First Day Year 9

While Arwen was watching the clock in Maths - she enjoyed it, she said, because she felt like she was in a movie - Lucy and I got a day's work done by lunchtime. Not that I'm smirking over the superior efficiency of home education. Of course not.

By nine she was reacquainting herself with percentages. There's something so right about scheduling maths as the first subject of the day every day, unlike school, where it is sometimes scheduled for the last period of the day. The one where your students are hot, tired and longing for home as opposed to fresh, motivated and ready to go...

Lucy read the first few chapters of The Scarlet Letter, our first book club selection of the year. I'm also reading bits and pieces from How To Read A Book by Mortimer J Adler, so we talked a little about analytical reading and what Hawthorne was doing for the reader in those first few chapters.

Then she moved on to The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer, which, in a grand money-saving innovation, she is reading on my Kindle. I love to see a girl sprawled on my bed reading history on my Kindle! I'm reading a day ahead of Lucy and taking my own notes, which she can use as a model or comparison as she begins the more analytical note taking she'll be doing this year.

After a discussion of Bauer's assertions about the political use Constantine made of Christianity, Lucy moved on to some Art History. An Annotated Mona Lisa was recommended to me and it's a brilliantly readable introduction to the sweep of art history.

Psychology is scheduled for Mondays but her text book, Simply Psychology, hasn't arrived yet, so Lucy practiced recorder on her lovely new wooden German instrument, whose tone is most pleasing.

After lunch we exercised - a walking DVD in the lounge room because outside was blistering - and talked about entering a fundraising walk later in the year. And after that, I read aloud a chapter from A Girl of 
The Limberlost.

OK, I admit I'm smirking a little. School has lots of things we don't. Efficiency isn't one of them.

A Day in The Life - Year 8

Lucy is our early riser; she's often up before 7 and helps prepare breakfast, reads, keeps our second earliest riser company...

Maths is always first in the day. Lucy's ready by 9 but waits on me to catch up. We go over an algebra problem from yesterday, then run through the lesson for today. It's a simple concept - index notation - and so she does the first two sections orally. I leave her to do the last set of questions on paper herself.

Arwen's having a sick day - otherwise known as a "write Glee fan-fiction day" - and Snowy is watching Cyberchase, so I take advantage of the quiet and spend some time working with Lucy on some history homework. She's taking a modern history class this term that's for Years 11 and 12. The content is no problem for her but I work with her on how to read, interpret and answer the homework questions. She has to choose an inquiry question for the period of the early 20th century; we talk about the area she's interested in, which is the Suffragette movement.

It's 11. Lucy takes a short break and I start work with Snowy. Then Lucy works on grammar using Karen Andreola's Simply Grammar.  Then I suggest to her that she takes a look at Youngzine. At Lucy's age I was crazy for newspapers and radio but as she isn't, I find Youngzine to be a good compromise between current affairs ignorance and a distaste for 'the news'.

Around 12.15 we all take a break to get lunch ready. And by 1.00, Lucy, Arwen and I settle down for our read-aloud chapter. We're reading Heist Society by Ally Carter. I refuse to believe an 8th grader is too old to be read to! Or too old to snuggle...

1.30 means free time -  possibly a bit of reading ( I suggest she gets started on Cold Comfort Farm, our novel for book club next week ), knitting, cuddling of guinea pigs, eating of raspberry muffins. On a less grey and gloomy day we'd probably fit in a walk around this time. And at 4.00 she's off to work - next door - to do an hour's babysitting with Arwen.

I should say this was a 'light' day for Lucy, who hasn't been 100% the past few days, but who normally works for closer to four hours each day.She's a natural scholar, my Lucy, a homeschooling mama's delight!

First Day Back - 2nd Term, 2nd Grade

Snowy was agitating for another two days holiday. "It doesn't make any sense to start school on a Thursday." So I was kind and let him do school-lite today.

10.00 - I was busy with the girls before this and Snowy was busy drawing Mario Worlds. At 10 we sat down at the kitchen table and worked on the two and ten times tables.

10.30 - Snowy read me a chapter from his new Aussie Nibbles book Fast Grandma. I'm trying not to jump in so much and give him time to figure out unfamiliar words.

10.45 - Lucy and I spent a ( futile ) minute telling Snowy how lucky he is to have a new handwriting book! He completed a page of downstroke revision. All that pencil holding correction over the last year has worked - he corrects his own pencil hold now.

11.15 - He had a bit of a break and I had time between working with the girls to read a chapter aloud from one of our nature study books, The Story of Kurri Kurri the Kookaburra by Leslie Rees. Much hilarity around my kookaburra impersonation.

Back to drawing Mario Worlds.

1.30 - I read Snowy a Nanny Piggins chapter while he practiced indoor bowling on my bed. ( It was pouring outside and there was a little pent up energy in the house.) We're between read-alouds. We've finally finished the Borrower books, all five of which Snowy insisted I read in a row. I even dream I'm a borrower sometimes.

2.30 - I suggested a game of draughts. We played. Snowy won.

Back to making Lego Mario Worlds...

What he didn't do..but will do come Monday.
*phonics lesson
* Kurri Kurri narration
* extra subject - this term he's doing maps/science/Shakespeare/art - one subject per day.

* go for a walk or spend time outdoors - if he gets completely stir crazy we'll go out anyway.

A completely adequate amount of work for a 7yr old. In my opinion!

At 4.00 the weather cleared and we went for our walk.  The oval had turned into a swamp and we stopped for a while to watch the ibis feeding, the long curve of their beaks digging into the wet ground.  One ibis bathed in the water. I remembered that we'd spent some time this morning watching a pigeon on our fence grooming itself, all ruffled seriousness.  The oval is a magical place; yesterday we saw a full, double rainbow - the second in as many weeks. I like to walk there and feel the day gather meaning to itself.

A Day in The Life - Later

4.30 - Everyone's home and the girls unpack the shopping. I'm glad to hear Snowy had a play at the park while Arwen and I were busy.

We do the Mars Bar experiment - break the top layer of chocolate a little so that there are chocolate 'plates' on top of the caramel 'magma'. Stretch the Mars Bar a bit so the 'plates' move apart. Smash them back together so you end up with chocolate mountains. Smash it more so you get an earthquake. Eat it.  ( We bought an extra one for the poor, deprived girls...)

I have a rest on my bed for a while, listen to the radio and do a few rows of knitting. The girls get the guinea pigs out while Snowy and Chris try out a new game on the DS.

5.30 - Dinner prep - easy tonight, because I'm just making a vegetarian stir-fry with noodles. Lucy helps chop vegies and toasts the sesame seeds. She's also in charge of getting the washing off the line. We'll eat around 6.00. It looks stormy right now and I'm hoping it clears - Snowy likes to walk - run! - around the oval after dinner and it balances out the DS time!

I'm hoping to get time to toast some oats tonight and make muesli as well, but that's about it for our homeschool day. The only other 'to do' is to read another chapter of 'The Borrowers' to Snowy at bedtime.

This was a productive Monday! The only thing we didn't get around to was yoga - and that was pretty much compensated for by time at the park. This evening is for R&R and, having written this post today, I'm confident we all deserve it.

A Day in The Life - At Home - Morning

8.00 - Snowy and I wake up and after a bit of a cuddle, we head off to satisfy our addictions - Snowy for his 30 minutes on DS - I head for the kettle and a cup of tea. Lucy, my 'lark',  is already up - dressed and breakfasted and working on her 'to do' list for the day. She's already fed the guinea pigs.We have a bit of a chat about our dreams, and about what she'll be working on independently and what she needs me to 'teach'. Today it's a recorder lesson and helping her get started on a biology experiment. I check my emails and forums.

8.30 -  Arwen stumbles out of bed and heads for the kettle as well. She's definitely my night owl! Snowy's timer goes off; he finishes up on his DS and I log off the computer. I get breakfast for both of us. The girls tell me about the latest installment of their comedy mash-up 'Glamelot'. It's funny. I have a brief vision of them as a stand up comedy sister act. Everyone gets on with their morning chores - except for Snowy, who has moved on to his Lego - I wash the breakfast dishes, put away washing, make my bed, get dressed. Lucy sweeps the kitchen floor and Arwen dries up and puts away. I like having the kitchen clear for Maths.

I have an inner debate about whether or not to make Snowy leave his Lego and get his own chores done - bed, dressing, teeth, watering outside. I decide that as long as he's done by 10, that works for me. I give him a reminder. I'm realising that I need to put a bit of work into habit formation with Snowy. It's one of my favourite Charlotte Mason ideas, that of 'habit'. Relying on motivation is a capricious and often tiring thing. Habit, once formed, requires much less energy.

9.20 - Lucy is ready to start maths. It's a diagnostic test on her decimals unit. We look through it together for any tricky questions and I leave her to it.  The early morning rain has cleared so I put a load of washing on while Arwen reads through 'what you've done so far' of this blog post. She's hoping no-one steals their 'Glamelot' idea. Consider it copyrighted, all you comedy idea-stealers reading my blog!!! She highlights her name in green...

Snowy suddenly has a spurt of energy and gets all his jobs done in 10 minutes.  Arwen is officially ready for maths. I'm officially ready for a second cuppa.

9.40 - Both girls working. Arwen and I work on prime and composite numbers in the lounge room, so Lucy has the quiet kitchen to herself.  Snowy is playing Lego and waiting for the school shows to come on at 10.

10.00 - Schools shows on the ABC - Snowy watches 'Backyard Science'. I check in with Lucy to see how she's getting on. Arwen's done her 2 pages of maths and moves on to her English book. She's using 'English Now', which I think is quite boring but it's a way of getting her used to school-speak before next year.

I send a few emails about upcoming h/s events and look around online for images of leaf cells under a microscope for Lucy to use later.

10.30 - I mark Lucy's test and identify the areas she need to revise tomorrow. Must fuel Snowy up before we start working. I cut him up an apple. Gappy teeth make biting a whole apple impossible! Maths first, followed by a phonics lesson, some reading practice and some handwriting. We finish off with a page out of 'The Story of Life' about the first land creatures. Snowy narrates a few sentences back to me and I type them up as part of his ongoing narration.

Arwen is writing an article for her dance school newsletter about the jazz class they took in the city on the weekend. Lucy is writing her World War One journal - written in character as a nurse and then moves on to soaking some bean seeds and preparing a graph for her science experiment.  I've forgotten to hang out the washing so I race out to do that and put on another load and come back in to listen to Arwen read her piece aloud. I correct her punctuation. Snowy takes a break.

11.40 - Lucy starts recorder. We're working on 6/8 time and 'C' - I listen to her play and give her some feedback. She keeps practicing while Arwen chooses a LOTR project to do. She decides on an art project - writing out some characters' names in Elvish. I find the Elvish translator I've bookmarked for her previously. She and Snowy squabble a little in the meantime.

I've got a little window of time before lunch to do some more work with Snowy. We read a couple of pages from 'A Child's Introduction to the World' and talk about tectonic plates and how they move.

Lucy has finished recorder and starts reading Act 4 of King Lear using Spark Notes 'No Fear Shakespeare.' I hang out more washing and warm up some left-over pizza for lunch. By 12.30, everyone's eating. There's some grumbling over the fact that Snowy gets to do his tectonic plates experiment with a Mars Bar whilst the girls had to do it with a Vegemite sandwich!

12.45 - Lucy still has to finish  reading King Lear. Then she's got some knitting to do and an Amelia Earhart biography to start. She's also got some of 'Story of India' to watch if she feels like it.

I'm going to clean up after lunch, make a cup of tea and then read Snowy a chapter from 'The Borrowers' and do a little bit of yoga with him as well. The girls and I are between read-alouds - we got bored with 'DragonKeeper' and so the girls finished reading it themselves over the weekend.  More squabbling between Arwen and Snowy over how loudly he is bouncing the pilates ball. Arwen has some dance homework/practice to do before we go out.

I have to write a shopping list as well. I'm taking Arwen out in the next suburb over at 3.00 and will get some groceries afterwards. Snowy plans on spending the rest of his 'screen time' while I'm gone.

( This is the part of the day when I long for chocolate. And the bit where my efficiency dips. I could be filling out Arwen's high school application but instead I'm checking out my forums/emails again. )

Motivated by Chris suggesting that he do the grocery shopping while I'm out with Arwen, I write the list. Motivated by that, I start filling out Arwen's application form and realise that it isn't going to take very long after all. Then I start filling in the menu plan for the week. Yoga goes by the wayside as Snowy is deep in a Lego game. I have a quick read of the paper instead. All is quiet...