Everything is about EASY

Our lessons have been going well this year so far. Bob has taken on the responsibility of teaching Math and Spelling, as well as leading the prayer time. Talk about a big help! When the kids have a math question, I can say, "Hey! I'm not the math teacher! Go ask your dad!"

I redesigned our schedule to be more friendly to a momma who doesn't get home from work until well past midnight and who rarely gets to sleep before 2 am. This way, I can sleep a little more in the mornings and Bob can get them ready and started on their work. The schedule needs a bit more tweaking, but when doesn't it?

We start with prayer time and I am usually still in my jammies then, with a big cup of coffee! Then David and James begin their language arts, doing the independent parts first, so I can finish getting ready for the day. David does his reading and writing in a literature journal, while James does some independent phonics practice (read: WORKBOOK pages! lol) Meanwhile, Emily and Suzy are doing math, under Bob's supervision. Suzanne has been so extremely excited about her lessons, now that she is in "kindergarten"! Once I am ready, I do reading and phonics instruction with James. He also writes in his lit journal.

After this segment, they switch, and I do phonics instruction with Suzy while Emily reads and writes in her literature journal. At this point, Bob is doing math with the boys.

At some point, I gather them all together and do group instruction in Science OR History (we are seeming to do alternate weeks so far this year), as well as Bible and any other group subjects, such as Art. I give any grammar or writing assignments at this point as well.

We have lunch and I read aloud. Our current read aloud is The Secret Garden. They spend a little time on chores and then they finish their studies for the day, which would be anything not finished yet and Spelling with Dad. We are usually done by 2pm, but always by 3pm when I leave for work. My goal is to have them done by 2pm so that we can spend an hour being together. That usually ends up being half an hour though, since I need to spend some time getting ready for work. I am streamlining that process though too.

Soccer keeps Bob busy in the evenings. With 4 kids playing and practices or games almost every night of the week, he is always running someone to practice or picking someone up! Saturday mornings are filled with soccer games also!

Everything is about EASY this year!

First Day of Lessons

Although the first day of lessons was FOUR weeks ago, I am finally getting around to posting. Our first day traditions include new learning supplies, a scavenger hunt, and ice cream sundaes for lunch.