Week 19: Holy Smokin' Homeschool, Batman!

Monday, which is Day One on the War Against Our Worst Enemies:

Today we were a homeschooling machine. My kids, thankfully, were willing--er--what would they be if we were a machine--ah yes, cogs, though not necessarily well-oiled.

We started the day with Bible. We have slowly been picking through the book of Matthew and we will keep reading until we have read through the whole New Testament. The kids worked on their daily origami and kirigami calendars while I read the Bible and the Tapestry of Grace intro to the unit and week (Year 3, unit 3, week 1). We discussed the reading, which was about the signs of the end of the age (Matthew 24) which stimulated conversation. Both kids were very curious about this topic, which up to now I have not discussed at length with them. After that we introduced the week's geography, and filled in our maps.

After Geography, Matty worked on his math while I worked with Molly on her math and language lessons. I can't say he was efficient. It took him about three times longer than it needed to between stopping to check out what we were doing, waiting around to get a question answered without telling me he had one, complaining that his work was taking way too long (because he was doing the above)...anyway, he got through it. I'm sure your children never do these things.

Molly cheerfully did her reading, copy work, writing, grammar and math. Even though she understands the concept of subtraction and has for a while, she began working the subtraction problems today in Math-U-See (Alpha, lesson 18).

Over lunch we listened to two more chapters of Tom Sawyer.

After lunch, Matty completed two days' work in Writing With Ease and also in First Language Lessons. He has set his goals for the week and will start the reading for the week this evening.

I love a productive day. The success in the "war on homeschool's enemies" came from getting the kids up by 7:30 and having breakfast done by 8:30. I was not successful at getting to bed at a decent hour--more like midnight--but I forced myself up this morning to force an earlier bedtime tonight. I was successful at not answering the phone--but then again no one called! Okay, check that box but it's kind of cheating...

Tomorrow morning we have a Dr. appointment which has the potential to throw the day all out of whack, but hopefully the extra work we did today will mean that we can have a reading day tomorrow and go lighter on the seat-work stuff.

Tuesday, Which is Day Two...

Beautiful! In every way today was beautiful!

Math was done before breakfast, then we ate a hearty meal, went to an eye doctor appointment, listened to Tom Sawyer over car-rides and lunch, had a reading lesson for Miss Molly and additional geography lessons on Asia for both kids (by request). We collectively agreed to bag French class in favor of playing outside in the near-70 degree weather, and spent the entire afternoon at the park. We all came home happy, tired, hungry, and very dirty. Steaks on the grill and salad for dinner. Continued reading aloud Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun, which is very interesting. Should be able to make an early bedtime tonight.

Wednesday, Which is Day Three...

Earlier to bed last night, up again by 7:00. Piano lessons at 10:00 this morning, followed by a quick stop at the library to pick up books on hold, grabbed lunch at Subway, and crammed in an hour of schoolwork before heading out to play. again. Between every destination and over lunch we listened to more of Tom Sawyer. I think I have fallen in love with that boy (again). If I were Becky Thatcher, I would find him just as irresistible. Today was another unseasonably warm day, making it impossible to resist the urge to have a re-do of yesterday. Even more friends turned out at the park today, and the kids had a wonderful afternoon running and playing with friends whilst the mothers sat on the quilt and planned all sorts of interesting things for them to do, such as a Victorian Tea Party for Valentine's Day.

AWANA tonight for the kids. Mom's quiet night at home. I'm thinking a hot bath sounds really nice...

Thursday, Which is Day Four...

By Thursdays I am typically starting to run out of steam and today was no different. Besides being stiff from running around and playing football at the park with my kids the past two days, I was just plain tired all day. Even so, I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch / dinner (to go with the leftover muffins), and we listened to a lot of Tom Sawyer. Every time a pause in the story would occur, cries of "NO! Don't turn it off!" would result in yet another chapter. We're nearing the end of the story.

We also managed to get some writing done (Writing With Ease), as well as a rousing game of "I Spy" that was part of Molly's reading lesson in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (OPGTR). Molly and I read the book Emily by Michael Bedard as part of her TOG literature lesson.

Finally, I worked with Matty on his sewing project that needed to be completed for the  Unit 2 Celebration which will occur on Saturday. It is a "possibles bag" as was discussed in both Moccasin Trail and Bound for Oregon, which were part of Unit 2's reading. Since I am not what I would call a seamstress, but possess only basic sewing skills, it has been fun to learn along with him how to construct a bag that he can carry his survival gear in, complete with an inside pocket.

By 6:00 p.m. I was gathering my things and departing for my weekly Thursday evening out. It's always worth it to show up--God shows up, and I like to be in places where he is present and demonstrating his faithfulness. (If you follow this link the reference is near the end of the blog entry)

Tomorrow is Friday, which is Day Five...
We will be going to a gold mining camp about an hour away to learn about, well, gold. We have been studying the California gold rush, and it turns out that Virginia was the first gold-producing state in the union. We are going on a tour of a park and will get to do a little panning on the field trip. I'm looking forward to it! I'm sure there will be photos coming!

As for the "War on our Enemies," I have been very good about the phone this week, and I have been getting to bed a little earlier, though not quite as early as I'd like. I'll continue to work on this. Even so, this day-by-day entry into my blog of the week's accomplishments has given me great satisfaction and held me accountable to really working on these areas that needed some discipline. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the week we have had. Happy Friday, Everyone!