A Homeschooling Day

My friends and I have begun talking about a typical day in our homeschooling life.  I detailed one out to my pals, and it was such a fun exercise that I thought I would write about one on my blog.  Yesterday is more fun to write about than today, so here is yesterday.  (Boy, the cows are mooing loudly tonight...I wonder why)

1.  Wake between 7:30-8:15.  Breakfast is oatmeal.  They eat it, although they want pancakes tomorrow.  We light the candle on the table and blow it out at the end of our meal (something we recently began, thanks to the book I just finished "Simiplicity Parenting"--more on that later).  There is some fighting over who will blow out the candle.  We have to work through that some more.  I didn't walk this morning...had trouble getting out of bed.

2.  Clara marked off the day on her calendar, noticed that today is Hannakuh (spelling...I should know how to spell that).  She told me she wanted to research Hannakuh sometime today.  There was also counting of days until Christmas. 

3.  I don't do dishes this morning after breakfast but fold laundry quickly and give the kids each their pile.  Then we read.  (Simon has already decided that he doesn't want to go to Day Camp today and maybe not until Spring.) Todd has left for work.

4.  We read "The Turnip, " (for Clara) "When the Sun Rose," (for Ruthie) and about Cheetahs (for Simon).  This took us more than an hour.  There ended up being A LOT of discussion about Cheetahs (virtually everything about them) and the moral of "The Turnip."  Clara reads a little to us out of one of her books.  Then the children go off to play their new running game, and I went outside to open up the coop and take out the compost finally.  Ruthie is wearing underpants today, and I also get her set up and ready for the day in her underpants.

5.  We have a late morning snack of vegetables made into a smiley face.  The kids are really into their running game, so I make a vegetable soup for lunch.  The kids think it is delicious, but then it is just Simon who thinks so.  They decide to have 1/2 sandwich and rice cakes with it at the end. We sing some Christmas carols together, and then I put on some Christmas music. By this time it is past 1:00.  Clara spends some time telling us the time occasionally as she is excited that she is mastering this.

6.  The kids want to look at flags on our maps and are excited to pick out the ones that they know.  Then they decide they want me to name a country and give them clues as to where the flag is.  We do this for quite a while, and they enjoy the similarities between some of the flags (UK flag is on a lot of other flags, one is all green, Japan just has a dot, etc.)

7.  I spend some time on the phone today, which is unusual.  The kids are really engaged in their play (dollhouse and that running game--their clothes are now mostly off even though it is 60 degrees in our house.)  This is a big cooking day today, so I also prepare supper at this time.  Ruthie helps me cut up vegetables.  Actually I cut today, and she puts the vegetables in the dish.  We are having salmon, beet/winter squash salad, and sweet potato fries tonight. 

8.  We decide it is time to research Hannakuh, so we find a comfy seat on the couch and look it up on the internet since we don't have a book on it today.  We read about it, discuss it and the Jewish tradition in general.  Then we find the Dreidal song and watch people singing it on YouTube.  Then we sing it ourselves for a while.  We are still doing this when friends come to the door.  No nap today for Ruthie

9.  It is now time for Gymnastics, so I take a quick shower (finally), remind the kids to get dressed, prepare a small snack, grab out play-doh and we head out the door at 3:40 for Livingston (after shutting the coop because it will be dark when we return).  We sing Christmas carols in the car.

10.  Gymnastics was fun today.  Clara was excited to be accomplishing new skills, and she just always has fun in social settings.  Simon, Ruthie, and I had fun watching, making new friends, playing foozball (again--spelling!), and playing with play-doh.  We leave at 5:20 for home.  We sing more Christmas carols in the car.

11.  We drop off Clara's buddy at her house and spend some time in their chicken coop and chatting before arriving home at about 5:45.  I throw the fish in the oven (everything else is already cooked, but I heat it up too).  Todd is working late tonight, so we eat without him.  We light the candle, and all the kids have now decided to blow it out together at the end of the meal.  This actually works, and everyone is satisfied.

12.    We decide to do what each kid wants to do now.  Simon begins making collage cards (he has a big bird, big cat, chicken theme).  While he is doing this, Clara asks me to work on a code for her to crack.  So, while I am making simple symbols to correspond with letters for a sentence I have developed, she begins making a code for me to crack (MUCH more elaborate than mine, I might add).  She cracks my code, and I crack hers.  It was about Hannakuh, and she tells me that she was the only kid who knew today's holiday at Gymnastics today.  Simon is really into his collage, and Ruthie is "making her own."  I think Ruthie played in the bath as well. 

13.  It is now 8:15, and I'm encouraging the kids to wrap up so we can move towards bedtime.  We had decided we would read before bed.  Todd is now home.  The kids are excited and show him their codes, collages, and ask him to quiz them on the flags.  He is overwhelmed but excited that everyone is so content and harmonious.  He reads to the kids after they get ready for bed.  I finally begin washing dishes.  They read until about 9:00 and then the younger 2 go to bed after willingly packing their backpacks for our Madison roadtrip tomorrow.  Clara still wants me to read to her, so I read a little to her and she reads a little to me.  She ends up going to sleep after she informs me that she picks a time on her clock in which she will fall asleep.  Then she tucks her clock into her sleeping bag with  her, reminding me to make a new code for her tomorrow.

14.  Now that it is 9:45, it is time to work on a Christmas project and talk with Todd.  We end up going to bed at 11:45 tonight, which is late for us. I am again mesmerized by how dark it is outside with the new moon as I slide into bed and can't see any light at all around me

That was our day yesterday.  There is no real typical day for us, but this was yesterday--a harmonious Wednesday which left a smile on my face as I lay my head on my pillow because not everyday goes like this.