside the wooden horse, and wondering if they would be able to steal Menalaus' wife back away from Paris. Yesterday we read about the Cyclops and how Odysseus got away from him. It has been fun to have the kids tell John what they learned each day.

In science this week, we've read about the difference between rockets and space shuttles, and how astronauts work in space. Fun talks about floating food as they try to eat, etc. We've also been learning about things under the sea. Today we talked about how people drill for oil under the sea. Yesterday it was about how trains can go under water in tunnels, like the train between England and France under the English Channel. Tomorrow (and every other Friday after this), Grandpa Fisher is coming to do some experiments with the kids. I and another lady from church have lassoed him into doing this for me so I don't have to think about it each week. The kids are going to love it. (Grandpa taught math and science for years and years before changing jobs).

Let's see, what else... Lunch is in there too. We usually eat it late (like 1:00 some days). We're usually all done with school by 2:30. We also have been sneaking in a 10 minute exercise routine too. We all do jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, marching, "the bicycle," etc. It's a fun time of giggling, huffing and puffing. Plus, it is a more structured time of getting the wiggles out.

Oh, I should add some of the things that help our morning go more smoothly. I try to fill the kitchen sink with hot water/soap and then when we are all done with our dishes for breakfast/lunch, we each wash our own dish. We always use paper plates for lunch. Adam sweeps after lunch, the kids alternate who wipes the table after meals, and I usually sweep before breakfast (I'm a floor-crumb phobic, but you'd never know it from looking at my floor!)

After school, we quick straighten the house again and vacuum. While the two older kids are doing all their seatwork, Leks has been playing, and usually tornado-izing her room. That gets picked up before she can play outside. Sometimes we do a little "quiet time" where they sit in their rooms with a book for 20 minutes or so, but lately that has only been on terribly wiggly and screamy days. I start supper at 4:00, or at least look to make sure I'll be done with it by the time John comes home. Sometimes I have to start earlier. I do menus for a month at a time, so there isn't any mad-scramble to figure out what is in the cupboards/freezer. Makes my life lots easier, and takes the sting out of the whole "supper-time" thing. The girls often like to help making supper, but if the weather permits, everyone likes to play outside.

John comes home by 5:30-5:45. That's the loudest time fo the day, because John walks in the door playing and wresting each of the kiddos. Lots of giggles and screaming while I cook supper. At supper, Leksa's job is to get vitamins and "fish pills" for everyone. Liana gets the napkins (I always forget those). The kids and I take turns doing dishes while John unwinds after work. I sweep the floor again, and make sure I'll feel good about waking up to "this kitchen" in the morning. (I hate waking up to a messy kitchen/livingroom). Then, bathtime for the girls, more play time with Papa, (sometimes a video), then we have a family devotion time, then the kids go to bed by 8:30 - 8:45.

We try to stick to that routine as much as possible, but once a week we go to my Dad's house in the morning to visit. I also make him/us breakfast, so I know dear old Dad is getting a hot breakfast at least once a week. Otherwise, it's the same old Rice Krispies with peaches every day for him. These are also the days that if we need to shop for him/us, go to the bank, do any other errands, etc., we can do them too. We're home by lunch, and then we just do our school in the afternoons instead of mornings/early afternoons. The days we do our "Cooking Day" at Dad's, we have distributed that days' school work through the other days that week, so we don't get behind. We only do that once every 5-6 weeks, so it's no big deal. Saturdays are our Library Days, because John likes to get a book for himself also. We also check out a video or two to watch during the week. We hardly ever just turn the tv to veg... There is way too much to do to make the Routine work, plus, it is a giant brain-drain on everyone. The kids love to watch videos, but it is just as good to play "pretend" games with each other building forts with blankets, playing in Adam's tent, or burning off some energy outside.

Not sure why I wanted to post our routine on here, but I guess I just thought maybe it would be helpful to someone, somehow, and to show how cool homeschooling can be; what great stuff you can learn right along with your kiddos, and how that structure/routine "looks" during a day in the life of a homeschool family. All the while, all our heartstrings are tightened around each other, and we have all learned to be responsible, diligent, trusting, loving, and to have all kinds of fun in the process. Someone asked me recently what I do for fun. I told her my life was my fun. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else in the wide world!