a "normal" school day

A "normal" school day…?  There is no such thing!  But now that summer break is upon us, I will look back and chronicle what we've been doing for school.

The ideal is this:

MOM'S TEACHING SCHEDULE

School all morning on MWF with Mrs. N here to watch the littles.

School a little on MWF afternoons while the littles are napping.

School a little on Tues morning…but really, not that much since the littles need me.

NO SCHOOL on Thursday--my day off to do projects/errands/appointments.

The three oldest kids have independent work all 5 days of the week.

I like to hand-write my week's schedule in my
teacher's planner.  It is laborious but it is my
preferred method.

James and Mariposa get a typed weekly list

Our school is divided into 8-week quarters.  Before each quarter I fill in all the assignments, and then on the Sunday before each week I only have to switch out worksheets and checklists.

Mariposa was having a bad day.

Mariposa's independent work consisted of Math worksheets, Cursive, Memory Work, and Piano.  I went over the Math and taught Grammar, Science, Religion, and History.

On the particular day of this photo journal, Mariposa was having a bad day.  I don't remember why.  But she did not want to do school!!  That is unusual for her, but oh well.  Since it is a one-off (as Marcus would say), I didn't get mad at her.  So I just did all her work out loud and pretended like she was giving me the answers.  The other kids loved it, especially poetry recitation!!  We tried not to tease her, and by the end of the morning she was in a good mood.  We all have grump days sometimes.  :o)

Looking at a friend's blog

Gemma likes hanging out with us.  She does coloring pages or quarter-worksheets (where she earns a quarter for each sheet completed).  When I have time I lead her "Pirate Dog" workbook which is very special because she can only complete it with me.

Science lesson 3x a week

James did almost all his work independently this year   I led Grammar, and worked through Latin with him.  We discussed his History reading assignments.  I corrected Math and Science and through that process, I was teaching it as well.

We all make time for recess!

Bunny said she didn't want to be left out of this blog post.  ;o)  She did mostly independent work but I did read her Math lessons to her (most of the time), and I also sometimes sat with her while she did her Math.  Her Spelling tests were administered by me, as were Latin and Science.  We discussed Religion and History, although next year she is starting an online History discussion on her own.

Back to work: reading History with Mariposa

selfie

James' Latin quiz

spelling test

Homeschooling allows the kids to spend lots of time with their best friends (their siblings!) and with Marcus and me.  By mixing schoolwork with everyday life we are showing them that learning is a fun, organic process that shouldn't be confined by age and location.  We wouldn't have it any other way!