Home School - Month 1

(making cave paintings for Art and History)

Whew! What a month it has been! I'm exhausted in ways I didn't know possible, but soooooo thankful for our decision to keep the boys at home. We have been able to spend precious moments together as a family before Hubs deploys.
Our first week was a little bit trying. I think that besides getting used to school at home, we had a number of other things going on in our family and the stress level was very high. Also, we had to tweak some of the curriculum. We're still using the stuff I described here. We just had to adjust some of the leveling and pace. Once all of our activites started, extroverted Gator was much happier. I think he felt trapped for the first couple weeks before we got to see people other than each other. Mostly, it has been me learning how to manage my ever-present household duties, mothering, and now teaching. We've really settled into a great rhythm. We still have hiccups, but they are all managable.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday mornings:
7:15-8:00- PE with other home school families (when we can make it)
8:00-8:30- breakfast, morning chores
8:30- review memory work (AWANA verses for both; poems for Gator; days/months for Bull)
8:45- handwriting/spelling/grammar (videos/PBS, phonics, games, letter practice for Bull)
10:00- breaktime, Monkey's naptime
10:00-12:00 - math, science reading (tangrams, math games/manipulatives, and some formal lessons for Bull)
12:00- lunch with Daddy!

Monday and Thursday afternoons:
1:00- finish up science, history (formal instruction is done at this point)
2:00- reading time (Gator)/quiet time (Bull)/naptime (Monkey)
3:00- snack, playtime
5:00- dinner
5:30-6:30- Gator's football practice on Thursdays (Hubs coaches the team)

Wednesday afternoon:
1:00- occupational therapy for Bull, science/history for Gator
3:00- Musikgarten for all three boys
4:00-6:15- library and dinner
6:30-8:00- AWANA

Tuesday:
9:00-12:00- PWOC (I'm teaching Precept's Marriage Without Regrets), Gator has assignments (memory work, handwriting, science/history reading) that he completes in the home school room at PWOC, Bull has a blast in the preschool room, and Monkey smiles in the nursery.
12:00- lunch with Daddy!
1:00- spelling, grammar, review assigned reading (Bull plays)
2:00- reading time (Gator)/quiet time (Bull)/naptime (Monkey)
3:00- snack, playtime
5:00- dinner
5:30-6:30- Gator's football practice (Hubs coaches the team)

Friday:
7:30-8:30- breakfast, morning chores
8:30- review memory work (AWANA verses for both; poems for Gator; days/months for Bull)
8:45- handwriting/spelling/grammar (videos/PBS, phonics, games, letter practice for Bull)
10:00- leave for co-op
10:30- Art class for Gator and Bull (taught by local college students)
11:45- Presidential Physical Fitness Program (coordinated/coached by a home school mom; Hubs comes to help)
1:00- lunch with Daddy!
2:00- science experiments, history timeline and special activities

(Glider experiment)

I know that this will undergo many revisions in the coming months as Hubs leaves, Monkey grows, and Gator and Bull advance. This is what is working right now. And I'm happy to say that we're pretty much staying on track with what I had laid out in my lesson plans (which are written in pencil!).