Just In Case You Were Wondering

The boys did indeed wake up, and we had a wonderful Christmas. They enjoyed their gifts which included a play kitchen, a RC helicopter, marble run, Knex, superhero pjs, books, Narnia movie, and an RC Lego car. It was an uneventful and peaceful Christmas day.

We're back at school and it's going well. I'm working on being more patient, and the boys seem to be appreciating that. I have found that we need to stick to a schedule and start early to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time.

In case anyone is curious about what we do, here is a rundown. L is 2nd grade, Z is 1st grade, and J is K4.

We all start off the morning together with Memory Review. This includes any poems, Bible verses, etc. that we are trying to memorize. Then we all move onto Latin ( Prima Latina ). While L, Z, & J are the only 3 officially enrolled in the Larson Boys Academy, M thinks he's enrolled and will try to say Latin and Memory Review with us.

After Latin, J works on his handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting K), Z works on his handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting A) and typing (Typing Instructor Deluxe), and I teach L his math lesson (Saxon 3).

Once J finishes his handwriting, he & M go down the hall to play in the playroom. After I give L his math lesson, he works on his math fact sheets and worksheet while I give Z his math lesson (Saxon 2).

Then, while Z works on his math fact sheets and worksheet, L and I work on his writing and grammar (Creative Writing Aesop). Once we've gone through his lesson together, L works on either copywork (he copies sections of the fables we read using cursive) or finishes up any loose ends on his assignment that he can do on his own.

While L is finishing his Language Arts, I give Z his grammar lesson (First Language Lessons).

This is usually where we take our lunch break (Cr comes home most days and has lunch with the boys) and quiet time (an hour where the boys, in theory, play quietly in the playroom and I regroup).

After quiet time we have a read-aloud time. L, Z, & I take turns reading aloud from a book while J & M listen.

This is followed by L doing his typing while I give Z his spelling test (Spelling Power). Then I give L his spelling test while Z either plays or practices piano. After spelling L takes his turn practicing piano while I give J his math (Saxon K) and phonics (Phonics Pathways and Get Ready for the Code) lessons.

Then we gather together to end our school day with either History (Story of the World 2) or Science (Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Level 1 Chemistry). We started the year with a quarter of history, now we're in our quarter of science, next we'll do a quarter of history, and the fourth quarter will probably be dedicated to art and music.

Of course this looks seamless when written down. All of this is interrupted by all the usual mom things....dirty diapers, laundry, crying (usually by the boys), filling sippy cups, and so on.