Recap of our first week

I know this is long, but as I've noted before, I want to spend more blogging time talking about homeschooling for my readers who are new to the art of home education...feel free to skip it if it's not your thing. Believe me, I'm random enough that there will be a different topic here soon!

This week has been intense but good. Shane thinks it is in part to being tired after the Arkansas trip, and of course adding sickness in didn't help. It was very nice to be able to spend as much time on school as necessary without having to worry about running off to work.

The first two days I felt like something was missing. Part of it was my heart-attitude, which leads to the atmosphere of the home being off. Another factor is that some of the work the girls are doing-especially Beth's pre K, seems disjointed. We jump from story to story and she can't understand why we don't just read one book (lots of it at one sitting). In her science we're reading about New Year's Day and snow, yet it's obviously turning to fall outside. I don't think I have the energy to weave her stuff into more of a unit study, so we'll probably just continue on.

Bethany is also needing more meat. She's at such an in between age-she turned 5 just days before the PS deadline for K. She's ready to do letter sounds, but I still have her doing the SL PreK for 4 & 5 year olds. Not a big deal, just something I need to tweak soon.

I'm pleased with our schedule-which now includes a real breakfast. It's more work, but instead of having the girls get their own cereal each morning (whenever they got around to it), I decided to actually have a sit down breakfast with real food. They enjoy a new breakfast item each day and it gives us a unified start time.

Here's roughly what we do each day:
*I get up, eat a small bowl of cereal, quickly check my email and do my Bible Study. Hopefully I can shower as everyone else is waking up, if not before.
*The girls start to get up and I send them to do their morning chores & dress.
*I make breakfast while they're doing chores. I've put on a hymns for kids CD so they can get some old fashioned God honoring music in their lives while settling in.
*While they eat, I read the Bible, read Everyday Graces (manners), and poetry. Oh, and we open in prayer.
*The big girls start their workbooks (math, handwriting, LA) while I work with Beth on her school work.
*They all finish about the same time and I send Beth to play on her own. She might get her Polly Pockets out or play her PreK games (thanks for the PreK in a Bag goodies, Brandi!).
*I read Apologia elementary science to Ash & Hope. Ash takes notes & Hope draws something from the lesson.
*The girls do their LA dictation &/or activities and I make lunch.
*We take our lunch break, clean up and get ready for the afternoon school work.
*I read Hope's Bible Study (Leading Little Ones to God) and history to her.
*Ashlyn takes her history & Bible elsewhere (the porch swing is the favorite place!) and reads on her own.
*About 2 or 3ish, we have a quiet time. I lie down with Jay and rest while the other girls read their Bible assignment, listen to a book on tape, or other quiet activity (but no screens-no game boys, TV, computer...)

Ashlyn is supposed to be reading her reader in the evening but she's opted instead to rush ahead in her Awana book. We've not gotten to her Read Aloud (thankfully, Hope is listening to hers on tape), so we'll have some weekend work to do.

Next week we'll add in the Rosetta Stone and typing practice for Ashlyn.

I'm missing exercise. My aim was to do it before or after my morning Bible study, but I just can't get up that early. I figured out yesterday that I need to simply find a few times each week to get in some activity. Our weekly Beth Moore study will be letting out half an hour early so while my mom has the kids, I think I'll plan to walk or something. I need to find a couple more slots in my week and I'll be good to go.

See Luke, I can solve all my household issues, lol. Well, one at a time I can. I'm sure more will crop up!