the really long one about homeschooling

i'm sure i'm still in the honeymoon stage of this.  and, don't get me wrong, there are maddening moments,  but for the most part i'm completely thrilled with this lifestyle we're embracing.  i mean, i've had several *pinch myself* moments over the past few weeks. i'm really doing this?  we're really all at home for most days? we're really playing and learning and reading all together?

i'm laying out our schedule and our curriculum in this post.  if you end up reading this whole thing, you'll know why i desperately need to remember this...



we have "card days" on monday and wednesday.   the girls have a set of cards they have to get through in order for their school day to be over.  i laminated them and hole punched them and they hang from hooks off of the desk in their room.  when they finish what's on a card, they take it off and put it in their finished cup.



(this is my version of workboxes.  i loved the idea of the kids knowing what they needed to get done and having a way to track how much school was left, but i read lots of "we hate preparing the workboxes all of the time" complaints, so i tried to get the benefit without the hassle. so far it's working great.)  

avery's are as follows:

1. jammies off and put away, get dressed, brush teeth and hair
2. breakfast and couch time.  we're reading the Jesus SB Bible, What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know,  Critical Thinking riddles (the girls LOVE these, so fun! avery always wants to do "one more page"),  this little question/answer book about God,  and this kindergarten poem book.    couch time is such a great way to get our school day started.

my sun bathed little reader
3. This card is for calendar, handwriting and it also has a question mark so that i can insert whatever i want here.  for now, she's making a new calendar each month on a dry erase board and she helps me add stuff, like "awana" or "soccer practice".  we talk about what we did yesterday and what we'll do tomorrow.   then we hang her calendar back up on the wall and she works in this handwriting book.  she's like a handful of pages away from being done with it. and then will start on this.  the question mark stand for this book we're finishing up.

oh look! ian's playing with trains while we are doing school 

4. Math.  oh my do we love right start.  the girls love when they see their math card.  and it's fun to watch aves learn the abacus and do addition with no counting.  
5. RECESS

making her geography book as we make our way through LENTIL for five in a row.  the book takes place in alto, ohio. 

6. CHORES  some of their chores this past month: clean bathroom floors, dust the low furniture in their room and the play room, empty trash cans, vacuum ...
7. Teach Ian shapes and colors.  this last for all of 10 minutes and then we ALL want to put him down for his nap.
8. All about Spelling

did you know that the illustrations in LENTlL were all done with charcoal?  i found some charcoal pencils at walmart and avery and i had a ball sketching with them. 
9. Couch Time again.  we read in their awana books and memorize their verses and then work on our FIAR book.    most of these pictures are from our work with Five in a Row.  we are focusing on one book for two weeks and doing 5 or 6 activities based on that one book.  i can't say enough about it. such a fun way to learn.

there are a lot of american flags in Lentil, we made american flags with charcoal and colored pencils. 

10.  Reading lesson after ash is napping.  we're finishing 100 easy lessons and working on readers that her teacher sends home from RMCA.

avery made all of the buildings that are mentioned in the book Lentil and made signs for each of them. 




















ian usually wakes up while aves and i are finishing up her reading, it's between 3:30 and 4:00 by this time.  i give them both a snack, put on a movie and take a deep breath. :)



there's a character in Lentil who tries to ruin a party with lemons.  we tried them and talked about our taste buds, cut them up to talk about fractions, and then made lemonade.




we drank our homemade lemonade outside to watch the new roof being put on our neighbors house. 


tuesdays are way more laid back.  we do some sort of art or science project that relates to our fiar book and go to the library.  and all three nap at the same time on this day. yay!




old man sneep from lentil was a wood carver.  we tried our hand at carving soap.  i was totally into it. :)




avery goes to school all day on thursdays (she does a little language arts, has a music class, an art class, p.e. and does some science.  she has teachers, a classroom, and friends....all of the awesome things about school that i wanted her to be able to experience) and ash and ian go to grandmas.  i honestly don't know how i would be able to homeschool without this day.  i grocery shop, i clean my house, i meet with ellen and laura...thursdays are vitally important.

and fridays are for quickly doing a math, reading and spelling lesson so we can go do something fun.


it's crazy.
but i love it.