Morning routine (begins around 10am)
Table time with workbooks- math, penmanship, etc
Abby- Independent reading time
Boys- Reading lessons
Kitty- running amok
Lunch (about 12)
Afternoon routine (when Kitty lays down for a nap, usually 1pm)
Literature read aloud
Bible memory
Greek/Latin
Unit study
This routine has been working so well for us. I set a goal this school year to try to limit the time that the kids are holding a pencil to just 30 minutes per day (Abby is more like 45 minutes). This might make me sound like a slacker, but the longer the kids are using a pencil, the sloppier their work becomes. They do their best work at the beginning of the day when their minds are fresh. So, with our current routine, nobody picks up a pencil after lunch. They are thrilled! We have been finishing all of our assignments for the day in about 3.5-4 hours (not including lunch and frisbee/trampoline breaks).
I recently picked up a Popsicle mold on clearance for .25 cents. The kids think they are being rewarded with frozen orange juice every afternoon, but really I just let them have it so their mouthes are busy licking instead of talking while I read to them. Am I being mean or nice? I can't decide.
Literature is my favorite part of the day. We are currently reading "The trumpet of the swan", and all of us are enjoying it. The back cover says it's geared for kids 8-12 years old, so I was worried that it wouldn't hold Jonas' attention (he's just 4 years old). Instead, I have been amazed at how much he has learned and how much he remembers about the story! I heard him telling my mom all about it the other day, he said: "...and the boy, Sam Beaver, was sitting on a log and got to watch all of the eggs hatch. All of the cygnets were able to say 'beep' except for Louis!". (Confession: I had no idea that a baby swan was called a cygnet until last week)
The Bible memory we are currently learning is Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
...teach them diligently. What a responsibility!
I had planned to describe how we do unit studies this week, but we are still in the middle of our Lewis & Clark unit study right now! So, I will save that for next week. TGIF!
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