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Typical Homeschool Day….a very detailed account…..consider yourself warned…..

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I took the new printer plunge……and love it already…..the Epson Artisan 800.  Now we can have school again.  Below is an hour by hour account of our day.  I read countless of these from different blogs in preparation for homeschooling  and LOVE to read them.  So post one if you homeschool.  And if you’ve been just dying to know what we do all day…..here goes…..

5:15a Arise and stumble to sink.  Take out bite plate (which has helped significantly with my bruxism—ie.grinding my teeth off—-at night,  the bite plate has me sleeping like a BABY and dreaming in color–dreams the same……still about missing a whole semester of classes and my teeth falling out)
5:15-5:30 Read the advent readings from the Treasury of Daily Prayer–by the fire.  The house is cold is the mornings.  We keep the thermostat low and dress warm.
5:30 Write a post for the day about my family’s obsession with Waffle House.
5:45  Scan around in blog world.  Find the first thing ev-er on the Nester’s site that I don’t want to make (the fur wreath) and marvel at how 327 people will leave comments on one post of Pioneer Woman.  Could she possibly read those?  Marvel at the advent post from Conversion Diary….and read some interesting stuff on the Phoenicians-–which I will teach the girls later today.
6:15 Emme wakes up from a bad dream.  She’s crying and says that “Scooter was about to fall off a cliff”…..to reassure me how scary this dream was, she says with somewhat of a snicker-cry “Daddy was even crying”.  That’s funny because they’ve always enjoyed asking Daddy if he likes Scooter.  He used to “Not really”, now he says “He’s alright”.   The dream was telling I think.
6:45 Snuggle with Emme, make coffee and listen to a wee bit of the news.  Chores will have to wait. 
7a The teens begin to arise.  Caiti has started the Twilight Series and asks me multiple questions about the 2nd and 3rd book.  She reminds me to ‘alter’ the renaissance dress she has to wear tomorrow night.  I commence the ‘altering’ which is good reminder to me why I don’t sew
7:20 Eat Raisin Bran which I’ve had every morning for the past 6 months.  That’s how I handle breakfast.  Find something semi healthy that I like and eat it for 6-9 months in a row.  Oatmeal was before Raisin Bran and bagels before that.  What should I switch to next? Fiber rules.
7:30 Kiss the teens goodbye and hand them cinnamon rolls as they leave. Fiber is of no consequence at their age.  The baby (6 yo) is now awake and Emme won’t let Scooter out of her clutches.  He will NOT fall off a cliff today.  Not on her watch.  They eat and get ready for ‘school’……which starts promptly…….whenever we finish breakfast and personal hygeine.  This personal hygeine means different things to different people.  Emme will insist on braids and her ‘skinny’ jeans while Elea will be in sweats and a headband.  Let’s not discuss me.
8a We decide to start with History today so we did a unit on the Phoenicians—a group of Semitic-speaking people who lived ~1500-1200 BC  along the coast of the Mediterranean and were famous for their ships and sailing, the alphabet and blown glass.  We made faux ‘stained-glass’ with crayon shavings and wrote using the Phoenician alphabet.  We listened to Vivaldi while we worked…..his piece called “Winter”.  It’s beautiful and my girls kept getting up to ballet around the room.
8:45 We tackled Grammar next using English for the Thoughful Child.  We practiced with initials and titles.  They got a kick out of writing the initials for a guy named Clives Staples Lewis.  And Miss Emaleigh Mae.
9:15 We practiced copywork today using the following poem that we are also memorizing.  The girls almost have it down….maybe a short video will be forthcoming.  The poem is as follows:
 A Chrismas Carol by G.K. Chesterton
 The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap
His hair was like a light
O Weary Weary were the world
But here is all aright.
The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast
His hair was like a star
O stern and cunning are the kings
But here the true hearts are.
The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart
His hair was like a fire
O Weary Weary is the world
But here, the world’s desire.
The Christ-child stood at Mary’s knee
His hair was like a crown
And all the flowers looked up at Him
And all the stars looked down.
I found it in a great book of poetry and pieces for memory and dictation called “The Harp and Laurel Wreath”
9:35 Continue with Memory Period.  We are working on finishing Psalm 8 and will start Luke 2 (The Christmas passage) next.  We are also memorizing a history and bible catechism that we add 2-3 lines to every week.  We use Story of the World for history and Veritas for Bible.  This catechism is in lieu of a song…….I like the catechism style much betta!!  And finally we are memorizing Luther’s Short catechism which begins with the ten commandments.
9:45 Bible-We are studying God’s giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses.  We read Exodus 19 and 20 and completed a worksheet on the commandments.  Elea reminded me that the guy who stole my purse maybe didn’t know them.  Keen observation.
10a Short break in which I check a few more blogs,  strip the beds and commence the never ending pile of laundry.  I unload/reload the dishwasher and listen to a segment from Issues Etc on American Evangelicalism.
10:15 The girls were playing ‘vet’ with Scooter who is now begging to go outside—-mostly for a reprieve from the ‘vets’.  We now begin math.  Today we count to 400 by tens (we’re using Saxon BTW) and count odd numbers to 49.  We learn our 10’s multiplication facts using cheerios which the girls find fascinating and satisfying.   They complete their assignments while I read more from the Harp and Laurel Wreath book.  This book has some amazing stuff for memorizing….by far the best source I’ve found to date.
11a They both ask if we can have lunch yet and I talk them into finishing reading first.   Emme listens to The Tale of Despereaux while Elea read Knights Before Dawn to me.  We then switched and Elea listened to the audio book (and played with legos) while Emme read Mr. Popper’s Penguins to me. 
11:40 Lunch…..which is pathetic today.  I need to go to the store……but until then we’ll have……PB&J, fritos, apples, and a BIG COLD Diet Pepsi for me.  I could not possibly homeschool without it.  Don’t judge. I only had one today.  In a can.  Ice cold.  With a straw.
12:10 Check my email/blog and realize I’ve won a contest on this wonderful site.  I picked this and can’t wait to see it.  Thanks Carissa.  Visit Brown Eyed Fox.  You’ll love her artsy ways.
12:20 Switch out the laundry and make Elea’s bed.  Swiffer the living room and dining room and ponder making cream of asparagus soup for dinner. I’ll pick up the ingredients after my run today.  Macdaddy gets home early on Wednesdays!
12:40 Recite memory work again and do spelling.  I go shower and clean up while the girls finish their work.  Ahhhhhh.  What a wonderful 15 minutes.
1:15  The girls finish and decide they need a bath too.  They stay in til almost 2 and have prune hands and feet.  I continue cleaning and listening to good stuff on Issues. 
2p Macdaddy arrives.  We hug and kiss.  I decide to go for a run……Emme(8 yo) whines at how bored she is…..so I invite her along.  She does great!  I make it shorter than usual but the exercise feels good.
2:45 We stop at Ingles on our way home to pick up a few groceries including asparagus for our soup tonite. Emme begs me to buy white bread.  I am so weak.  She can’t wait to make ‘white bread sandwiches’……..thanks so much Grannie……for introducing my children to the 2 pounder and bologna.  I draw the line at bologna.
3p Make cream of asparagus soup and watch Survivor Man with the family.  
4p Read a little/blog a little/continue laundry.
Evening spent with family doing Advent readings, reading, playing memory game, blogging, and skipping my ballet class.  It’s cold out…….and I’m not feeling very ballerina-ish, if ya know what I mean.
Just reading this may make you want to jab sharp objects through your ear drums.  But you know what……I love my little hum-drum daily routine.  My little ones are at ages where they REALLY like me and love hanging out with me.  I’m gonna take full advantage.  It doesn’t last forever.  This was a pretty productive homeschooling day for us though unfortunately I didn’t get a whole lot done otherwise.  Some days, we skip grammar and  bake all day.  I guess it’s all about balance.  Tomorrow is sour dough bread day……so math facts could suffer.  Just sayin’.
 

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Comments

  2. Keli says

    Well, it was detailed, I’ll give you that! BUT, it sounds like a very productive fun day! I’m so happy for you that you get to spend the day with you kids and you get to learn em’ too! : ) I wish someone would motivate me to get back to my morning gym time! Help!!! xo

    Reply

  3. Mandi says

    So glad to see you took the plunge with the new printer. I just know you are gonna love it! Your day is so crazy, but I think it is incredible that you have made the commitment to homeschool your girls. By the way, I think your thief must have been coming to SC to hunt. Someone broke in and stole my husband’s hunting guns this weekend. Some nerve!

    Reply

  4. Hi! I'm Kirsten... says

    You are a FABULOUS mother and I am amazed that you dedicate this much love and devotion to your kids and their education…a well rounded one given by a loving mother is better than the education I had at a private and public school. Wish I’d had you as a teacher Edie! [Truthfully, I’m a tad jealous these kids…hehe!]

    Oh, and you’ve been blog awarded:
    http://visible-images.com/blog/index.php/archives/278

    Reply

  5. Meme says

    You know I have to keep coming back because you quote C.S. Lewis!!! With the financial crisis now hitting close to home I wonder if it is a coincidence that I keep meeting (even if it is mostly in bloggly land) mom’s that homeschool. Our children are currently attending a Classical Christian school, and we (most importantly they) love it. But I don’t know if we can continue to afford it. You make homeschooling sound like so much fun. Would love to read more, especially your detailed accounts!!! Oh, and I am with you on PW being able to read all those comments; my question is when?

    Reply

  6. Jessica says

    Hey Edie,

    Thanks for the run down of your day. I love reading everyones schedules too, I’ll probably list mine soon. Whenever I go to do it I laugh at how each day is so different it’s hard to give you a true typical day. My boys still love hanging with me too, it’s the best. I gotta run. Jess

    Reply

  7. Marybeth says

    Hi– I loved your account of your day– it was totally interesting to me! And you got a run in and made dinner too! Way to go!! 🙂

    Reply

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