Friday, August 20, 2010

A Day in the Life ... August Edition

Welcome to the August edition of a day in our homeschool.  We are in the 4th week of this school year and so far things are going pretty well.  Our out-of-the-home classes start in September.  This year the kids will be participating in dance, homeschool choir, monthly art classes for homeschoolers at the art museum, monthly science classes at the science museum, and our FIAR field trip group.  In addition, one child recieves Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy weekly.  However, we are still in the slower part of our year so here is a look at today.  Every 2 months, two children get 10 consecutive days of Tomatis Auditory 2 hours of therapy.

7:30 to 8:50 ~

The kids woke up at about the same time and arrived dressed in the living room.  They watched a Magic School Bus Show and ate breakfast.  I took a shower, did some paperwork for one of the kid's doctor appoinments, ate breakfast and loaded the dishwasher.

8:50 to 9:20 ~

We took Timothy to his volunteer job at the nature center.  While riding in the car, the kids listened to The Bible in Living Sound.

9:20 to 9:50 ~

The children and I folded and put away 4 loads of laundry.  Tom Sawyer (8), who had been arguing with me all morning, was getting to be more troublesome during chores.  I attempted to distract him and then chide him for his behavior, but he kept complaining and arguing.  I then decided that he needed a morning in his room for his attitude. So off he went to his room with school books until lunch time.  I try to give him more opportunities to pull himself together because of his special needs, but special needs or not, the child must obey and comply.

9:50 to 10:50 ~

Everyone did Explode the Code, Correcting Reversal worksheets, math pages and math games.  The girls did reading lessons.

If you have children that are struggling with reversals and/or trouble keeping their place when reading, I have found these two tools to help --  The Correcting Reversals book, which is helping so much, as well as this see-through box from HeadsUp!

10:50 to 11:15 ~

The girls had free time in which they played with Playmobile figures.  I had a talk with Tom Sawyer about his attitude and talked to my Mother on the phone.

11:15 to 12:3o ~

Tom Sawyer rejoined us in a much more managable mood.  We ate lunch while watching the DVD, Galileo On the Shoulders of Giants .  We then did a science experiment, showing specific gravity using Galileo for Kids.

12:30 to 1:00 ~

We traveled to Tom Sawyer's OT appointment. While in the car, we finished the Bible story we had been listening to that morning.

1:00 to 2:00 ~

While Tom Sawyer was in his OT session, the girls and I ran some errands.

2:00 to 3:00 ~

We picked up Tom Sawyer, then picked up Timothy from the nature center and finished errands.  We listened to Song School Latin, which my kids just love.  It is such a gentle introduction to Latin.

3:00 to 4:15 ~

Everyone had free time.  The kids played Playmobile, Legos, and bike riding in the rain.  Timothy and I caught up on his day and what he wants to do over the weekend.  I also talked to a friend on the phone.



4:15 to 5:00 ~

We did dinner time chores and read a chapter in our chapter book, Pippi Longstocking.  No tea time while reading the chapter story today.

5:00 to 5:30 ~

The kids went bike riding with Daddy, who had just gotten home.

5:30 to 6:30 ~

On Thursdays, Earthfare (our local organic grocery store) has "Kids Eat Free" night.  It is a great deal.  For a $5 dollar adult purchase from the cafe area, you can get up to 6 free kids meals.  The food is healthy and there is lots of variety. We usually spend about $10 for the adults' food and the children love their kids meals.

Here is an example of one child's food, organic chocolate milk, turkey roll up, chedder bunnies, and a fruit kabob.

6:30 to 7:45 ~

Tom Sawyer went to his last swimming lesson with his favorite teacher.  She is moving away, and he will miss her very much.  The girls and I watched a show from season two of The Waltons.

7:45 ~

The children got ready for bed.

Last Note~  This is my favorite T-Shirt!  Some days are great and others are hard, but for our family this T-Shirt speaks what is best for us!

Blessings,

Dawn

6 comments:

  1. I sure love the photos of my precious grandchildren. But, Dawn, why did you cut your lovely head off of the T Shirt photo? If you still have a head on the photo and cropped it off, please put your head back on and put it back on the blog. LOL I love you.

    I definitely agree with the sentiment on the T Shirt. I love the photo of Timothy petting Lady and the photo of you reading to the Littles while they all take different interesting poses while being read to. Lots of Love, Your Mom

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  2. It was fun reading about your day! What a great deal for dinner! Wish we had that around here!

    I'm glad to hear your FIAR group is still running. Hope you have a fun year with it!

    Hugs to you,
    Leslie

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  3. Loved reading about what goes on in your home!! Have a great week!!

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  4. I am so glad to see someone else enjoy a television show as a part of their day. Our kids love the Magic School Bus, but aren't up early enough for it. Our favorite is the lovable aardvark, Arthur, in the afternoon. From the teen on down to the youngest, they all enjoy this show in the afternoons. We don't get to watch it every day, but I have to say that I get a laugh or two as well when we're all able to sit down.


    I always love the glimpses into your day, and you've turned me on to some neat tools that I wasn't aware of before. I'm on my way to check out the gentle introduction to Latin now. Thanks, and God bless you, Dawn.

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  5. Dawn, Thanks for visiting my blog! It has been neat to "publish" my musings and actually have others read them, and also to "meet" so many others through their blogs.

    I loved reading about your homeschool day. I'm organized, but I don't think I could give a time-line of what we do in a day!

    It is encouraging to read about others homeschooling with special needs, too. I have my own 21yo autistic son living at home with us still, and there are always challenges, still even now. It's nice to know that there are others who aren't just "sailing through" their days!

    I'm glad I found your blog. Blessings on you!
    In Christ,
    Christine

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  6. Hello Dawn,
    It was nice to have you stop by my "other" blog. I still have my blog here on Homeschoolblogger too. Most of my computer time is spent running The Homeschool Lounge so I really do not get to blog much anymore.

    Looks like you all have a fun, comfy homeschool, loved all the pictures!! Thanks for the peek into your day!!

    Hugs & Blessings,
    Tiany

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