Category: Roman

We ended up having a Homeschooling Light day today…we skipped Writing and Social Studies/Science and just did Math, Reading, and Mommy and Me Time.

Jonas progressed at his own pace on Khan and Beast Academy, read on Epic, and made lemon poppyseed muffins with me for Mommy and Me Time.

Xander progressed at his own pace on Khan and Beast Academy, read on Epic, and sewed bookmarks with me for Mommy and Me Time.

Roman progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, read on Epic, and played throw golf with me for Mommy and Me Time.

Week 6 of homeschooling is complete…only 2 1/2 more weeks to go!!!

Tom took Jonas to work with him today (it’s just Tom at his office), so he could homeschool there. It helped so much just to change up the dynamic for a day and give the boys a break from each other (and me a break from the tween attitude and the incessant fighting between the book ends). I think Jonas really enjoyed having his space with Daddy too!

Jonas labeled the parts of speech in a Dr. Seuss quote, watched a video on fractions and progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, watched a TED talk and read on Epic, and completed several slides about forces and motion.

Xander wrote a narrative essay about what he’d be doing if he were at school, worked with multiplying fractions and whole numbers and progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, read a book, read a few social studies articles and answered questions about them, and watched a technology and engineering video for science. For Mommy and Me Time, we made his bed/picked up his room and snuggled up in bed and read together.

Roman worked on his biography about Unspeakable with me, progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, read on Epic, watched a few mystery science videos, and took a spelling test. For Mommy and Me Time, we played throw golf in the house.

We’re looking forward to PJ day tomorrow and heading out on the lake for the afternoon after homeschooling.

Are y’all getting bored of all of my posts about homeschool?

I hope not…it really helps me to order and make sense of my days.

Jonas did a lesson on comparative and superlative adjectives for Writing, progressed at his own pace on Khan Academy for Math, read on Epic, learned about ground water as a natural resource in Science, and read about the Holocaust in Social Studies. For Mommy and Me Time, we curled up in bed and read together.

Xander responded to his teacher’s classroom question and reviewed similes and metaphors for Writing, progressed at his own pace on Freckle for Math, read on Epic, and did some Mystery Science. For Mommy and Me Time, we took a walk (it ended up being a really long walk because we got lost…ack!).

Roman reviewed commas in a series and adjectives and sorted his spelling words by number of syllables, progressed at his own pace on Beast Activity for Math, and did some Mystery Science. For Mommy and Me time, we took a walk.

For our enrichment activity today (in honor of Earth Day), we made dirt cups (mud…milk, chocolate pudding, and cool whip AND dirt…crushed Oreos) with gummy worms. Yummy!!!

The boys and I have come to really look forward to our “unschooling” days.

They listened to music, read (Jonas and Xander are really into the “The Far Side” by Gary Larsen right now), created and played their own Kahoots, took turns riding the hoverboard, did crafts (Jonas did origami and Xander made his own stuffed animal dolphin out of paper, staples, and cotton balls), and connected with their friends over Zoom (Jonas also did a TaeKwonDo workout with Mrs. Mast).

I cleaned, gardened, mulched our front flower beds, and sewed face masks. We took breaks in between to throw the football and play Kubb and lawn darts.

There shouldn’t have been a worst part of today, but there was…it was the fighting between “the bookends” (Jonas and Roman) and their refusal to follow directions, bad attitudes, and sassy back talk…needless to say they spent a lot of time in their rooms.

The best part of today was the treat of ordering lunch from Sonic (through the app…totally they way to go) and having an impromptu picnic at the park. (I totally had quarantine hair and did not care.) It was a sweet moment, just camped out on a blanket in the middle of the field with the boys. I heard Jonas say, “This is the best lunch I’ve ever had!” It was so nice just to do something semi-normal in this SO not normal time.

Jonas responded to his teacher’s weekly question, read a NewsELA article and wrote a paragraph explaining the central idea, read on Epic, progressed at his own pace on Kahn Academy (we ditched the worksheets today), and caught up on a few Science videos. For Mommy and Me Time, we played Laser Maze (more like I watched him play…he’s so good at those sorts of games) and All Queens (he beat me an embarrassing number of times).

Xander responded to his teacher’s weekly question, wrote down adjectives used to describe characters in the book he’s reading, worked on a time capsule packet, read on Epic and completed a Cause and Effect graphic organizer, watched a video on comparing fractions and completed a worksheet, progressed at his own pace on Freckle Math, and watched a Mystery Science video on how the brain controls the body. For Mommy and Me Time, we played Mexican Train Dominoes. Here he is being silly, doing a wall sit with Jonas during our exercise/wake the brain up homeschool day opener.

Roman watched a Cause and Effect video on Flocabulary and worked on a time capsule packet, read on Epic, and progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy for Math (he’s really into the logic puzzle section right now). For Mommy and Me Time, we played Kubb. Then, he rage quit for some reason. So, we both took a breather, and then reconvened to read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” together. I’m trying…but the homeschool day is a struggle for him…I’m at a loss as to why. Oh well.

We tried a science experiment with pipe cleaners, twine, and popsicle sticks with glass jars, Borax, and boiling water that failed…in a few ways. It didn’t work, and it set Roman off…again, for some unknown reason. So, there’s that.

I’m looking forward to “unschooling” tomorrow.

We had a PJ day today and ordered carry-out from Birdie’s Breakfast and Lunch Shop (I think it’s the beginning of a Friday homeschooling tradition). Here are some pictures of the boys during the Writing portion of our day…little cuties!!!

Jonas answered one of his teacher’s weekly questions (“If you could be invisible during the CoVid crisis, what would you do?”) and answered several questions about poems, read on Epic, progressed at his own pace on Kahn Academy and completed a few math worksheets from his packet, watched a few science videos (Forces and Motion and Properties of Matter) and answered questions about them on Freckle, played Rummy and Mexican Train Dominoes with me for Mommy and Me Time, and had a Zoom meeting with his best friend.

Xander wrote and solved a big word problem using five different compound sentences, worked on equivalent fractions and progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, read on Epic, read and answered questions on a few articles about the Civil War on Social Studies Weekly, made snickerdoodles with me for Mommy and Me Time (for a friend who is quarantined with what she’s pretty sure is CoVid), and had a Zoom meeting with two of his good friends.

Roman wrote one narrative and two opinion paragraphs (I typed them out on Google Docs for him) and inserted pictures for fun, read on Epic, progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy for Math, played Wiffle Pickle in the backyard with me for Mommy and Me Time, and had a Zoom meeting with two of his good friends.

We ended up skipping our science experiment today, but we’ll probably get to it this weekend.

That’s week 3 of homeschooling in the books!!! The suggested activities for each grade level (2nd, 4th, and 5th) sent by the boys’ teachers were HUGELY helpful this week…total game changer.

We are so grateful for the beautiful weather this weekend…it even started to feel a little bit like summer. The boys had a blast playing with a gigantic bubble wand and water guns in the driveway.

We started our new homeschooling schedule/content today…

The district provided a packet full of information for each grade level, along with a suggested daily agenda. I spent all weekend, trying to wrap my head around it and organizing everything into binders for the boys. I tweaked the schedule just a little bit, so that they’re all on the same topic at the same time (even though they’re doing different levels of work). This is what their days are going to look like this week while we pilot it and see how it goes:

830 – 840 am Exercise
840 – 910 am Reading
910 – 930 am Communicating (Writing)
930 – 950 am Interest (Science M/W/F and Social Studies T/TH)
950 – 1020 am Arithmetic
1020 – 1040 am Creating (Art M/W/F and Music T/TH)
1040 – 1100 am Technology
1100 – 1130 am Independent Reading

They decided to try “Jump the Creek” today for exercise…they jumped from t-shirt to t-shirt on the floor, moving the t-shirt banks farther and farther apart each time. I was able to get some action shots…

So, basically during each block, the boys pick anywhere from 1 to 3 activities from their binder to complete. It sounds easy enough, but it’s met with attitude, refusal, and minor/major meltdowns. I was still able to capture a few peaceful moments. Here’s Xander, writing a letter to his best friend, Jeremy during Communicating. And here’s Roman, working on a science experiment I brought from home called “Dancing Worms” during Interest.

We ended up going for a walk up and down the street after the first four blocks of work. And, after completing the next two blocks of work, ate lunch and drove down the mountain and found a creek and a trail to explore off of one of the side roads. (We picked up with the last two blocks of work after we got home and relaxed a little bit.)

We’ll see what tomorrow holds…

So, today was a little rough, honestly. Maybe the newness of homeschooling is starting to wear off?

Xander pushed back quite a bit in Writing, even though I had accommodated him by offering him things to list instead of spring writing prompts. During our Mommy and Me time, he rolled around on the floor, saying he was bored and complained that there was nothing to do. He seemed more sad than bored to me. So, we ended up doing one of his favorite, comforting things…climbing into my bed and reading together (today’s selection was Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls). I think the quarantine is starting to bum him out…I understand.

Coding and Math were uneventful, which was good. For Mommy and Me time, Jonas and I played Battleship and Roman and I played Exploding Kittens (they both won).

For Science in the afternoon, I was super pumped up to get out of the house for the first time in a week or so and take them to Crockett Park for a nature scavenger hunt!!! BUT I got a ton of lip and whining from Xander and Roman and ended up having to have a Come to Jesus with them on the way, which in turn soured things for me. Tom was a bright spot, as always, and joined us at the park…he knew I was struggling. Jonas, Xander, and I found most of the things on our nature scavenger hunt list and actually had fun doing it. Roman, on the other hand, boycotted the scavenger hunt and chose to lag behind and pout…although he did get in some good playing in the mud time. Tom saved the day with football throwing and games of Pooh Sticks (racing sticks) in the creek.