A Day in the Life – Homeschooling 4th, 2nd and Kindergarten, with a baby.

I am finally doing something here I have always wanted to do – a day in the life post! Why I’ve never done one before now though, I understand more fully. It is a LOT of work to keep track of your entire day as it unfolds, writing everything down on a piece of paper (I’m old school and proud of it!) like a spastic 5th grader recording her entire life story in one fell swoop.

But man, were we ever on track for the day, and I dare say, we MAY have gotten nearly everything accomplished that we had up for the day! Almost. Maybe. I’ll let you decide :0)

5:00 AM ~

Alarm goes off. I have two decisions. Get more sleep, or get up and workout. I opt for trying to accomplish both and catch a few more zzz’s before heading downstairs.

En route to the living room to do my Mutu system workout, I move the basket of unfolded laundry into the room as a reminder to fold it. I hear our NOT-pet mouse scratching around, jump up on a chair for a better view of the room, and decide to head to the basement to work out instead.

5:30 AM ~

FINALLY start my workout after getting totally sidetracked with checking Facebook….sigh….

6:10 AM ~

No time for a shower, so I figure out what’s for supper, and remember it’s Meatless Monday (thankful for fun memes to help me remember :D) Decide on taco salad (meal planning did NOT happen Sunday :d). Try to put aside all the other things competing for my time now so I can focus on my quiet time.

7:00 AM ~

Hubby doesn’t need a lunch today, so I just make the coffee, defrost a muffin, and send him out the door to work. Oh right, it’s also Muffin Monday, so I put on the water to boil for our oatmeal muffins.

7:15 AM ~

Kids are still sleeping, hubby is gone, I hop on twitter to catch up with some friends while I finish preparing the muffin mix.

7:30 AM ~

I start to hear stirrings of the children awakening upstairs, so I scramble to finish making the muffins before Miss E wakes up (yup, got sidetracked, again :D).

I start to double the recipe, then realize I only have 2 eggs, so un-double it and finish.

Get the baby up, feed, change a diaper, fix a belt, give outfit instructions, ensure the kids have done their morning High Five, get dressed, and we are ready to start our day!

8:15 AM ~

Breakfast and Bible – we have been using Our 24 Family Ways and are really enjoying it! I’ve found having our bible study time together at breakfast is the best way to keep their focus and attention, plus it gets conversations going when we’re all still a little sleepy :D

8:50 AM ~

Memory verses and kitchen chores are completed, kids are cleaned up, and it’s time to start school! Here’s where the REAL fun begins :D

I remember I forgot to print the Five in a Row printables for the week, so I scamper off to do that, only to find that the printer is jammed. Of course, at this moment, the baby is crying her head off for some reason or another (turns out she’s cut 2 new teeth, who knew?!). JJ keeps her happy for a few more minutes until I’m finished.

Oh right, the laundry :0/

Finally the printer is working (eh heh, user error :D), but now the boys are running circles, chasing each other and narrowly missing sliding into the door frames. I find my coffee cup, reheat my coffee, and shoo everyone to the basement to start some school.

9:30 AM ~

Finally get everyone settled down enough to begin our lessons. JJ (Grade 2) works independently on handwriting and reading while I get The Boy (Grade 4) started on his grammar lesson. He then continues on and finishes his independent work while I work with Keekers (Kindergarten).

Today is also Math Monday (is it getting a little old yet? ;D), so my main focus with Keekers is math and numbers. We spread out her books on the floor, do some fun fall felts and counting, apple addition (for our Five in a Row theme), rescue the schedule from Miss E, who is determined to eat it!

Time to move on to playtime!

10:00 AM ~

The baby is down for a nap, now is the time to quickly check completed work and start into our FIAR book and activities.

We read How To Make An Apple Pie and See The World, talk about the ingredients needed to bake a pie, then wrap up with a life cycle of the apple video on YouTube.

10:30 AM ~

Time for the boys’ math, before Miss E wakes up – they need quiet and concentration, so Keekers has ipad time.

Fortunately, both boys only have worksheets to finish, so I get them set up, then take a quick “bathroom break” – IE check facebook, e-mail, get distracted with ordering baby moccasins, family Christmas plans….)

11:00 AM ~

Miss E is up from her nap, we grab a quick snack at the kitchen table (apples, yay!), and move back downstairs to wrap up our “essential” school lessons.

JJ does spelling – he’s my kinesthetic learner, can you tell? I tell him to take his feet off the board, then put them back up again so I can take a picture :D.

The Boy spends time reading and Keekers does work sheets or plays with her kitchen / dolls / Miss E.

11:45 AM ~

We’ve done as much as we can by this point – time to prep lunch! I cut up food for Miss E so I can have her happy in the high chair and my hands free to prepare lunch for the others. Oh, right, what am I making for lunch? We’ve got carrots, wraps and cheese….quesedillas and carrot sticks it is!

12:10 PM ~

Break up an argument over someone turning off the lights on the others in the basement, holler for everyone to get upstairs. During lunch I read our history from Our Island Story, and try not to rush through my meal.

12:40 PM ~

Clean up the kitchen – realize I didn’t do the breakfast dishes. This could take a while!

The kids finish their kitchen chores, JJ finishes his math worksheet (whoops, he missed a couple earlier!)….

… and The Boy does his chore (dusting dance party in the living room!)

1:00 PM ~

(Now the day finally starts to slow down a bit) I have some reading time with Keekers and Miss E while the boys play lego in their room.

We haven’t had this hour free for a few weeks, so this is quite refreshing “girl time”.

1:30 PM ~

Miss E is down for a nap, so it’s Apologia science time! I read to the boys while they colour the sheets and Keekers plays with apple playdoh at the table. They fill out their notebooking pages and school is DONE!

2:15 PM ~

Quiet hour. A necessity that doesn’t always happen, and isn’t always an hour, but I’ll take what I can get! Everyone spends time in their rooms or on a couch reading or listening to a CD. Keekers pops her head out after 5 minutes “Can I come down now?”.

I MEANT to spend my time finishing the menu planning, checking e-mails, etc. BUT I sort of got totally and completely sidetracked by creating a Polyvore board for a post I’m working on….oops.

3:20 PM ~

Kids are getting restless, time to release them! We have a snack again and I decide we have time for our special afternoon subject – today it is Geography and Missions (yes, Mission Monday, ok, I’m done now! ;D).

Never mind the calcium carbonate on the kitchen table – hubby’s been working on chalk painting a dresser :D

4:00 PM ~

Baby’s up from her nap and has a bottle so I can get all the school stuff put away. One boy plays piano, the other dusts, and Keekers INSISTS on finding and wearing her “Monday” socks so we can go to the park.

4:30 PM ~

Hit the park for half an hour. Try to keep track of my 3 and the baby with half the nearby school running amok on the playground. Someone falls off the climbing tunnel, another one gets goose poop all over her shoes. Thank goodness E is happy to just swing!

5:00 PM ~

Head home for our zone tidy up. Get E back in the high chair so she can eat while I prepare supper. Kids are pretty pooped by this time so we put on a Wild Kratts – thanks for almost always having a show to line up with what we’re studying! Octopus Wildkratticus it is :D

5:30 PM ~

Quickly print off my recipes so I can finish my meal plan and grocery list for The Man to go shopping tonight. Much to the kids chagrin the printer is right beside the TV so they’re quite upset at the added noise in the room and hollering to “turn the volume up!”.

5:40 PM ~

Hubby arrives home from work. The kids are still watching Wild Kratts so we get a few minutes of uninterrupted conversation before they’re all over him.

6:00 PM ~

JJ sets the table, we sit down to eat (my FAVOURITE meal, mom!), the doorbell rings. Someone is picking up the playpen we’re selling, and of course, they have never used one before so need a full rundown on the setup and take down (did I mention it included the bassinet and change table? :D).

6:30 PM ~

E wants to nurse, again. Oh, right, she’s getting teeth. Everyone finishes their kitchen chores, and runs off to play while I FINALLY sit down to eat my dinner. Alone.