Friday, August 30, 2013

Week 4: A Day in the Life, Kindergarten

Although I missed the official “Blog Hop,” I thought it would be a neat idea to share a typical day in our homeschool. I especially thought this would be great to look at from year to year as our homeschool grows and changes.

5:50AM: Alarm goes off. I turn it off and lie there and think about how I should get up and go for a walk. Or go ahead and get ready for the day. I've been up 2-3 times during the night and fall back asleep.

6:45AM: Wake up to Anna and JJ’s feet pattering, or stomping, into the room. Cuddle up and tell them to be quiet so they don’t wake anyone else up.

7:00-7:15AM: Finally get up and get ready because I have to.

7:30AM: Wake up Nate who has to be at work at 8:00AM and iron his clothes. Make the bed. Meander out to the family room to pick up and check email and Facebook. (Remind myself after 2 minutes what a waste of time Facebook is and remind myself to not check it again.)

7:45AM Kiss Nate good-bye and help him find his belt, wallet, and/or phone. Try to figure out what I’m going to fix these kids for breakfast and remind myself I need to work on a new menu plan. Tell the kids to get out of the kitchen and into the big room so they don’t wake the baby up. Greet Lily good morning.

8:00AM Start breakfast. Remind Lily and JJ of their pre-morning chores. (Get dressed, clean room, make beds.) Tell Anna to quit crying and/or to quit grabbing stuff of the cabinets and/or “No, you can’t wake Christian up.”

8:05AM Get Christian out of bed because Anna woke him up. Hopefully, find the time to nurse him and not forget to...

8:30ishAM-9:00AM Eat Breakfast. Read a chapter from The Child’s Story Bible, review catechism, and work on scripture memory. (Currently the Nicene Creed.) Tell Anna to sit down and be quiet. Tell JJ he’ll have to wait for seconds until I’m finished eating. Possibly wipe up spilled milk.

9:15AM-9: 45AM: Lily and JJ finish morning chores. (clear table, brush teeth, Lily-clean bathroom sink, JJ-sweep floor). Tell Anna to quit getting into the toothpaste without asking. Change any diapers that got missed before breakfast and cloth the little littles. Stop Anna from splashing her feet in the bathroom sink. Help kids with chores and attempt to clean kitchen during this time.

10:00AM- Realize Christian has been following me around for 15 minutes crying and he’s ready for a morning nap. Lay him down for nap. Start school with Lily. Lock JJ up to play with his Playmobil without being bothered by Anna. Explain to him that if he didn’t get so upset about her playing with it she would leave him alone. She’s just doing it because she knows it bothers him. Put up baby gate so Anna can’t get to Christian’s bedroom door.

10:05AM-10:20AM Math with Lily. Ask Anna what she’s supposed to do during school. Anna whispers, “Kyiat.”

10:20AM-10:25AM Handwriting with Lily. Redirect Anna to be quiet, possible pull her up in my lap.

10:25AM-10:35AM Reading lesson with Lily. Encourage Anna to sit quietly on the couch with a blanket and a book.

10:35AM: Lily runs to play with JJ. Read books to Anna and play with her. She loves patty-cake. She also loves to be tickled. Check off what I’ve done so far and try to do some chores before lunch.

11:00AM Continue daily housekeeping or go outside. Break up squabbles. Keep Anna busy. Check SCM forum and email. Try not to check Facebook but do it any way.

11:30AM Begin figuring out what we’re going to eat for lunch. Decide my kids eat peanut butter and jelly entirely too much...but that’s what they’re having again. Heat myself up some leftovers. Peel and cook Christian some apples.

11:45AM Talk to Nate on the phone. Finish making lunch. Get Christian up if he isn’t up yet. Change diapers.

12:00PM Have lunch. Feed Christian. Depending on the day...talk about Picture Study or read poetry or a fairy tale. Or forget that I’m actually supposed to do this.

12:30PM Clean up kitchen while kids dance around the living room. Tell Anna to quit climbing on the school table.

12:45PM Change out laundry and wonder if it’s 1:00 yet.

1:00PM Decide to wait on laying Anna down to match up her and Christian’s naps more. Relax and play with the babies.

1:30PM-2:00PM Lay babies down for naps when they’re ready. Usually Anna goes first.

2:00PM Read a chapter of a literature reading with Lily and JJ.  Read JJ a book of his own.

2:15PM Practice Piano with Lily.

2:30PM Tell JJ he can play with Lily a few more minutes.

2:45PM Put JJ down for a nap and sing to him.

3:00PM Read History with Lily. (We’re trying to work in science some as well.)

3:30PM-4:00PM Quiet time if no babies are up. Otherwise, keep babies happy while I piddle around folding clothes, cleaning up, looking on computer....

4:00PM-4: 30PM Start dinner. Keep kids quiet. Tell Anna not to wake JJ up.

5:30PM- Nate’s home. Sigh. We spend the rest of our evening eating dinner, cleaning up, and playing outside at home or at a park.

As I typed this out, I couldn’t help but think...this is the way it normally goes but I really don’t have as much free time as it appears. I also spend a lot of time walking around and getting distracted by all there is to do! (Like feeding the cats, dog, and bunny rabbit, or cleaning off the porch where the dog drug in a rabbit, or picking up a bag of whatever that Anna dumped out, or getting crayons out of Anna and Christian’s mouth, reminding Lily to keep her crayons up...you get the point..) I spend so much time disciplining and redirecting and keeping little people out of stuff that much of my day seems rushed. After putting it out there, it does seem I could make better use out of some of my time. I also realize, every day is different. Like on Fridays after the babies are asleep we work on our composer study...listening to the orchestra. On nice weather days, when Christian wakes up from his morning nap, I decide we need to get away and head to Crockett Springs Park for lunch. We usually play there for a couple hours. And Saturdays are completely different although we do things that could be considered “school.”

So there it is. I believe it will be interesting to see how it changes over the years. I know it will change drastically as the kids get older. And as much as I hate to admit it now, I’m sure I will miss these days. Even amongst all the daily stress, each child of mine is such a blessing in his or her own little way. I really do enjoy them...most days.

1 comment:

  1. I so enjoyed this post Michelle. Hang in there!! Oh...these really, truly are precious, precious, PRECIOUS days!!! Drink them in. Don't get down on yourself for not getting it ALL done! You ARE getting LOTS done. SO much, really, SO MUCH!! As I read in one of your more recent posts as I scrolled through...you wisely said that the most important things right now are habits formed and obedience. Yes. And, yes again! There is plenty of time for the *formal* stuff later. Don't stress about it. Enjoy the little people the Lord has given you...incorporate them in each other's lives as much as you can. (I see that in your day...you will never regret doing that for them). They will become the best of friends. I cannot stress enough the need to ENJOY! Blessings to you! Camille

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