A Day in the Homeschooling Life....

Inspired by Crissy, I decided to give you a day in the life of our school. If this day were a normal Tuesday it would start with me at the gym at 6:00 AM. However, I’m sick, the kids spent the night at Grandma’s last night, and so I was treated to a morning of sleeping in!

7:30-I awake feeling like my head might explode if I’m not careful. I take drugs and coffee (not necessarily in that order) and get some reading time. What a morning treat! When I went downstairs I found a heart balloon and a card from my sweet husband.

8:30-My head feels a little better and Grandma drops the kids off. There is a tearful goodbye because Kailyn (Annsley’s best friend and cousin) has been visiting from CA and is returning home this morning.

8:35-I tell the kids we are going to be working hard today, so if they plan on doing any crying, whining, or making especially loud noises, it should be done in the next five minutes. I give them a Valentine’s treat and hugs all around. I can tell they both had extra maple syrup on their pancakes this morning and that the sugar has just kicked in. It may be a long day!

8:45-Teeth are brushed, another cup of coffee is poured and we head to the school room. I put on the Memory CD and grab the laundry to be folded. I frantically page through my copy of Well Trained Mind trying to find the section on children pushing each other, wrestling, and giggling furiously while saying their memory work. Surprisingly, I can’t find it in there. They continue regardless.

9:30-Children start to work at their desks. It is surprisingly quiet for 15 minutes. There are only 4 socks that have no match.

9:45-Annsley reminds Seth that it is her week (we alternate weeks for who gets to make any and all kid-related decisions like who gets to choose the movie, who gets to do something first, etc.) and so she gets to choose who does Rosetta first. She chooses to practice piano and Seth starts Rosetta Stone. I remind Seth not to lean back in his chair. Seth makes noises and talks his way through his Rosetta Lesson. I remind Seth not to lean back in his chair. I sit on my chair between the kids alternately cheering them on, answering questions, typing on my laptop and blowing my nose. When the kids are doing school, I am usually in here with them finding something to work on while they are working.

10:00-Annsley finishes piano and kicks Seth off the computer so she can do Rosetta and a slight scuffle ensues. I help Seth with his new song on the piano. I correct yesterday’s math assignments. Seth has to tell to me for the 1000th time which line he likes best in his piano song. I agree (for the 1000th time) that it is a cool sounding line.

10:15-I put the laundry baskets in the rooms where they belong. The kids make fun of me because I put Seth’s laundry in Annsley’s basket and vice-versa. I get the last laugh when I tell them they still have to put it away! Seth insists that I watch him as he unscrambles the word "branches" for his spelling. He has a strong need to process everything (and I mean everything) orally. I check email and Seth shows me how he used to make his letter A and how he makes it now. Seth starts his math corrections. He did yesterday’s math today so he is ahead. He starts tomorrow’s math. I teach him how to do division with a double digit divisor. He has such an amazing mathematical mind. He just gets it so intuitively.

10:40-Seth goes back to Rosetta and I remind him not to lean back in the chair. Annsley starts on her spelling and math. Seth runs to get his blanky which always seems to help him on Rosetta. (I love that his blanky still has those magic powers!) I remind Seth not to lean backwards in his chair. Annsley flashes me the I Love You sign in sign language. I have Seth put his hand over his mouth while he finishes Rosetta to remind him that he doesn’t need to make noise ALL THE TIME! I send an email to Danny telling him I love him. Seth falls backwards in his chair! Sigh!!

11:11-We stop and pray for the soldiers in Iraq. This started a couple years ago when a good friend in the reserves got called to active duty. He had told us that he had begun to notice the numbers 11-11 a lot and that was the day he was called up. So, after that whenever I saw a clock saying 11:11 we stopped and prayed for him. The kids started counting down (Mommy, 2 more minutes until we pray.) He is home safe and sound, but we still pray whenever we see that on the clock.

11:15-Seth finishes Rosetta and needs to talk about it. I set the timer for 5 minutes of silence from Seth. He has to work without making a sound. He immediately pauses the timer to ask me a question. Sigh. He makes it the rest of the way through.

11:45-I leave the room momentarily to use bathroom. As always, when I go to the bathroom, I hear footsteps running down the hall to ask me a question that just can’t wait until I’m out of the bathroom. It involved lunch.

12:00-1:00 I leave to go make lunch and the kids take a break. I listen to Invisible Man on tape while I make lunch. I’m almost done and it is overdue. I read to them over lunch since we didn’t have breakfast together today. They talk me into finishing the book. I give in!!

1:00-We work together on the Latin lesson, Bible lesson, and art lesson.

1:30 I take the kids to my Mom’s house because it is week to have a meeting. We stop by the library for a few returns (I finished Invisible Man) and pick-ups.

3:00-we have to stay at my parents a little longer than I expected because my Dad is giving the kids a little impromptu lesson on the development of the different translations of the Bible and the differences between word for word translations, and idea for idea translations. I love the influence both sets of Grandparents have in my kids’ lives.

3:30-we run to the bank so that I have some cash for my trip to Denver (I leave tomorrow).

4:00-Annsley finishes her math, Seth reads a book and finishes tomorrow’s math, I frantically realize I have no inspiration (or food) for dinner tonight. Happy Valentine’s Day, honey!

4:45-Danny comes home and I make some Teriyaki shrimp with bell peppers, onions served over rice. Don’t be impressed. Frozen shrimp. Bottled sauce. Not one of my finer culinary moments. Add a spinach salad and some oranges and voila!

6:15-The kitchen is cleaned up, Annsley is taking a shower and Seth is showing Danny what he learned in division. This is the time of day that Danny takes over and the time of day I am most thankful for him!!. He will read the Spanish Bible with the kids, read to them, play games with them, tell them stories and be with them from now until bedtime. Sometimes I join them, but often I take some quiet time. (Well, as quiet as can be with squeals of joy coming from the bedroom!)

If you made it this far, you really are bored!! Tomorrow I leave for Denver but I just found out my hotel has free internet access. Woo hoo!! I’m looking forward to some serious alone-in-a-hotel-room-time! Me, my laptop, several new books, free reign over the remote control….I’ll let you know how it goes!!