School days, school days

 

Monday through Friday, 7 am, six bleary-eyed girls came tromping downstairs for breakfast, each having been woken up at 6:45, made her bed, gotten dressed, brushed teeth, brushed hair, spruced up her room and done her morning chore.  Some even came down with braided hair (thanks to Rachel).  All came down with smiles.  Grant was usually woken up right before we ate and carried downstairs, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes.  Some mornings I played music on the computer for inspiration.  Breakfast was our usual routine:  CoCo Wheats and cinnamon toast on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Cereal on Tuesday and Thursday.  Bottomless cups of orange juice. 

Some parts of our day remained the same. 

• Right after eating, a Proverb, Bible story, catechism questions, and poetry while they’re still corralled in their chairs. 
• Math lessons, reading lessons, history songs and lessons, spelling lists, science experiments,
• Pencil chewing, pencil dropping, pencil losing.
• Sometimes, a backlog at one of the computers while waiting for a turn to do geography games or Latin Flash Dash or spelling.
• Periodic breaks in momentum, caused by, but not limited to, an occasional diaper change; a quick grabbing of the camera to capture a moment too cute to miss; a squabble breaking out here or there; workbook/library book/teacher book/answer book searches; a hungry baby; a stray dog in the yard; the mailman delivering new books and letters from pen pals, etc…
• Lots of reading.  Good books.  Sense and Sensibility, Bobbsey Twins, Sir Cumference and the First Round Table:  A Math Adventure, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Elsie Dinsmore …

Some parts of our day were new.

• A consistently early start;
• A schedule for everyone (except Trent) posted on the fridge;
• A piano lesson for the oldest 5, some in pairs;
• No interruptions from the outside world except during lunch;
• New subjects and activities for Claire and Grant;
• Concerns about what one was “supposed” to be doing.  “It’s 10:30 and I’m supposed to be starting Spelling, but the computers are all being used!”; and most importantly …
• Productivity, productivity, productivity!

For years, I have resisted creating a detailed schedule because (a) it seemed too impossible (toddlers and babies can challenge even the most flexible routines) and complicated, (b) I didn’t want to turn into Drill Sergeant Mom, and (c) … well, it’s just not how I’m wired.  I’m a stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of gal.  And the lilacs.  And aren’t the coneflowers pretty?  However, subjects do need to be taught and learned in a timely manner and kids do eventually grow up and graduate (when I look at my 15-year-old, I’m reminded of that fact). 

So I took drastic measures and met with a super-organized homeschooling friend a few weeks ago.  She came armed with a huge bin overflowing with books, schedules, supplies, timers, games … all tools in her homeschooling toolbox.  We spent almost three hours together, with me mostly listening, asking questions and furiously taking notes with my laptop.  The other patrons in Burger King must’ve thought we were planning some kind of national convention!  Then I came home and let everything steep for a few days, sat down with pen and paper and started sketching out a schedule, gradually moved everything over into Excel, then started adding borders and shading, making everything look more official and school-y.

Everybody was excited to jump in and try things out.  Of course, everything was not perfect.  I was prepared for that and gave lots of pep talks beforehand about flexibility and patience.  What I didn’t anticipate was how concerned the younger ones would be with doing things at the appointed time.  After a few episodes of panic on their part, I came up with a word picture.  The clock is our servant; we are not its slaves.  The clock is suggesting that we do such-and-such.  We take the information the clock is giving us and decide whether we’re going to finish up what we’re doing more quickly and move on, or keep at whatever we’re doing. 

And now I look back on this first week and am amazed.  We got so much done each day. Lots of school, lots of chores, but still some down time and breaks.  By the end of the week we were tired.  Not the defeated kind of tired, but the wow, we got a lot done kind of tired.  I’m hoping the novelty of our new productive school days does not wear off too soon, but I’m already putting some tricks up my sleeve for those days that will surely come. 

Schedules ‘R Us

 

Don’t blink or you might miss this beta version of our school schedule that we’ve printed today off for our upcoming school year.  We’re trying several new things this year, including, but not limited to, an online class for Rachel and Courtney, some new curricula, different activities to occupy Grant and more structure for Claire.  I’m not going to lie – I practically break out in hives looking at this schedule, but there’s just so much to do that I feel like I have to reign in the time somehow.  I’ve explained numerous times to everyone that a typical day will likely vary quite a bit from what we’ve planned, but we’re going to give this layout a shot.  We’re jumping in feet first tomorrow morning, starting with a good breakfast of CoCo Wheats and cinnamon toast. Things usually go more smoothly after a good breakfast.  Famous last words, eh?  Stay tuned.

Summer Ballet

 

This weeks marks the final week of our trial run of ballet lessons.  Courtney, Erica, Sarah, Brooke & Claire all took an 8-week beginner’s ballet class with Ms. Hume of the Lebanon Ballet Academy.  Brooke & Claire participated in a class with just 3 other girls, but Courtney, Erica and Sarah were the only students in the older class.  The small classes were so nice because they allowed Ms. Hume to give some great individualized instruction for each of the girls.  The Ballet Academy takes the whole month of August off before starting up again in September.  Right now, we’re officially on the fence about whether to continue lessons in the fall.  There are several advantages and disadvantages and we’re trying to weigh them all.  Overall, we’ve definitely enjoyed the experience.  A few weeks ago, I told Ms. Hume how nice it is to watch young girls surrounded by such loveliness … lovely hair and dress, classical music and graceful dance steps.  I’m glad we have a month to decide what to do.  We’ve been told in no uncertain terms what the girls would prefer.  ;-)

Cropping, cutting and campouts

Well, we’ve officially begun our first year of 4-H Fair madness.  The Boone County Fair begins next Friday, so the girls have been busy preparing their 4-H entries.  Yesterday was the day Courtney’s scrapbook project was due, so we spent many hours during the week gathering the remaining supplies and putting the scrapbook together.  A friend from church who is a scrapbooker and 4-H veteran graciously helped us by loaning us the use of her Cricut cutter and giving us lots of tips on how to present the scrapbook. Courtney’s scrapbook theme was our Oliver Twist production from 2009, so we had lots of fun reliving the musical while we gathered the pictures and added them to the scrapbook.  Of course, that led to that renewed requests of doing another musical, which we really, really want to do.  As soon as we find an appropriate musical, we’ll get right on that.

The project check-in time was 8:00 am - 11:00 am at the fairgrounds.  I was worried there would be a mad rush at 8:00 am, because who wants to spend all day Saturday waiting in line?  So, we waited until around 10:45, then walked right up to the table, waited for the judge to finish one 4-Her ahead of us, then got our turn.  The judge was complimentary, gave Courtney one comment about making sure the items were cut perfectly square, then announced she would be getting a blue ribbon for the project!  Yay!  So now it’s on to Erica and Rachel’s photography projects, which are due on Tuesday.  Rachel’s picture is ready to go; she just has to finish an activity workbook, which is a requirement for the project.  Erica’s submission needs more work:  we have all the necessary parts, we just have to put them together. 

In the midst of all this, we decided it seemed like a good time to have a campout, so Friday night we invited the Orrs over and they set up the tents in the pine trees. 

Uncle Glenn, Alix, Kate, Isabella and Olivia camped out, along with Mick and all our girls. 

I’m not sure what time everybody finally fell asleep, but when I came in at 11:00 pm, the only camper close to falling asleep was Uncle Glenn.  :-D  Due to the all excited chatter I heard, I doubt that happened for awhile.  Olivia and Claire were especially excited since it was their first campout and they were the first ones up in the morning. 

OK – correction – Trent was technically the first one up.  After I nursed him in bed, he fell back asleep.  When I checked on him later, he had woken up and was checking out a book I’d been reading in bed earlier.  Yep – we start ‘em early around here.

Grant’s Foot Phone

So, we’ve been working our way through Sense and Sensibility lately as a read-aloud during lunch.  The girls have been loving it and often ask me to read several chapters at a sitting.  The other day, Grant was sitting on Rachel’s lap when she started laughing all the sudden.  Apparently, she spotted Grant using what she called a “foot phone.”  He had pulled his foot up to his ear and was having a serious “conversation” with Grandma.  When the laughter died down, one of the other girls asked him to call Grandma, so he grabbed his foot and started “dialing” his Foot Phone by pushing his little toes, saying “Beep, beep, beep.”  :-D  And then “Hi, Grandma …” 

Ahhhh, boys…

I love how serious he looks in this picture:

 

A Fabulous Fourth

Well, despite a wet, stormy beginning, July 4, 2011 ended up being a splendid day!  Sooo, we did end up taking part in Sheridan’s annual 4th of July parade after all.  The wagon looked great, decked out in red, white and blue sheets, courtesy of my sister, aka the Midwest Martha.  ;-)  Courtney, Erica, Sarah and Brooke followed on their bikes with many other kids while the rest of us piled into the wagon.  As you can see, Trent was slightly unsure about it all and Rachel has what I would call a “knowing” look.  :-D

Small town parades are so fun.  You’re likely to see some interesting sights like this:

and this:

and most likely, you’ll see friends waving:

The most amazing sight was when we rounded the corner and headed up Main Street.  I have never seen more than a dozen or so cars at once in this tiny town.  Imagine the contrast of that to this:

Looks like Small Town, USA, eh?

From there, we went down to Mom and Dad’s neighbors’, who were out of town and graciously offered us the use of their great pool.

Luke does a near-perfect cannon ball off the diving board:

Anna, who is surely part fish, takes a relaxing break after swimming:

Sweet Alyssa:

Erin is always ready with a smile:

Grant, who showed a lot of bravery in the pool with Daddy:

From there, we went to Mom and Dad’s for the meal, proving yet again that you can pack “forty-eleven” people into one tiny kitchen and still come away with everyone being more than satisfied.  Oh there’s plenty of room inside and out for eating the food, just challenging to actually get the food! 

Years ago, we used to sit on Mom and Dad’s deck and watch Glenn set of fireworks in the field behind the house.  At some point, we noticed that the neighbors’ horses (and they have dozens of them, mostly thoroughbreds and Tennessee Walkers) didn’t much care for the fireworks.  So we started going to the Orrs for the fireworks.  Since we live close to the Orrs, but it’s such a drive for everyone else, we usually split up at that point.  <sniff, sniff>

Glenn outdid himself with the fireworks, and there were lots of appreciative “ooohs” and “ahhhhs”.  Grant and Trent did surprisingly well with all the noise, although both boys spent most of the display with hands covering their ears.  :-)

Uh-oh

 

Bad news:  It’s possible we may not be able participate in the Sheridan 4th of July parade this morning.  Start time is 10:00 am.  Good news:  I won’t have to waffle anymore about whether or not to ride in our church’s parade wagon/float with Trent The Insatiable, my little nursing wonder.

Thankfully, it’s not supposed to rain all day.  We spent about an hour and a half at Kohl’s last night trying to pick out modest swimsuits for Rachel, Courtney and Claire (yes, a 5yo … don’t get me started) since we’re planning on swimming at Mom & Dad’s neighbor’s today.  But the timing of this squall is not looking good for the parade. 

Happy 4th!!