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Mar. 4, 2009

A Typical Monday

Posted in Homeschooling
I get asked a lot about what a "typical" day is like for us.  I have a hard time really answering that question because every day is so different!  There is no real "typical" day!  But then again, if I think about it, we do have "typical" weeks. 

So I thought I'd write a little bit about what each day is like for us.  I'll start with Monday, since it's (duh) the first day of our week.

Monday, like every day, I try to get up by 8:30AM and go down to the kitchen to "get ready".  I should make my breakfast and eat it before the kids get up, but for some reason, I am never in the mood for that.  I do start making my coffee or tea.  I'm serious about my coffee and tea, so this whole thing is a bit of a production--from the grinding of the beans to the assembly of the vacuum coffee press.  By 8:45A, K's alarm goes off and I start yelling up the stairs for the girls to come down.  They are supposed to be down and eating breakfast by the time I come back from walking the dog, which is around 9:15A. 

By 9:30A, the girls are all at their desks in the homeschool room.  They are allowed to be in their pjs (they always are) and are not required to have their teeth brushed, nor hair done, and they don't even have to have their breakfasts eaten.  They all have independent seatwork to do.  On Mondays, the girls all have to teach me the math that they learned last week, to ensure mastery.  This is a part of Math U See's philosophy.  So they all take turns "teaching" their math to me, one at a time.  The others stay at their desks and work on something else when the one is teaching me.  If they have taught it to me adequately, they get to proceed on to the IMac, where they watch their current week's math lesson on DVD.  They then go back to their desks to do Monday's math assignment. 

At their desks, they also work on their language arts workbooks, copywork (A), handwriting (A and L), and read their readers (K and A).  L is usually finished with her seatwork in about 20 minutes and gets her read aloud books and her reader and joins me on the couch.  The older girls continue their independent work.

FQ usually is running around playing with his toys but he joins me and L. on the couch with his "school books" as he calls them.  I read L's books to her, and then she reads her reader to me.  I also read a few books to FQ.  It's usually around 10:30A by now and L is done for the day.  I send her upstairs to get dressed, brush her teeth, wash her face and do her hair.  FQ usually goes up with her and they find things to do to keep themselves amused.  They sometimes do some coloring or art work or just play with blocks or Legos or have a picnic.  They are really very cute when they play.  L sometimes does her Rosetta Stone at this time--she does 25 minutes on it, just like her sisters.

At around 11A, I summon the older girls to the kitchen table.  By this time, both girls will have done their seatwork.  We do the Bible, history and science readings together.  At noon, we are done and I send the girls upstairs to get dressed, brush teeth and hair and wash up. 

We're done with lunch by 1P and K goes upstairs to do her 25 minutes of Rosetta Stone.  A. practices her piano, and we do her spelling.  By then, K is done and I send A. upstairs to do her RS while I work with K. on her spelling and read aloud.  At 2:10P, I send K upstairs get dressed for her private tennis lesson.  I take her to the courts by 2:30P.  She is there for an hour.

Back at home, I get afternoon snacks ready and read A's read aloud to her.  After this, she is done for the day.  We then all get in the car to pick K up at 3:30P. 

From 3:45P-4:10P, K finishes up anything she hasn't done and has her snack.  Then at 4:10P I drive K to her gym practice, and she's there until 7:30P.  We get back home at around 5P and get ready to have dinner.  We tie up loose ends at this time--L. practices her piano, and I do anything with A. that we didn't get to.  Usually though, A. works on her various creative writing projects--she writes stories for fun and has at least 5 or 6 filled notebooks full of stories.  L. also has a notebook she writes stories in, but she also likes to draw and do crafts.  I usually walk the dog again at this point.  The girls usually get into their night clothes at this time as well.

We eat dinner at around 5:45-6P.  At 7:10P, I pack K's dinner, along with her chocolate milk.  She drinks her milk first and then eats her dinner in the car.  We're home by 8P usually and we start the night snack/dessert process.  LOL  They also get vitamins at this time.  By 8:30P, everyone is upstairs for brushing teeth and face and going to bed.  Ideally, lights are out by 9P.

Whew!  And that was Monday!  Monday is a not-so-busy day for us!!!  Now, I'm describing what I do when F. is not home to help us.  He's home to help us at least a third of the time.  So he usually helps out with either the readings or sometimes the driving around.  He helps with getting dinner, playing with FQ, and sometimes he takes both L and FQ out to the park.  He's really a gem.  I tell everyone he's my homeschool secret weapon!!!


Well, that is it!  I hope you all enjoyed seeing a slice of our life.  Okay, next time, Tuesday!

Blessings,
A.H.
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HELLO!!! This blog is a place for us to publish some of our children's work and just to journal our amazing educational journey.

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• Week 22, Feb 9-13, 2009 • Writer's Circle, first week Jan 9, 2009 • Writer's Circle, 2nd week Jan 16, 2009 • Writer's Circle, Jan 23, 2009 • Writer's Circle, Jan 30, 2009 • Writers' Circle, 2/8/09
• Writers Circle, Feb 13, 2009 • Writer's Circle 2/20/09 and 2/27/09
• Writer's Circle, March 6, 2009 • A Typical Monday • Spring break, March, 2009--Jamaica, pt 1: incompetent airline agents • Spring Break, March 2009, Jamaica part 2, the actual trip!!

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