Well, here's what our daily schedule seems to be settling into (when we start on-time, that is):
9-9:30 am The girls clean up the family room while I straighten up the kitchen, and we have a healthy snack.
9:30-10 am Sierra reads a Bob book, Dr. Seuss, or something similar to practice her reading skills, then we do one lesson from Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. (Sometimes Bailey also reads a Bob book to me during this time).
10-10:15 am Sierra does one page from Spelling Workout A and practices her handwriting (either by writing letters to people or doing a page from her Zanner Blosser work book).
10:15-10:45 Sierra does her math lesson from Horizon's Math 1 workbook. If Bailey wants, she gets out her mazes, pre-school work book, and dot-to-dot pages to work on.
(Sometimes all of this takes less then an hour, and sometimes it takes 2 hours. We just start at the beginning and go to the end).
10:45 am-1 pm We do grocery shopping, play groups, outside play time, etc. Lunch.
1-2pm Blake goes down for a nap, and the girls and I go to the living room for either science or history. For science, I am simply reading a library book or two on the chosen topic (currently different animals), and then the girls color a picture about that topic (the animal pictures I am using are from Dover coloring books and National Geographic's on-line coloring pages). While they are coloring, I ask Sierra what she remembers about the subject, prompting where necessary, and write it down.
For History, we read one section from The Story of the World, Ancient Times, do a coloring page or map page, maybe look at some library books on the subject, and write down what Sierra remembers. We also use the activity book that goes along with the text which has questions for Sierra to answer, pictures to color, and the black line maps, as well as some fun projects. When we do the projects (like building a pyramid with sugar cubes) I have Sierra tell me what we used, what we did, and what we learned, and I write it all down.
And that's it. Oh, there's the occasional Signing Times Video, trip to the museum, nature walks, etc. But those are all extras.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A Perfect Day?
I don’t think that there is such a thing as a perfect day.
Today started out wonderfully. Blake slept in past 7 for the first time in a while. I got in a good morning bike ride. When I got home, the kids were happily playing with old play dough at the table. I was in a good mood, so I made some new play dough for the kids.
Daddy went to work, and I got in the shower. Blake actually left me alone instead of screaming at the door for once. When I got out, the girls were still playing with their new play dough.
Time for clean up.
The girls got dressed and then cleaned up the living room (which was already rather clean for once) while I got to clean up their mess in the kitchen. Fruit and peanut butter was for snack, and on we went to school. Everything was going well. I put Blake in his high chair with some play sand. Bailey played with Blake, and Sierra started reading her Bob book. What a wonderful morning!
Then the warnings started. Sierra got most of the way through her book while I continued to clean up. Then she added an “n” to the middle of “wet”.
“There’s no “n” dear. Try it again”.
“I can’t!!!!”
“Just sound it out”.
“w-e-n-t”.
“You added an “n” again. There’s no “n””.
Wailing commenced.
Three minutes later, once she was calmed down and had finally read it correctly, everything was fine again. Sierra went to play with Blake and the sand while Bailey got her chance to read to me. Blake wanted out. No problem. Sierra and I then went on to her reading book. Daddy came up to say hi and grab some food.
“Having a good day?” He just had to curse it, didn’t he?
“Everything’s fine,” I smiled. I was in a good mood.
Daddy went down stairs again, and we continued reading. I read through all her sentences once, then through the first five once more. Sierra started to read. On the third sentence, she came across the word “prune” and tried adding an “s” at the beginning. Here we go again! It took 5 minutes this time. After that, she started whining about the simplest of words, but we got through it, slowly. She gave me enough time to do most of the dishes and mop the floor while I listened, helped and corrected the 14 sentence story.
On to spelling. Blake wanted up and demanded me to read to him. Nope. I let him sit there and look at the books though. I got up and finished the dishes (Sierra doesn’t have much problems with spelling). Blake went off to play.
Handwriting. “I eat cookies with a fork. Yummy, yum-yum.” Sierra enjoyed copying that. She looks up contentedly from her work.
“Where are we going today, Mommy?”
“We were going to go to the store, but I don’t know if we have enough time. We’ll see.”
Math. Reading clocks to the hour? No problem. What number comes next? Done. Word problem? Not a problem. Simple additon with a number line? Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. It’s not that she couldn’t do them (she actually got every single one correct with no help). She just didn’t want to do that many. I ignored the tantrum and told her to get on with her work.
“Bailey, go to the bathroom.” That girl had been a little too quiet. Sure enough, she had soiled her pants.
“Clean it up Bailey, and wipe your bum three times. I’ll wipe the rest.”
“Mom, are we going to the store?” Sierra looks at me over her math paper.
“I don’t think so. It’s already lunch time. Maybe you could go outside and play instead.”
“Aw. I want to go to the store! We can play outside after rest time.”
“I think it might rain later today. You should go outside while you can”. I open the back door and look out. Sigh. It was already starting to sprinkle outside.
When I came back in, I heard Bailey and Blake giggling and laughing. “Bailey, have you cleaned your underwear?” No reply. I walked into the bathroom to find the two of them having a pool party in the toilet. Grrr! Into the shower they went, both of them screaming.
After taking Blake’s diaper out to the garbage, I brought them their towels and dried Blake off. He continued to scream, causing Sierra to go ballistic once again, and Bailey couldn’t stand being left out of the “fun”.
So now, I’m sitting here, unwinding. I’ve used up my entire lunchtime. Science is next. We get to read about humming birds. And in an hour, they’re all going down for rest time and I can curl up on the couch and read a book. What a day! Oddly enough, it’s one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I’m actually grinning.
Today started out wonderfully. Blake slept in past 7 for the first time in a while. I got in a good morning bike ride. When I got home, the kids were happily playing with old play dough at the table. I was in a good mood, so I made some new play dough for the kids.
Daddy went to work, and I got in the shower. Blake actually left me alone instead of screaming at the door for once. When I got out, the girls were still playing with their new play dough.
Time for clean up.
The girls got dressed and then cleaned up the living room (which was already rather clean for once) while I got to clean up their mess in the kitchen. Fruit and peanut butter was for snack, and on we went to school. Everything was going well. I put Blake in his high chair with some play sand. Bailey played with Blake, and Sierra started reading her Bob book. What a wonderful morning!
Then the warnings started. Sierra got most of the way through her book while I continued to clean up. Then she added an “n” to the middle of “wet”.
“There’s no “n” dear. Try it again”.
“I can’t!!!!”
“Just sound it out”.
“w-e-n-t”.
“You added an “n” again. There’s no “n””.
Wailing commenced.
Three minutes later, once she was calmed down and had finally read it correctly, everything was fine again. Sierra went to play with Blake and the sand while Bailey got her chance to read to me. Blake wanted out. No problem. Sierra and I then went on to her reading book. Daddy came up to say hi and grab some food.
“Having a good day?” He just had to curse it, didn’t he?
“Everything’s fine,” I smiled. I was in a good mood.
Daddy went down stairs again, and we continued reading. I read through all her sentences once, then through the first five once more. Sierra started to read. On the third sentence, she came across the word “prune” and tried adding an “s” at the beginning. Here we go again! It took 5 minutes this time. After that, she started whining about the simplest of words, but we got through it, slowly. She gave me enough time to do most of the dishes and mop the floor while I listened, helped and corrected the 14 sentence story.
On to spelling. Blake wanted up and demanded me to read to him. Nope. I let him sit there and look at the books though. I got up and finished the dishes (Sierra doesn’t have much problems with spelling). Blake went off to play.
Handwriting. “I eat cookies with a fork. Yummy, yum-yum.” Sierra enjoyed copying that. She looks up contentedly from her work.
“Where are we going today, Mommy?”
“We were going to go to the store, but I don’t know if we have enough time. We’ll see.”
Math. Reading clocks to the hour? No problem. What number comes next? Done. Word problem? Not a problem. Simple additon with a number line? Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. It’s not that she couldn’t do them (she actually got every single one correct with no help). She just didn’t want to do that many. I ignored the tantrum and told her to get on with her work.
“Bailey, go to the bathroom.” That girl had been a little too quiet. Sure enough, she had soiled her pants.
“Clean it up Bailey, and wipe your bum three times. I’ll wipe the rest.”
“Mom, are we going to the store?” Sierra looks at me over her math paper.
“I don’t think so. It’s already lunch time. Maybe you could go outside and play instead.”
“Aw. I want to go to the store! We can play outside after rest time.”
“I think it might rain later today. You should go outside while you can”. I open the back door and look out. Sigh. It was already starting to sprinkle outside.
When I came back in, I heard Bailey and Blake giggling and laughing. “Bailey, have you cleaned your underwear?” No reply. I walked into the bathroom to find the two of them having a pool party in the toilet. Grrr! Into the shower they went, both of them screaming.
After taking Blake’s diaper out to the garbage, I brought them their towels and dried Blake off. He continued to scream, causing Sierra to go ballistic once again, and Bailey couldn’t stand being left out of the “fun”.
So now, I’m sitting here, unwinding. I’ve used up my entire lunchtime. Science is next. We get to read about humming birds. And in an hour, they’re all going down for rest time and I can curl up on the couch and read a book. What a day! Oddly enough, it’s one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I’m actually grinning.
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