School is here. But the smooth flow takes a little while to start humming. Now it is bumpy, around the corner it will be better.
This summer has been full. So much energy spent outside, adventuring, working with intense emotions and some sorrows. I am learning that bearing burdens can be emotionally heavy and feels uncomfortable. How do we help with healthy boundaries? I heard a podcast in which the presenter spoke of using the phrase, “I would love to, but it doesn’t work with what my family need right now.” That is one way. There might be a place for that. I am slimming down the extra lessons and coaching with gratitude for the goodness of others.
I am learning how much fun summer can be and each week feels treasured. I could list the joys on and on. My children grow so much in a summer.
Now around the corner, I have consistently made plans that get tweaked over and over. This year I desire routines to come together smoothly. Will simplicity and slow layers of getting into our groove help? Hopefully the experience of life will provide a realistic aspect to the plan.
Our schedule
8:00 Morning Work- We will exercise with HIIT activities, yoga or skills with cues.
Then we fill our hearts. We have a board with a folk song, hymn, Shakespeare passage, poem, and picture study. We add a composer study, devotional, and a picture book.
We all know life has unpredictable elements. I have saved some wiggle room here for when we need more cuddles or the kitchen is needing attention.
9:00 William & Winona hours- We begin with math and a language arts rotation.
We use Saxon math, math facts from math-drills.com and brain teasers for extra problem solving fun.
We use the Good and the Beautiful language arts. The revisions have simplified the materials and managing the components. We also have a forty book reading challenge.
10:30 Read aloud and handwork- For Science and Social Studies we have term subjects.
We are studying world history with Story of the World and American history with Gordy’s Stories of American History.
For science we will study the Earth in the fall, Botany and etymology in the winter and in the spring, Biology. Our nature study will follow the seasons.
Handwork- fiber, wood, sketching and paper art. We opted to have our technology class be the Tinkercrate subscription boxes that include Stem and craft options.
Journaling- We will continue our journaling practice to collect gems and ideas. I will encourage copy work daily. We use a Journal Jar for personal small moment pieces. We also write a letter to our teacher about the highlight of our week using a variety of sentences. Journals will be places for songs to be written, poems spun, stories jotted down, sketching and pondering. I will add mapping and scripture study to this slot of time.
12:30 Music and Reading- I will help one on one with practicing instruments. The baby will nap (hopefully) and everyone can be reading.
2:00 Studio
Monday will be for Read Aloud Revival writing workshops. We will have family book club books, experiences and the author events. This is a time of inspiration. This year we plan on gleaning from past years and the one book a month. Sarah, the creator, has simplified the content to include one author event, one writing workshop, and one nature inspired workshop each term.
Tuesday will be art studio project time. Our art projects include collage, painting with watercolor and acrylic, pencil drawing, Sculpty modeling, oil and chalk pastels, linocut prints, and cardboard structures. I loved the folk art wrapping paper from last year so I intend to repeat that. I want to frame and display our pieces in a large family gallery. I follow a book by Nancy Beal with how to teach the art by mediums.
Wednesday we will have folktales from around the world storytelling and a poetry tea party. There will be dramatic renditions, Shakespeare, recitations review, food from around the world and lovely tea.
Friday will be our nature journaling hikes and adventures. Our study will be based on the seasons with repeated visits to our favorite local places each season. Some places include the Farmington Bird Refuge, Mueller Park, Farmington Pond, the USU extension, Antelope Island, hikes in the canyons and Woodland Park. I have changed our materials a bit and our process. Here is a peek.
Thursdays are for our cooperative group. We are blessed to be able to join a well established group of dedicated talented mothers who offer classes such as choir, p.e. Games, cake decorating, lego robotics, folk dancing, theatre, pickle ball, and team building. I get to teach nature journaling. I am so grateful. This group has so much to offer in connection and friendships. We will have park days, child led social free time, celebrations and mother retreats.
3:00 Childhood Time
Play outside and friend time has this space. This time includes special interests activities Chinese, crafts, basketball and dance. Mostly it is a time for imagination.
댓글