Happy Leap Day! Leaping and jumping and frogs. Grilled cheeses and soup. Much math and reading. Some writing and game playing. Library and more reading. Playing when the sun started to shine. Adventuring (they have gotten the hang of the walkie talkies!) Emmy and I got to scoot and walk while the big kids hiked in the woods. And I figured out the collage feature!
A blustery day. Children slow to rise. Chilly floors to tiptoe across. Pouring coffee to wake myself up. Time to begin.
First things first: I check in to see who might have been on Periscope, my favorite new social media toy tool, while I was offline. It is like waking up with a friend; people I follow are full of thoughtful advice, real life confessions and inspired learning. Next comes email, Insta, FB and then onto the Homeschool Alliance. If the kids are still asleep or are occupied with Dino Dan or Arthur, I quietly throw on some sneakers and hit the road for a quick run. Back inside to make breakfast, get everyone dressed and ready for the day, and make sure Dada gets off to work.
Three days out of the week, the smallest of the crew are dropped off at preschool but today is Friday and everyone is home. Hooray! We are scheduled to visit a nearby nature center for a maple syrup demonstration in the beginning of March so we will are starting to read all about the sugaring season and do activities connected to that. If you want lots of ideas, check out my earlier post on Maple Sugaring (with accompanying scope!) We read three different picture books and then bundle up for a nature walk to identify the maple trees in our woods and figure out which ones are large enough to be tapped.
While outside, we identify a few trees, keep watch for birds in the sky and new animal tracks in the snow. We find ourselves wandering all the way down to the creek. Creekside, we observe the rushing water caused by the warmer weather earlier in the week, find some ice as clear as glass, and get covered in too much mud.
Back inside…time for lunch. My daughter pops her head in on a break from getting the mac n cheese plated for everyone to remind me that we don’t get on electronics until after lunch. #busted
While we eat, I read a few favorite poems from books selected before lunch: a lullaby, a Greek myth, a Shel Silverstein or two and a poem about building towers with blocks, and lunch is over. The kids ask for hot chocolate and a game. I grant their request and we are soon playing Sequence. A quick clean up and we meet up in the playroom, cuddled on the couch to do a faux Morning Time. Some of our selections this week include:
Obstacles, a game by eBoo is out so I gather up some of the cards and explain alphabetizing to my daughter. We work on ABC order up to three letters into a word. It is an easy introduction that we will look at again (and again). {I try to seize those moments if a learning opportunity presents itself! And when I get overwhelmed by the idea of teaching my children all they have to know, I remind myself that learning is cyclical and spirals into infinity. Learning never ends.}
After we are through reading, I chase the toddler upstairs to get her out of her bathing suit and into something more-appropriate-for-daytime wear. Her brother is refusing to change out of pjs. Sadly, he isn’t able to have a few minutes of Nintendo Land until he is dressed in real clothes, so he quickly scrambles into jeans. Meanwhile, the oldest and I move back to the dining room for copywork, spelling and a quick math lesson. We come together again to craft birch bark buckets, the containers used by Native Americans to catch the sap from maples. Quiet time follows. We do audiobooks, LEGO, and, yes, even video games–whatever will relax and quiet the household.
We have swimming and playing and more late evening reading and a run-down of the day to share with Dada when he returns home. I still have to fold laundry, clean up the kitchen and decide what to make for dinner. And I would love to sit and have some late day caffeine to keep my energy up and my demeanor cheerful.
Days are always full but what I love most about our choice to homeschool is to discover and learn beside my kids and watch how they grow and change day to day–up close and personally. I thought watching my children learn to walk and talk was exciting; watching them sound out that first word or make a connection in math is equally amazing.
Thanks for joining me for the 2016 Day in The Life series!
We all traveled to Cranberry, center of culture and commerce, to attend a musical today. One of Ollie’s teachers was Mrs. Arable so we had special seating and treats. One little girl sat mezmerized, a boy lol-ed many times at Lurvy and Lily thought the characters were spot on. Just like the book, save for the rather strange songs. 🐷❤️🕷
We love a good walk in the woods…especially on sunny days. A mite brisk this morning but after reading some picture books and poetry, we bundled up to search for maple trees and other critters.
School was all together and so was swimming. When Sam asked Emmy at dinner how swimming was she replied, without hesitation, “I was awesome!”. She was happy because Miss MaryAnne didn’t have students so she could help out with Em’s new teacher. It is quiet upstairs, after a rather boisterous afternoon. Even if all the noise is jolly and playful, sometimes there is nothing as sweet as silence. 🙂
It is so changeable. This is what we did yesterday…today it snowed and snowed! 
We sat down as a family tonight for dinner. By some miracle of miracles, everyone had discussion points to add, everyone complimented the dinner offerings, no one needed to express extreme emotion and it was just a delight. Candlelit dinner, no less. I am going to bask in the glow of this moment for a bit. I sat looking at each of those faces and had a very zen moment of peace and love. I bet we’ll have more but it was a sweet way to end the day.
Ollie was hyped up to read tonight; his sight word this week is is. We finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I think he enjoyed a lot. I will have to ask him tomorrow…the sunny and warm day had us outside at Pine Park and jumping on the tramp all afternoon. He was ready to settle down at the end of the last chapter. And while we read he did pick out is. I’ll pick a picture book tomorrow with less tiny words; it is difficult to see those little letters when you are training your eyes to read!
Besides the whole walking/talking thing, nothing beats my fascination in watching them learn to read!!
Checked out Heinz History Center today! Not the most favorite of our museums but pretty neat nonetheless. 
There were so many times I laughed out loud today at the kids. In delight. In amusement. In wonder. (In exasperation: #truth) Emmy and her wildness. Lily and her singleminded-ness (and shrewd assessment of the Grammy outfits on replay). Ollie and his love/hate relationship with zombies. They are all so busy and loud and wild. I felt like I owned the most feral children on the block this weekend since they drug all.the.dirt. into the house and often left their clothes strewn on the lawn…but they are so original and confident. How can one not appreciate that?
We got just a small taste of spring today…and was it ever a breath of fresh air (literally)! A long walk in the morning with Emmy, all day outside playing in the mud for the older kids. Ollie had a birthday party to go to. When I returned home from the party and grocery shopping, I found the neighborhood in the backyard. Before leaving, Landon showed up with a metal detector and everyone commenced to digging up my front garden. I shooed them back to the trampoline and backyard area. Upon my return, a 2 foot hole had been dug, lined with a tarp and water filled it. Some kids were in bathing suits. While I told Lily they could dig in the backyard, I failed to tell her that I only meant little divots. My bad. Guess Ollie and his trucks will have a good place to drive around when spring really does arrive 🙂
It is 6 and they are still outside which makes everyone happy. We are eating mac’n for dinner. O Happy Day!
And in other news: I started a homeschool blog. wellermomma.com
Feel free to check it out. Mostly it is to hold all the ideas and book recommends I give on Periscope. I just need more fun in my life! 🙂
3littlewees 