Week 1: Settling into Routine

Last night I was so tired I went to bed before 9:30. Getting my head around this routine without feeling overwhelmed has been tiring. To help work it out, I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and PR'ed a lift and worked out really hard. I felt much better after that. I actually felt just a little bad-a**.

Note to self--Never skip your workouts. Never, ever. Unless you are at death's door or in traction. 

So I woke this morning and made muffins with my daughter and cooked bacon in a cast-iron skillet, boiled eggs and made everyone feel like they had a mother that cared about them. I felt like I was in the kitchen way too much today so tonight we're ordering Chipotle. So domestic.

In case you're wondering what it is that we are diving into this week,

Here are the curricula choices that we have settled on for this year:

Matt, age 14 grade 9

Tapestry of Grace, Beginning Rhetoric level
      This includes history, literature, writing, government and worldview studies
Apologia Biology
Analytical Grammar (finishing the last season)
Think Outside the Border Lingua Latina 1
Math U See Algebra 1 (finishing) and Geometry
Music - Mandolin

Molly, age 10 grade 5

Tapestry of Grace, Upper Grammar level
     includes: history, literature, and worldview
Apologia Flying Creatures
Jr. Analytical Grammar
Phonetic Zoo level A spelling
Writing With Ease Level 3
Beautiful Feet Geography using Paddle to the Sea, Seabird and Minn of the Mississippi
Music - Violin

On Wednesdays we will have co-op. In the morning we cover science and art (for the younger kids) and Biology lab for the older kids. In the afternoon we cover the writing, history, literature and government portions of TOG.

When I look this over it seems like a lot, however, we are trying something new this year, and that is a trimester system. We will cover three units (27 weeks) of Tapestry of Grace this year instead of four full units (36 weeks), and will have longer breaks in winter and spring. We are hoping that by building in rigor balanced with extended rest periods that even include travel and adventures for our family (read SCUBA diving!), we will maximize the time we spend on academics.

Wait for it. You can watch along with me and see if this little experiment unravels or not. Anyway, the plan is made. I can't unmake it. Well, yes I can but I don't want to have to.