We start as soon as we’re done with family morning scriptures (we read 10 verses out of the Book of Mormon, rereading each verse in French as we go, then discuss what we read). We go to the couch with our scriptures, and watch one of the Old Testament Stories the church produces, then I ask them to tell the story back to me. We then begin to read the scriptures the story summarizes. I plan it out beforehand so that we'll read about a fourth of the scriptures from the story in a day, so that after 4 days or so we can start the next story. This works very well for a 4-day school week. After we've read the scriptures that the story summarizes, we recite the memory verse I've chosen that goes with the story. I have them each recite the verse as many times as their age, so Jack recites it 6 times and Lily does it 3 times. My goal is that by the end of the week, they can tell me the story and recite to me the verse from memory. After we've done all the Old Testament Stories, we'll do New Testament Stories, then Book of Mormon Stories, then Doctrine and Covenants Stories. That'll keep me busy for a few years!
Next we work on reading practice. I have a set of index cards for their memory verse, one word or punctuation mark per card, and I have them put the cards in order, using a large-print copy of the verse as their key. I might ask them to find repeated words, or just point to a word and ask them what it is, and since they're working on memorizing that verse they can usually answer me correctly.
Next we go to the table with paper and pencils and practice writing. They write the first word of the memory verse, repeating it the number of times as their age in years.
Next is art. This one is wide open, yet I am often at a loss for what to do in this category. My goal is to have them create something that is beautiful and useful. We've painted, colored, sculpted, cut paper, etc. I hope to not forget other categories of arts, like music. Perhaps I can ask their music leader from church what songs they're working on and practice those during this time, or teach them to play songs on the piano. It's all a work in progress!
Next we do math. It might be drill, in which the more challenging aspect is writing their answers down correctly, or it might be a game that practices whatever skill is challenging for one of them (Jack is learning place value in the millions, multiplication and division, arithmetic symbols, negative numbers, fractions, and geometry, while Lily is working on counting! There's a big gap in their skill levels!), or it might be a page or two of Janice VanCleave's "Math for Every Kid", turning as many of her illustrations as possible into real-life activities.
Next is science! We have a pile of science activity books we want to work through; the one we're on at the moment is an old one we got at a curriculum swap, called "God's Marvelous Works" by Faythelma Bechtel. We've done activities like shining flashlights at mirrors to see how the light bounces, mixing water and milk to make a translucent mixture, and holding a glass dish over a pot of boiling water to collect the steam and see it condense (that one, they only observed, I kept them safe!). Next in the pile of books are Janice VanCleave's "Play and Find Out about the Human Body" and Vicki Cobb's "Science Experiments You Can Eat".
Next is Literature. We just finished "Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi, and we're working on "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder," Our Island Story" by H. E. Marshall, "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "Friend", a monthly magazine for children produced by the church.
Last we do something purely for fun, like jump on the trampoline or wrestle on the bed.
Ideally, we do all of this and it's not even noon yet. Realistically, Charlotte will need diaper changes, a potty trip, and a nap before that, and we're lucky if we make it to science. So, the next day, we pick up where we left off, and smile!
We are all learning and growing SO MUCH with this routine. And as an added bonus, Charlotte loves it and happily plays while we do this, unless she needs a nap.
-Charlotte walking:
-Lily`s perfect behavior except when she needs a nap
Yes, Lily is almost perfect, unless she needs a nap. That is in fact my biggest motivator to take the time out of my day to snuggle her down for her nap, is that if she's well-rested she is such an easy and delightful child! Her only fault is that she can get so focused on whatever she's doing that she doesn't really hear what Tim or I tell her; the hilarious thing is that she'll say "OK!" and then promptly forget! I'm working on not losing my patience with her when she does this. Not being listened to is definitely one of my least favorite things, but I love her and I know she loves me and will do what I need her to do once I can just get through to her!
Lily went for a few weeks from January into February not needing naps at all. That was when I weaned her, too, which went very well. But her behavior began to deteriorate and she started falling asleep on car trips, and I tried putting her down for a nap and found success, so I've kept it up. She won't need naps forever!
Yes, I weaned her, finally. I tried halfheartedly a few times since Charlotte's birth but she vehemently refused, so I figured she wasn't ready and powered through, growing to love it again every time. She increased her nursing frequency again in January or so, and I just had enough. I think she was ready, too, because she was OK with it. It helped that she also didn't need a nap for those few weeks! Whenever she asked to nurse I offered to cuddle her instead, or read to her, and she happily accepted. Tim put her to bed at night, and I started reading her and Jack a bedtime story every night. She noticed that I wasn't nursing her anymore and asked once why, and I held her close and told her that I love her very much but she's getting too big to nurse, and Charlotte's getting bigger too and needs all the milk I make. I let her nurse one last time, then, and while she did continue to ask for a week or so after that, she never cried when I told her no. And then she stopped asking. Later when I started napping her again, I just read her a book and held her close and she fell asleep without any trouble. She did ask again for a couple of days, weeks after, and I gently refused, and she stopped asking with no fuss. She was ready, and so was I!
-Jack isn't doing anything spectacular at the moment, just growing into a fine young man.
He loves his sisters and helps with them, he doesn't do his chores until he's asked but he does them then, and he loves to make things with K'Nex and Tinker Toys. He still throws fits when life is hard, but he's getting better at stopping and translating his emotions into words, and getting the love he needs from me and occasionally from Tim. He's losing his baby teeth and getting his secondary teeth, and doing a decent job remembering to brush his teeth after every meal. He is actually learning to read and write in our homeshool, and while he hates how hard it is, he is very proud of what he knows, as evidenced by the drawings he brings home from church or makes in his spare time. He is still a work in progress, but he is a person I like to have around.
-Tim works and we travel!
Tim has succeeded so far in keeping our family afloat all on his own, not as an employee. Granted, he is working as a contractor for a company, but only 30 hours a week.
And we go with him to every conference he goes to. We went to the San Francisco area in September, Chicago in October, Washington DC in November, and Dallas in February. This month we're going to South Carolina, next month we're going to France (first time out of the states for the kids!), in May we're going to Florida, and in June we'll be back in the Bay area. During this extra-busy traveling time, the company Tim does work for wants him to do more work, so I've taken over doing the dishes in our house. Since I also snuggle both girls down when they need naps, and their naps don't often coincide, I feel like I spend most of my day snuggling, feeding, and washing dishes. The laundry hasn't been caught up in weeks, something I used to keep always done. But it won't be too many more months and Charlotte will go down to just one nap a day, and then I can put her down with Lily. And Tim will be able to do dishes again someday, and I won't know what to do with all my extra time!
Whew! That was supposed to be just a quick update! Good night!
:) Love it all! :) Way to go Momma! :)
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