School Today

You know you have a learned a lot in school when it is 5 pm and you finally tell the kids that school is over!   We started at 9:15 this morning.

I try to get a lot done with school on Mondays and Tuesdays and I usually don't keep the girls busy until 5, but that is just how it worked today. 

Here's how today went:
9:15-9:30 intro/ calendar
9:30-10 Bible class with both girls
10-11 I meant to start with Language Arts with Megan (Courtney is free to go play), she really wanted to read history, so we went with that instead! Do you know why she wants to read history first?? We are reading "Lincoln: A Photobiography" by Russell Freedman. She can't get enough of Abraham Lincoln lately, so I might as well feed her little mind some more. :)

This took until about 11, we like to stop and discuss things...a lot.  About 11, I went through English, Spelling, and Writing with her.  Her writing assignment today was to discuss the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States, so of course, I looked up Bill of Rights on the computer and we talked about them!  It is amazing how relevant those are to our lives today!!  She gets to pick something and write a Bill of Rights about it tomorrow.

By about 11:30, I was done with Megan's Language Arts and History.

It was now Courtney's turn to go to school.  We got through our Phonics and Spelling lessons by 12.

We had lunch and I gave them some free time (oh wait, break time for me) until about 1:30.

At 1:30, they all played legos on the living room floor and we read our read-aloud assignment.  We are currently reading "Moccasin Trail" and we are almost to the end, so we are trying to read everyday.

By 2:30, we were done reading. 

Megan had a math test today and once she got this done, she was done with school.  At this time, I checked her math assignment and gave her the test.  She went up to her bedroom to do it and I sat down and finished Language Arts with Courtney.  She had to read and we learned about homophones.

After that was over, we did her math assignment and continued to drill her addition facts.  She is getting good at her math facts!!

By 4 pm, we were done with our daily assignments for both girls.  They had been begging for some ice cream, so I said once we were done, they could get some, so at 4 pm, the kids scooped out ice cream for themselves.  :)

I knew it was already 4, but I really wanted to get to science today. I had a project prepared for them on animal habitats and I knew it would take more than a day to finish.  I asked them if they were ok with doing science yet today and they said, "Yes!" As they were eating ice cream, I started reading them our assignment on animal habitats and homes out of "The Usborne World of Animals".

As they were finishing their ice cream, I was finishing reading and we did our couple questions out of our curriculum.  After that, the bowls went on the counter and out came my project on animal habitats.  We made a book and are going to be describing eight different habitats and the girls are going to draw pictures of each habitat.  We got "grassland" and "desert" done today.  It was about 4:50 and Megan said, "Can I be done??"  I looked at the clock and realized that we had gone much later than usual and let her be done.  Courtney, on the other hand, wanted to do more! I told her that I wasn't going to teach the same thing twice and that we would finish tomorrow.  She said, "That's ok, I'll just go make my own book," and she ran off!

As she ran upstairs, she said, "Mom, can you come upstairs and play with me?" I said, "Sorry Courtney, I need a break too!" It's been kind of nice that the playroom is clean, they have been playing up their lately and I can actually have some peace downstairs. :)

I look at my day and realize that if we didn't read for two hours, we would've been done two hours sooner! But I love this time with my kids and I love the books that our curriculum presents us! It takes a lot more time, but I think it is so worth it! About every book we read is a Newberry Medal book, so they are very good books! Every year I think about switching from this curriculum, but just can't bring myself to do it because I (and the kids) enjoy the literature so much! Even if it takes us all day to get through school. :)

(And really, neither girl is in school for more than 2-3 hours, I am the one that is teaching all day!)