School Time and Moving

So we had our first week back at school last week.  We took a 3 week Christmas vacation, mostly because we spent 2 weeks up north, so I wanted the week at home to let the girls get adjusted back to being home and also so I could do some more decluttering.

And it definitely helped, I have around 10 boxes and a garbage bag waiting to be trucked away to the second hand store in town.  And that isn't even including the toys I have planned on getting rid of.  It's spring cleaning in January.

Actually, it's more like pre-moving cleaning out.  Because we are moving.  Again.  We haven't even been in this house 6 months.  But I'm not complaining.  I complain in jest, and I mock ourselves for moving again so fast, but it is definitely a good thing for us.  One of the biggest factors, the rent will be cheaper.  $300 cheaper.  That is a significant amount of money for us.  The house is older, same as the one we are currently in, but it is in better condition.  We are also good friends with the owners there.  And it's on 7 acres.  That is sweet!!  A down side would be that the house is smaller, but it is a better layout, and the bathroom is bigger. Tit for tat.

Anyways, I was planning on talking about our school week.  The first day back went really well.  Abby was very willing to sit down and do all our work.  She was almost excited to use our schedule and get going.  But then Tuesday came, and that one wasn't as good.  Hahaha.  Second day blues?  Wednesday went well, and Friday was alright.  Neither easy or hard.  Just ordinary.  The book we were reading last week for Come Sit By Me was The White Stone in the Castle Wall by Sheldon Oberman.  And one of the activities was making a castle.  That was loads of fun.

Sometimes it's hard for me not to be perfectionist about projects like this.  Like, no, don't paint it that!!  Paint it like this!  But I just learn to relax and let them do it however they want to, since it's not for me.

Outline of a School Day

Almost done the second month of school.  And I think that we are finally finding some sort of rhythm  to it.  I hope.  Here is what our typical day looks like so far.

Bible:  We have a memory verse that comes from Come Sit by Me, and sometimes they suggest stories to teach and read about.  I will usually find the stories in Kid's Bibles, and then find a craft to go along with that.

Reading: We are working through The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.

Printing: We are using Handwriting Without Tears.  Abby has fun with using the wooden blocks to make letters, as well as a slate to draw them over sized first.

We usually have a 15 minute break here.  The girls will have a snack and play or draw.

Math: We are using Right Start Math, which has lots of manipulatives to play with.  It's going pretty slowly right now.

Come Sit By Me: For those who don't know, this curriculum covers a variety of subjects.  It has different sections that you do, over a week or two.  You read a selected book every day and then they have activities to do that relate to the book.  Reading a book is always fun for the girls, and they enjoy the different things we get to do.

Depending how things are going we will take a quick break here.

Explode the Code: A mixture of phonics and printing.  It is focusing on lower case right now, and that is a little more frustrating for poor Abby so sometimes this lesson ends in a fight.

And I switch between Bingo games and Sounds Abound, a book and computer game that have kids listening to sounds, like rhyming.

That is the basic outline of how we do school.  Some days, like today, we are done almost everything by 11, but other days we got until almost 1.

School in September

I just put Leigh down for a time-out/nap and she is crying at the top of the stairs.  I am too lazy to go put her back in her bedroom.  I probably should though.  She is being sooooo incredibly cranky today.  I'm wondering if I am letting her play too many "video games."  Lately while I do school work with Abby, I let Leigh play on my iPhone.  Ideally I don't want to do this every day, but I feel like it's just so much easier.

I'm hoping that once the house gets more organized, I'll have more stuff for her to do.  I have lots of ideas, just none really implemented.  And maybe I should be taking more time with her.  Even while she was playing games on the phone today she wanted to stay cuddled with me.  I think that I don't take more time because I'm selfish and just want to get through the "work" as soon as possible, so that I can sit on the computer wasting my time and mind away.

Last week was a really difficult school week.  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, oh my, it was just rough.  Leigh was fussy and Abby wanted nothing to do with school.  I was stressed out.  I have ladies' Biblestudy on Thursdays, and I asked for prayer for help with school.  We didn't do any school on Friday because, well because I just didn't want to.  But we did some on Saturday, and it was seriously way better.  And so far this week it has gone much better as well.  I am so very excited.

I think that it's not that Abby is any different, well, maybe a little, but I have just more patience.  An that makes a huge difference.

Where is a Horizontal Keyboard Option When You Need One?

It's funny how when I have Internet and computer access, I can sit down and try to think of something to write but I never seem to feel like it or it just doesn't seem interesting enough. But the minute you take away my computer, I have huge urges to share all my thoughts with the world.

We are now moved. And am I ever glad that is done. Now I just have to unpack. I've been thinking, and I'm still not quite sure which is worse, packing or unpacking. I'm leaning towards packing I think, because unpacking has that organizational and fun-to-find-a-place-for-it elements. My problem is that the basement here isn't finished or even ready for storage so I'm trying to stuff everything upstairs. I have too much stuff. If you need any stuff, come see me.

On top of all the adventure of a new house, we started "school" on Tuesday. I had wanted to start a couple weeks ago but that didn't pan out. We've only done two days so far, but everyone is still alive. It is definitely a patience building thing, teaching Madison, and Livi too. But I think it is going to work out just fine.

So this is all I'm going to write for now because I'm on my iPhone and it's ridiculously frustrating typing on here. Hope everyone out there reading his is well. Have a fun filled weekend. I'm hoping to convince my husband to take us to the lake while the good weather lasts.