A Day in my life!

Okay I had set apart today to write a play by play account of my day but with the way it started out I was tempted to forget it and try another one. The thing with that is that the reason I am doing it is to show our homeschool in all it's glory - warts and all - so choosing another day would not be me keepin' it real. So, here is our day, a pretty typical day if truth be told, kids maybe a little more grumpy than usual due to staying up late last night to watch American Idol, but this is pretty typical!

6:00am - Alarm goes off, hit the snooze button "just ten more minutes is all I need"
6:10am - Alarm goes off again, hit snooze again "that couldn't have been ten minutes!".
6:20am - Alarm goes off again, this time I'm awake, turn off alarm and get ready to get up.
7:20am - I hear baby crying on the baby monitor, check clock and see that I missed my window of opportunity to get to the gym! Where did that hour go??
7:25am - Get baby and nurse her in bed - turn up the heat to warm the rest of the house.
7:45am - s get up and try to get into bed with us. Send them to bathroom. Spend time chatting with Kunle and playing with Kemi.
7:50am - Niyi wakes up and takes himself to the potty - cool, potty training is really working!
8:00am - Tayo in bath, Lola brushing teeth and Niyi yelling for breakfast - guess I should get up now then - it's just so cold!
8:15am - Settled Niyi in front of TV (don't look at me like that....you know you love that electronic nanny too!) jump in the shower.
8:30am - Out of shower trying to get dressed in peace, but Niyi still wants juice and breakfast. Forget drying hair, run to kitchen to put oatmeal on and make the now infamous juice! Yell at Tayo (ahem - I mean gently ask her!) to get out of bath. Lola gets in bath.
8:45am - Feed Niyi his breakfast. Make sure Tayo is getting dressed - it's a miracle she is! Give her breakfast.
8:55am - Off to wash and comb Lola's hair....let the screaming commence!
9:20am - Finally finished with her hair, calmed her down (she's such a drama queen at times). Feed Kemi her cereal and make myself a cup of tea!
9:30am - Put chicken in Crock Pot for dinner tonight. Say goodbye to Kunle as he is off to work - can I come too??!!
9:35am - Give Lola breakfast. Niyi and Tayo are playing quietly in the living room. Make myself some toast.
9:40am - Take toast to bedroom to check email and Facebook.
9:41am - First argument of the day - go to settle it!
9:44am - Back to computer.
9:45am - Now Niyi has hurt himself - give up with computer!
9:50am - Niyi is now coloring and the s are about to start their Independent work. Tayo and Niyi argue about a pretzel - Tayo has a meltdown.
9:51am - Tayo to timeout. Lola is working on her prayer journal.
9:56am - Talk with Tayo about behavior. Kemi crying - feed Kemi.
10:10am - Tayo has another meltdown - back to Time out.
10:15 - Get to haert of issue with Tayo and pray with her. Put Kemi down for her nap.
10:27 - Tayo upset again by...I don't even remember...cuddle up and make it better.
10:30am - Tayo begins prayer journal and is now happy. Lola begins Math. Niyi is bored of coloring so plays with his cars.
10:33am - I do laundry, sweep and empty dishwasher, enjoying the quiet that has descended!
10:50am - Praise and Worship with the kids, they are dancing and enjoying their time. We read the bible discuss and spend time in prayer (boy do we need it today). Pray for Ama our sponsored child, which reminds me that we need to send a letter soon.
11:18am - Back to the table with Niyi to work on his Cars lapbook. Tayo is doing math and phonics on the computer, Lola is continuing with her Independent work.
11:35am - Help Tayo on the computer, Niyi wants apple slices, so I go get apples for everyone.
11:40am - Do spelling with Lola.
11:45am - Check on laundry while continuing to do spelling.
12:00pm - Kemi wakes up, put her in high chair with a snack. Tayo has finished work on computer so is playing with Niyi. Lola is doing copy work. I am making up a lapbook piece that I need for lesson after lunch.
12:10pm - Lola and Tayo arguing again - go sort it out. Boy is everyone grumpy!
12:15pm - Niyi watches me on the computer, sees a car in my clip art file and wants one. Print out a sheet with lots of different cars on it. He loves it and goes off to color them in!
12:30pm - make lunch
12:40pm - Feed Kemi - she's not interested right now, her teeth are bothering her again.
12:50pm - Cut up lapbook piece I just made up and listen to the s talking about the vocabulary words the learned last week - moment like these make it all worthwhile!
1:00pm - Kids playing downstairs. Call Kunle for a chat. Friend from England calls for a chat.
1:15pm - Kids arguing and all come up stairs in various states of unhappiness! Lola decides to rest in her room saying she doesn't feel well and Tayo and Niyi go off to play again.
11:25pm - Try to feed Kemi again, she eats a little.
1:30pm - Clean up lunch mess. Lola works on her copy work again, taking more time and care over it this time!
1:35pm - Put Niyi down for his nap.
1:40pm - Work on Tayo's lapbook with her. Do an activity on the short vowel sounds.
1:50pm - Work with Lola on her taste lap n note. Feed Kemi her fruit at the same time.
2:00pm - s on computer for 30 minutes while I eat lunch.
2:30pm - Send s to room to rest and read while I start typing this post (have been taking notes all day!)
2:45pm - Discover s jumping around room and not resting. Get them to clean up room and inform them that they are not going to be staying up for American Idol tonight as their behavior has been off all day.
3:25pm - Still typing this post. The s are cleaning their room and Kemi is now sleeping. Off to make a cup of tea and will enjoy some peace for a few moments.
4:00pm - Finally made cup of tea (got sidetracked on Facebook!), put ingredients for garlic bread in the bread machine and hit 'start' ( I love my bread machine!). The s are still cleaning their room and are now begging me not to tell Daddy about their behavior! Lol :-)
4:10pm - Kemi wakes up from nap, still not interested in eating, doesn't want to be put down so clean up kitchen with one hand!
4:20pm - Niyi wakes from nap. Get juice and banana in him asap to avoid his afternoon grumpy spot.
4:30pm - Check on s - yep they are still cleaning (and arguing and whining!). Play with Kemi and Niyi.
4:50pm - The room is pretty much done (at last!) I start dinner and the kids all watch TV for a while.
5:30pm - Soup is simmering, bread is doing its thing in the bread machine. I am tidying up and the kids are all quiet!
5:50pm - Make garlic bread rolls and put in warm oven to rise. Try to feed Kemi again, still not interested!
6:00pm - Kids watching Animal Planet and I'm here updating blog. Rolls should be ready in about 20 minutes - dinner smells yum-o!
6:10pm - Feed Kemi a bottle, she eats half (she prefers a bottle if her teeth hurt!).
6:30pm - Kids eating homemade chicken noodle soup and garlic bread rolls.
6:40pm - Niyi decides to try painting with aforementioned Chicken noodle soup! I guess he's done - throw him into the bath tub!
6:50pm - Niyi is bathed, now to see if Kemi will eat. She dislikes the food I give her so yet again gets fruit and cereal. She really needs to expand her food preferences!
7:07pm - Kunle is home!!! Yippeee!!! He gets the kids all situated in bed while I continue to feed Kemi and giver her a bath.
7:45pm - Now my turn to eat! Pour big glass of wine and prepare to eat all that chocolate Kunle came home with!

.....so that was my day - how was yours??!!!

Plans for next year

I have finally figured out what we will be doing next year and have decided to take a leap into the world of unit studies. Now don't get me wrong we've dabbled before, but for some reason I've not fully allowed myself to use unit studies as our full school curriculum. I don't really know why but I seem to plan units as well as using our regular books - and then wonder why we can't get it all done (there are just not enough hours in the day!)
The thing with unit studies is that the kids really like to learn this way. They love doing lapbooks, they remember stuff we do so much more than when it comes from solely reading in a book and we all really have a good time. Why has it taken me so long to decide to do this?? Anyway we're here now and I am really looking forward to this coming year!

So with that in mind I have planned a years worth of unit studies from Homeschool Share's great database of literature based units. I decided to take the girls on 'A Trip Around the World' exploring all seven continents over the course of this coming year. I will also add in some seasonal studies as they come up and by the end of the year we should have learnt a great deal! We have Passports from here that we will stamp each time we enter a new country! Each unit will produce a lapbook - the girls most favorite part of school!
So here is the plan for our year of studies:

August ( I wanted to start the school year off with a few really fun units!):
Olympics Unit that I wrote for Homeschool Share.
Dinosaur Unit
Chocolate Unit (This one is for me!)

September:
Africa: Four units traveling through Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

October:
Asia: Four units traveling through India, China, Japan and Korea.

November:
A unit on Russia and one on Australia.
A study of Elections (to coincide with the Presidential Election).
A Thanksgiving unit.

December:
A Penguin Lapbook (as our study of Antarctica)
A Unit introducing N.America.
A Christmas Lapbook.

January:
A unit on Canada.
A Unit on the Great Plains and the Great Depression.
A Unit on civil Rights and Dr.Martin Luther King (to coincide with MLK Day)

February:
USA: Three units learning about Southwest USA, Hawaii and Native Americans.

March:
A unit on The Wild West.
Europe: England, France (Which will include a study of WWII) and Italy.

April:
Europe: Sweden
S. America: Three units traveling through Costa Rica, Mexico and Guatemala.

May:
A Rock Unit (this one is for Tayo - she loves to collect rocks!)
An Insect unit.
An Astronomy unit.

There it is! I have picked out specific book titles for each of these literature based units, so if anyone is interested in getting the full book list I will happily send it to you. They may change slightly as HSS is likely to add so many great units following the Back to School Blast contest they are currently hosting, but I hope to keep pretty much the same countries. I will only change a unit if the science portion of the unit is something I want to cover.
Talking of science, I thought I'd list what science and social studies (besides the obvious geography!) we will be learning over the course of this coming year.
Are you ready? It's a pretty big list!
Here goes...

African animals (a whole bunch!), rain forests, magnets, snakes, jungle plants,. air resistance, wood and paper making, the Human Skeleton, Oviparous animals (egg laying animals to you and I!), The Women' vote, Presidents, horses, Australian animals, taste buds, map skills, spices from around the world, the food chain, animal classification, hibernation, migration, The water cycle, kites and how they fly, silkworms, The Great Depression, Civil rights and the history of segregation, chemistry: states of matter, grasshoppers, ponies, Adobe houses, deserts and desert fauna and flora, Explorers, weather, celestial navigation, Lewis and Clark, endangered animals, map making, the history of the old west, shadows and telling time, bees and honey, WWII and the Holocaust, butterflies, sound/the ear, farm animals, conservation, poison frogs, volcanoes, rocks, minerals, crystals and gems, Henry Ford and the Model-T, the Solar system and astronomers.

Whew! Who knew so much learning could take place in one year!

In need of a schedule....

...Before my kids wear me out! We just don't function well without a schedule! Last week was our first official week off school and I spent most of it separating children and listening to moaning! So I brainstormed with the kids and this is to be our Summer Schedule for at least the next 8 weeks or so. I am hoping that this will be flexible enough to allow me time with the new baby, but also will give the kids the structure and activity they seem to so desperately need!
My schedules never have times next to them, as this really distracts us when we get behind. So rather it is a flow of what follows what - that way no matter how early or late we start the schedule we are able to stay on course...

Get up, girls - bath, breakfast.
Chores.
Devotional
Math
Handwriting
Outdoor play
Snack & Story time
Lola - Baby School*/ Tayo - Phonics
Tayo - Baby School*/ Lola - Astronomy and writing
Lunch time
Niyi - Naptime
Girls - Chapter book with Mommy
Girls 1hr BOB time (Books on Bed) Mommy alone! Yippee!
Snack time
Free time(Only 30 mins computer time each)
10-second tidy up! (You have to watch The Big Comfy Couch to get this one! But if the s want to call it a fun name then so be it!)
Get Dinner (girls alternate helping me)
Niyi bathtime

* Baby school - the name given to the 20 mins or so I ask one of the girls to take care of Niyi while I am spending time with the other. Tayo has taken this quite literally and is intent on 'teaching 'him something each day!

I'll see how this works - I can only hope the arguing will be reduced.

Happy Habits of a Homeschooler!

Today's Heart of the Matter Meme is about 'Happy Habits' and I thought I'd list some of the things that we find help our homeschool remain a happy one...


One of the first things that comes to my mind is the habit of Mom getting up earlier than the kids to spend some time alone with God. This is getting more and more difficult now that I am in my 8th month of pregnancy and not sleeping all that great, but when I make that extra effort to do it it makes the day go so much better. Ideally I like to be up around 6:30 with a cup of tea, my bible and my journal (on the deck now that the sun is getting up with me!), then I like to take a shower and put on a load of laundry all before the first of my little sleepy heads arise. I really love this time and it makes for a much less stressed out Mommy if I get to it! (Note to self ~ DO IT!)

Another habit we have is the habit of making sure chores are completed before we start school. We have a list of daily chores for everyone to work on (not very many, but the basics) and once this is done we start school. I feel that this is a very important life skill that I want my children to take with them into adulthood.

A pretty recent habit we have begun is my oldest daughter having her own file with a checklist of schoolwork that is to be done independently. She is in 2nd grade right now and the list includes devotional reading, math, handwriting, chapter book reading, math drills and typing practice among other thing. I require this to be what she works on first in the day and it must all be finished before her free time. She enjoys being able to decide what to do first and it is teaching her how to be responsible. I anticipate adding more things to this each year.

A habit that I tried and failed in was the habit of sticking to a schedule. I mean a school starts at 9am, we do spelling at 11:15 and math at 12:05 kind of a schedule. This just doesn't work for us no matter how hard I tried to make it! What does work for us is having a flow to our days: Bath, Breakfast, chores, Independent work, snack time, Science, History etc. So now whatever time of day we actually start school we all know what is coming next.

One of the most important habits our family has is the habit of reading, both reading aloud and independently. I require a B.O.B (Books on Bed) time each day and we always have plenty of time to enjoy books as a family. Snuggling on the couch with a good book is precious time together.

The final habit I am listing today is about getting the kids in the kitchen with me. I found it was always a struggle when both of my girls were helping me, so I would avoid it and then feel bad because I wasn't teaching them to cook. Now each day has an assigned kitchen helper and this child gets to cook with me one-on-one. Sometimes they don't have to do much more than set the table or help with a salad, but sometimes they get to learn a new recipe with me. We still have special times where we bake together, but at least this way they are involved on a more regular basis.

For more great ideas (I have already listed a few that I know will help our homeschool!) go to Heart of the Matter.

Planning time!

Yep, with the tulips and daffodils, the chicks and the sunshine comes Homeschool planning time! Yippee! I love this time of year as I am such a planner at heart. I love looking back over our year thinking about what has worked and what hasn't. There is such freedom in the knowledge that we get to start over again in the fall! In my planning I have begun to think about it all - the good the bad and the ugly, and I thought I would post it here. Later I will come back and write about what I am thinking I will do for next year...

Lola (2nd Grade)
What we like:

• Keys for Kids Devotionals
  
• Our Island Story (British History)
• Jeannie Fulbright's Exploring Creation with Astronomy
• Math U See - Beta
• Handwriting without Tears - Cursive Success
  
• Ambleside Online's Literature Selections
• Burgess Animal Book
• First Language Lessons
• Lapbooks
  

What we didn't like:

• Dictation as our only spelling method.
  
• Ambleside Online's other selections for history and geography.
• My Father's World (Adventures).
  

What we wanted to do but didn't (or at least not as often as we would have liked!)

• Poetry study
• Artist Study
• Nature Study
• Composer Study

......Sorry Charlotte Mason - I'm trying! :-)

Tayo (Pre-K)
What we like:

• Reading Made Easy
• Math U See - Primer
• Handwriting without Tears - Get Set for School
• Lap Books

What we didn't Like:

• Nothing!

What we wanted to do but didn't (or at least not as often as we would have liked!):

• Unit Studies
  
• Science (of any kind!)
• Arts and Crafts.

So there you have it - a year in review! See my next post for what this all means for next year!

Bible study Pt II

Well, this making up your own bible study is working well, but is pretty hard work! We have had some good discussions though and I think it has been worth it. We are not quite done with week one as we have had a few trips and doctor appointments that got in the way of school a little but so far so good. I have planned out the final part of our Lord's Prayer study and included it below.

Monday:
Focus: “And forgive us our sins”
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:14
Discussion: What is a sin. What did Jesus do on the cross? What does repentance mean?
Activity: Let go of your sin object lesson

Tuesday:
Focus: “As we forgive others who have sinned against us”.
Scripture: Mark 11:25
Discussion: Whom do we need to forgive? What happens to our prayers if we do not forgive? What does forgiveness look like?
Activity: Role play situations

Wednesday:
Focus: “And lead us not into temptation”
Scripture: Mark 14:38
Discussion: What tempts us? Why are we tempted? How do we stand up to temptations?
Activity: Respond to these problem letters.

My cousin just moved to town and now goes to the same school that I do. He has no friends yet and I know he is lonely. He dresses kind of funny and is not into sports like my friends and I are. My friends think he is weird. How do I decide who to hang with, my friends or my cousin?

My best friend figured out a way to steal candy at the corner store without ever getting caught. He steals one piece for me and one piece for him. Since I am not the one doing the stealing, I think it is o.k. for me to eat the candy. What do you think?
My neighbor just got a new Game Boy. She lets me play the game. It is sooooo much fun. I just have to have one. I asked my parents but they said no. They said it cost too much money. I decided to act mad at them until they buy me a Game Boy. It has been four days and they still will not buy me one. How can I make them buy me one?

Thursday:
Focus: “But deliver us from evil”
Scripture: Psalm 61:3
Discussion: The goes around seeking to destroy us, but God is stronger and protects us. What are we protected from?
Activity: Draw a picture of you safe in the Strong tower of God.

Friday:
Focus: “For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen”
Scripture: Matt 13:43
Discussion: How to be a light shining God’s kingdom to the rest of this world.
Activity: Make a light catcher

New bible study trial.

I have been looking around for a bible study to use with the s in our school time and not found anything, so for now I think that God is leading me to work on this myself. Instead of using a pre-written bible study curriculum I am going to see how well I can do by myself. I have decided to take a topic and explore it with the s for a week or more as needed.
The first topic I am undertaking is prayer and we will be using The Lord's Prayer as a guide. This topic will take approx two weeks as I am going to break The Lord's Prayer down line by line and examine each one.
I am adding my plan here as I do love coming upon other's ideas when on line and you never know - some one else might be able to use it! This is week one, I'll post an update on how it is going towards the end of the week and next week's plan once I have written it!

Weekly Bible Study

Topic: Prayer

Memory Verse: The Lord’s Prayer

Monday:

Focus: “Our Father”’

Scripture: John 3:16

Discussion:

What makes a good Father?

God is our father. He wants only the best for us. Discuss what He did for us in Jesus.

Activity: We are all God’s Children coloring sheet.

Tuesday:

Focus: “Who art in Heaven”

Scripture: Read Rev 4

Discussion:

Where is heaven?
What is it like?

Activity: Draw a picture of what you think Heaven is like.

Wednesday:

Focus: “Hallowed by thy name”.

Scripture: Psalm 9

Discussion:

How do we praise God?

What can we thank Him for?

Activity: Praise and worship time

Thursday:

Focus: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done”

Scripture: Psalm 33:8

Discussion: Discuss how badly the world needs God. God’s will is for all to come to Him.

Discuss God’s will for our own lives.

Activity: Use map and choose a place in the world to pray for

Friday:

Focus: “Give us this day our daily bread”

Scripture: Psalm 37:25

Discussion: God provides for all our needs.

Discuss all the blessings we have.

Activity: Make bread

I copied and pasted this from word and this was as good as I could get it to look! Sorry!

Our Easter Party!

Our Homeschool group "The Adventure Club" had an Easter Party toady at a local park. We had a great time finding eggs, playing and eating candy!

A great time was had by all! I think we may be eating the candy all week!