Monday, August 24, 2009

A Day in the Life

I missed last week (August allergies, I was pretty out of it all week), but am back to take part in the Not Back to School Blog Hop sponsored by my3boybarians. Week 4 is Day in the Life week.

I was hoping to post a blog entry about a somewhat normal day, but I realized something. Normally, our days aren't normal. So this post will be about reality today. The good, the bad, and at least some of the ugly.

The kids were up fairly early, only I wasn't functioning too well. I had them set a timer and go clean their room and the bathroom for 30 minutes, while I tried to get a grip on our day. We proceeded to make breakfast (oatmeal), and we listened to a couple of podcasts while they ate (Answers... with Ken Ham, and Merriam Webster's Word of the Day).

We filled out the forms for the TOS Summer Reading Program, which involved them insisting on reading about all the books that are being given away. We had a great discussion about all kinds of things in reading about the various books. My kids have made quite a list of books to check for at the library, and/or to put on wishlists for Christmas.

Then I set them to work on the computers. A couple were doing ALEKS, one was doing Explode the Code Online. I made some phone calls -- to reschedule an appointment, to cancel some things; and received some -- basically all Cub Scout related.

Connor read. And read. And read. Mostly it was a Sherlock Holmes book, though I believe at some point he was reading Physical Science. I know I reminded him that he was having a module test on Friday. I worked with William and Thomas on math, and Richard and Trina decided to write stories, so I had to spell all kinds of things at the same time. Somewhere in there, the boys did some calisthenics. William is trying to start practicing now for Tenderfoot requirements (he's not anxious to become a Boy Scout or anything!)

The kids made lunch. And Connor kept reading. Clubhouse and Boys Life magazines showed up in the mail, so he was completely convinced he had to read all of both of those before he could do anything else. Aargh.

I did get them working on laundry, dishes, and vacuuming. Then the younger group watched a LeapFrog video, while Connor worked through some high school planning (look for my review tomorrow!)

Connor headed outside to water the poor, pathetic pepper plants, and I tried to get everyone else rounded up. We ended up deciding to do some hair cuts, and take baths -- so that took a chunk of the afternoon. Except Connor. I sat him down and we started discussing the SAT and the PSAT (we're reviewing College Prep Genius). I had decided to have him do his pre-course practice SAT in sections. So he took two sections of a practice SAT today. Scored pretty well too, I think. Especially for his age. I don't know, it will be easier to understand it when he finishes up the test sections on Friday.

While he was doing that, the other boys took turns reading to me while I got supper going.

Everyone took a break to play with Bionicles, except Trina, who kept asking to play "Jump-tart" (Jump Start World) on my computer. I never did let her.

I did have to pull Connor away and get him onto the computer. His Latin class starts bright and early tomorrow morning, and he needed to put a few minutes into doing some things before class starts.

After dinner, Dale & Connor sat down to watch a Ham Radio training video, which they are doing right now. Somehow I am managing to type while listening to this guy talk about frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, sky-wave propagation, and all kinds of other things I don't understand. They do. I guess that is what counts.

All in all, this was an incredibly unusual day. No read-alouds at all, which is something that virtually always happens. We finished up Sonlight Core 5 early last week though, and ended up deciding not to start our new stuff until next week. So, while we aren't "on break," we are taking a drastic break from the usual routine.

I also didn't do "reading lessons" with anyone. Nor did we do Bible. Nor did we work on our writing program. Nor did we work on our lapbook. Nor did I do any preschool "stuff" aside from spelling some words for them. Nor did we read our nutrition book. Nor did we watch CNN Student News. Nor did we do any spelling. Nor.... okay, I'll quit there!

I may post again later this week with another day in the life. I'm hoping my week gets a little closer to normal.






2 comments:

Kara said...

I love it! I posted my "daily routine" which of course very rarely happens *exactly* as written! You're keeping it real.

Cristi said...

I'm glad I'm not the only person that has days like that -- mine usually involve vain attempts at carschooling, though.

You mentioned that Trina asked for "jump-tart." Do tell...