7 am
- Woke up a bit early and said some extra prayers.
- Aidan got up at the same time as I did and we did some stretching and I put on his brace.
- The boys were up soon after and reading. They have been on a reading tear recently. Both have finished Pirates of Pompeii which I got from the library yesterday. Sean read Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Silver Branch.
- Kieron found a dinosaur dot to dot and worked on it.
- Kevin and I got into a discussion about politics as he got coffee.
8 am
- I went looking for the paints. I am using the Schedule in the Prep Level of Mater Amabilis as a framework to give Aidan and Paddy a bit of variety in their day. Kieron asked me to look for the Sculpey while I was in there and I found that too.
- Aidan started to paint and was extremely happy.
- Clare got up and was evidently feeling better.
- Paddy still asleep.
9 am
- Kieron and Sean reading and eating.
- I made a drink for Sean.
- I talked to Clare.
- Paddy woke up and started right in painting, along with eating pancakes and sausages.
- I read Bible History and Story of the Romans to Kieron. Charlotte Mason calls for children reading independently as much as they can for “lessons” in order to avoid the danger of passive reception. However, for now I’m reading to him because it helps me interact with the text and these readings require a different kind of attention than the “free reading” he does. I ask him to narrate the story of “eating the boards” and he isn’t exactly thrilled, but does pretty well. He prefers the Q & A format of Bible History and tells me it is because he doesn’t have to think as much about what to say. This Bible story is about Isaac’s wife.
- I introduce the first workbook of Hey Andrew Teach Me some Greek. He does the “Alpha’s”. I am using it for handwriting/fine motor control as an alternative to Handwriting Without Tears. I thought he would like the Greek characters and indeed, it seems to be true. I mention that his older brothers enjoyed learning Greek.
10 am
- I give SEan a checklist for the day’s work.
- He does the reading — Story of the Church, Fabre’s Book of Insects (just starting this), and Legends of Chivalry(Bulfinch).
- Paddy and Aidan do some coloring — a tree, a panda and some elephants. Aidan makes A’s all over his work.
- The Sculpey kit turns out to be a Christmas kit with designs for a small nativity. Kieron at first said, “I can do my own things with the clay, right?” I told him that it’s always good to play a little with new materials before trying to do something structured. After a few minutes he said that he wanted to try building the Nativity. So he is doing that now. You can never revisit the Nativity Story too often, right? The figures he is making are charming and I think it is a nice confidence boost to be able to produce the models.
- The littlies want to get involved in the Sculpey-building so I quickly make some edible playdough and they have fun making “snowmen” and snakes and things like that and then eating them. That will be “handiwork” for today for the little ones.
- Clare comes back into the living room and says she wrote an essay one-handed. Then she starts talking to Sean about Perry Mason. Their dad and they have finished all the Lost in Space episodes and are now on Perry Mason (14 SEasons! that should last a while!). They miss the robot but love the plot and ambiance and characters in Perry Mason.
11 am
- I am typing this up. The littlies are a bit on the rambunctious side. We certainly had a “handiwork” type day but it was probably a bit over-abundant for the young ones. In fact, I find arts and crafts very sensory-challenging myself, which is probably why I avoided them for years when I had babies in arms and lots of other things going on. I am on the verge of a headache. So I think the plan will be to get the little ones ready to go outside, and finish up on a slower more contemplative pace. Originally I had planned to take them to the lake — Kevin and I drove by there the other day and noticed that it is VERY low so you can see the driftwood skeletons and lots of other interesting features — but I think that would probably be overkill for today.
- Kieron and Sean still haven’t gotten to math and Latin but everything else on the list has been accomplished, pretty much. We will do those things a bit later after I go out and try to get rid of this headache. Aidan has been going inside and out all day. The weather is so beautiful.
Update:
The younger three boys (11, 7, and 4) went for a nice nature walk with me, down through our woods and then up to the “pine cone place”. When I got back I managed to get through math with Sean (1/2 page — his morale is low because this is hard work and seems to bear little relation to anything “real”) and then polygons and drawing fractions for Kieron (we did 2 lessons).
Then Kieron and I did the USA puzzle and now Kieron and Paddy are playing while Aidan is taking a bath. I am SO tired! Does anyone else spend the whole morning on task and then realize that she hasn’t managed to keep up fluid intake or grab anything to eat besides a couple of bites of cinnamon bread and a quick 2/3 of a ham sandwich (gave the rest to Aidan?)
I also read Winter Days in the Little House (or something like that — it’s a picture book based on the Wilder books) to Paddy.
Poor Clare is so frustrated because she can’t play the piano or the violin!
