Thus It Begins

    I have been quiet on the internet blogosphere for a while-- with a purpose. Today, we began our second week of school. I'm still not "ready" for it, but I don't know if I'll ever be fully ready for school to start-- so we began.

    The former dining/school room is now completely a school room, with the infrequent use as a dining room. Making this decision gave me a lot of freedom and broke down some obstacles in planning the space and organization.

     I wish 1) I could post some pictures. I'm just not quite comfortable with the space yet to post it. It's sort of between the "before" and "after". When I get to (or closer to) the "after", I'll post some pics. 2) That I was better at personal time management. Despite working very hard (I mean it!) to get ready, there are still things I'm rushing around finishing each day that makes it more tiring.

     Some things I have done, with which I am happy, or getting there: 1) My son has his desk in his room. We  purchased a rolling cart with 10 drawers for a modified "workbox" system, and he has a basket that holds whatever he isn't using that day, and is his "inbox" as well. The girls have their own column of wire shelving in the school room with their own baskets at the top. 2) The girls use the dining room table and I have a place at the end. We pushed the table against one wall, and protected it with a vinyl tablecloth. They also have one of those cheapy little kids tables they can use, too.  3) I print out a check list for my son each day, and once my 2nd (!) grader becomes a more confident reader, she'll have one, too.

     Some things I still hope to do: 1)finish putting together my "morning board" which will house the current prayer the family is learning, Latin/Greek root words, a letter-of-the-day, and the calendar. I'm pretty excited about this, but have yet to implement a morning routine with it-- sort of an assembly each day. 2)Finish organizing my items so they're not sprawled out everywhere to be stepped on. 3) Finish printing out workbooks that I'm allowed to, and organize a filing system for finished and graded work for each child.

     I have other things on my to do list, but I may overwhelm myself if I list them all out. On top of those things, I have projects I want to finish before baby comes-- like diapers and clothes for the baby and the girls (the oldest is already outgrowing what we have bought!), some lounge pants for me (so comfy during postpartem), and finish organizing the house as a whole.

    So, we made it through one week and are embarking on the second. We're managing to check off our lists, yet I hope the routine becomes smoother soon.

     Here's what our loose routine looks like so far:

5/5:30am Husband and I wake. He empties dishwasher and brews coffee (he's the best!). I look through the lesson plans and spend 30-45 minutes getting prepped for the day. Then we read the paper and have our time to chat over whatever we can't do through the usual chaos.

5:30am Toddler wakes up and snuggles with us. (I hope she'll sleep later one day).

6:30am Hubby brings toddler up to brush her teeth and "shave" while he showers. I try not to get anxious for the day. I check emails and do computer stuff. This is when I would pay bills, too.

7am, kids allowed to come downstairs. If they are just waking up (unusual), they now get ready. They aren't supposed to come down before, or without being ready for the day. We're still working on this one.

7:15am Hubby leaves for work. Sometimes he walks the dog, if he hasn't been running around tending to kids the entire time.

7-7:30am I'm getting ready (I want to move my getting ready to before 7am, but this is where it is right now). The kids manage to entertain themselves. I forget to lock the door, which means my 15 minutes is far from peaceful. Then, the second half of the 30 minutes is for tidying my room and sorting laundry, and  corralling the kids to get ready for the day-- and pick up their rooms.

8am(usually) make/eat breakfast. This all seems so clear-cut here on "paper", but we usually, somehow, don't end up eating breakfast until 8:15/30. The kids are pretty good at helping to clean up breakfast.

9am catch the kids before they decide to start playing in order to begin school. Somehow, my son has managed to not start until much later each. and. every. day so far. It can be rather frustrating, because the longer he takes to begin, the longer each item takes. Math is no longer a 20 minute task, but 45! And he LOVES math.

9-ish to 9:45-ish I work with my kindergartner. The 2nd grader either does some artistic thing on her own or (preferably for me) plays with the toddler.

9:45- run and check on son (4th grader) to make sure he's on task (this is a toss up). If he isn't, try  to get him back on track and answer questions.

9:45-ish to  10:30-ish I work with the 2nd grader. There is sometimes a thing or two that overlaps for them, and I'll do that at the transfer point.

10:30am the girls are usually  done, and I reward them with a snack and playtime. This is about the time that Thomas the Tank Engine is on, and I'm more than happy for them to watch it. I then head upstairs to check on my son again, praying he is staying on track.

[Today, he came down at 10:25 saying he really needed a break, so I granted it. Then, the toddler decided she absolutely needed her nap NOW. I put her down and then drag said 4th grader from the television to walk him through his work]

11:30 leave son to prepare lunch. I say a prayer that he'll finish his stuff.

noon-ish Lunch and cleanup. The kids,  again, are pretty good about helping with this cleanup, as long as I'm specific as to what I want them to do.

30-45 minute recess. Must. go. outdoors. don't forget the toddler! lock doors. (I don't lock the doors, but it fit in well here. ) :) sense of humor, people. It's what gets us through these days! Ah, a little peace and quiet. I'm supposed to grade work and start prep for the next day here, but the call for a cup of coffee and quiet is so strong. Plus, I'm pregnant, so I have to obey my body, right?

2pm or so. The kids spend a certain amount of time on each room of the house, because they've managed to dismantle each and every one (I thought they were doing school work? When'd they have time to create disaster? I am becoming a firm believer in children's ability to bilocate. This must be what's happening when I ask them a question about something we've been studying and they say "huh?")

3:30 pm I'm not going to get anything else out of them at this point, so I let them have a snack and pick out their favorite pre-approved show to watch. If there's school work that hasn't been done, and attempt is futile right  now.

That's about it, folks. I'd really love to hear the routine of others, and any tips and tricks to get kids going in the a.m. with the whole school thing. It seems I use all my patience getting the kids TO school, that there's hardly anything left for the day itself.

Again, I'll post pics soon, I hope.

The Countdown

Wow, it's been a month since I last posted here. Don't worry, my cyber-silence does not mean I am giving up blogging on our adventure.  I've been busily planning and organizing away for a hopeful start of August 16th. (The 15th is the Assumption and a Holy Day of obligation).

I don't have pictures of our school room, because it's in a bit of a "free for all" state, and I'm not quite done. Each bit of better organization intrigues the children--I hope this is foreshadowing of a good year.

My friend over at TrinityAcres just posted about their curriculum, and I love her choices! I also love reading what others do, it's sort of my way of learning. So, in case anyone is interested, I've listed out what we have going on here.

P- is in 4th grade. There are some books we didn't finish last year due to our trip to Ireland, but I'm going to put them aside as summer refreshers for next summer. I will have him finish math, since he uses Math U See, and they base their books on mastery, and not a spiral approach. History: How Our Nation Began and living books from MODG syllabus. Poetry, Geography, Art appreciation, beginning of Spelling- all MODG. Spelling, English Grammar, Science and more art from Seton. Catechism from Neumann Press - Our Holy Faith (LOVE it!) and MODG Bible History. Latin from CHC (Little Latin Readers). Art/crafts also from A Beka.

C- is in 2nd grade. Latin, Poetry, History/Geography, Handwriting, Phonics, Art Appreciation are all MODG. Art, Reading Comprehension, and music are Seton. Science and Grammar are CHC. When she finishes Phonics with MODG, I'm going to use CHC. Math and arts/crafts are A Beka (sigh. Math U See was just not her cup of tea, and she was really taken with the colorful presentation of A Beka. I don't like using A Beka, even in these early grades,b/c they become so ardently anti-Catholic, but this will have to do for now. I'll probably transition to Saxon in later grades, or maybe she'll be ready to go back to MUS).

S- is in Kindergarten. As a November birthday, she could probably still wait a year (according to public school cutoff dates), but she did some preschool stuff last year, and is eager to get going. Soooo, I'll use my FAAV-orite A Beka for Math, Arts/Crafts, and "Readiness" (whatever that is). Neumann Press for Catechism, along with St Joseph's Children's Bible (MODG listed). CHC for handwriting, and a neat book God's Love Story from them, too. I also picked up some number and alphabet dot-to-dot books at the grocery store to supplement, along with a plethora of religious and non- coloring books.

Some other items that will make a showing are Sewing With Saint Anne (CHC), Exploring Creation with Zoology (birds), English from the Roots up, various prayers and singing as a family. I'm in the middle of creating a "morning board" which will house a calendar, prayers and latin words and songs we're learning as a group. I'll give a pictorial tour of the homeschool room when it's ready (please, dear Lord, before this Monday!).

See you soon,
Renee