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!
3littlewees 
You have energy, energy, energy!!!