My Family
I have two boys, Peter, age 13, and Paul, age 11. I also have two girls, Mary, age 8, and Beth, age 6.
The boys do the same curriculum and the girls do as well, with some modifications for 6-year-old Beth, who is in kindergarten this year.
Our Curriculum
All About Reading Levels 1 and 2 (for K and 2nd grader)
All About Spelling for all the kids
Writing: Write Shop Junior Level E; Writing With Skill 1 (Susan Wise Bauer), and book reports, their own fiction stories, poems, songs, blessing lists, and non-fiction reports. I also work with Peter, 7th grade, on five-paragraph essays--a skill he needs for high school and college.
Sonlight Core G World History Part 1 (for the boys)
Sonlight Core B World History Part 1 (a different version than G above, for younger children, used by both my girls)
Saxon Math (for the girls)
Teaching Textbooks DVD math program (for the boys)
8:00 - Wake-Up
I'm up at 8:00, in the shower at 8:10, after inserting a load of clothes. I dress, comb and scrunch my wet, permed hair, apply make-up and make my bed, and help the six-year-old with her bed.
Kids up at 8:00:
~ Make Bed
~ Get Dressed & Put pajamas in hamper
~ Free Time for the girls; Personal Bible reading for the boys.
9:00 - Breakfast & Devotions
We eat oatmeal or Cheerios or Shredded Wheat, and then we all rinse our bowls and gather for devotions in the living room. I'm reading from the Miller Family Series, currently in their Proverbs book called Wisdom And the Miller's, to which we all look forward.
After the reading we all take turns praying about our upcoming day, about the Proverb we learned, about various needs, after first giving thanks.
The children will brush their teeth next, and I will fix the girls' hair.
10:00 - 10:20 Quick Write Journals
They write in their journals for 20 minutes, with the kindergartner either using the Draw Write Now series of books, or working with me on Handwriting Without Tears. The kindergartner will often keep working into the next segment.
10:20 - 11:05
All About Reading Level 2 - Mary (age 8) and Mommy
Teaching Textbooks Math DVD program Level 7 - Peter (age 13)
Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel from World History Part 1 (Core G) - Paul (age 11)
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, or Drawing - Beth (kindergarten)
11:05 - 11:50 (Everyone switches from the subjects above. The boys use the same curriculum so they have to rotate with some of the resources.)
All About Reading Level 1 - Beth (Grade K) and Mommy (She can only concentrate 30 minutes tops, and that's pushing it.)
Teaching Textbooks Math DVD program Level 7 - Paul
Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel from World History Part 1 (Core G) - Peter
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, or Drawing - Mary
11:50 - 12:20 Snack and Break
Children might do crafts, such as make up a miniature puppet theater, or get out the construction paper/scissors/glue, or play board games or cards after having a quick snack. If they're highly involved in their creations, this can go 20 to 30 minutes longer, but usually we stay on track.
I shuffle laundry throughout the day, including at this time. I also try to unload and load the dishwasher during this half-hour.
12:20 - 1:00
Writing - Boys and Mommy
Making Books at Writing Center - Girls
This was something we did in the past that the girls really wanted to do again. I put out writing and drawing materials (drawing instruction books) and stapled blank books of various sizes (homemade and simple) and the girls illustrate the pages. Later I help them write the story words they dictate to me. If there's a lengthy story, I write it myself as they dictate it to me.
1:00 - 2:00 Lunch Break
If we need milk from the dollar store or have to go to the pharmacy window, that will usually happen at the end of the lunch break. I buy five gallons of milk once a week (2 jugs nonfat and 3 jugs 2%), but we need one additional milk run before a week is up.
Split Week - The segment below, 2:00 - 2:45, is split for the girls. Monday and Friday the girls do Saxon Math with me at this time, and on Wednesday they do All About Spelling with me. This gives them 4 days per week of Math, and 3 days per week of spelling.
2:00 - 2:45 (Monday and Friday Only)
Saxon Math - Girls and Mommy (Beth, the K student, doesn't work the whole 45 minutes.)
All About Spelling Level 1 - Girls and Mommy (They also have spelling on Tues. and Thurs.)
Easy Grammar Workbooks - Boys (same as Monday and Wednesday.)
2:45 - 3:15
All About Spelling Level 2 & 3 - Boys and Mommy
We switched to All About Spelling this year. It's recommended that you take older students through all the levels so they don't miss any of the spelling rules. Level 2 is too easy so I try to cover both 2 and 3 at the same time, only covering words from Level 2 that are needed to illustrate the spelling rules they don't know well.
Free Time - Girls
3:15 - 3:45 Read-Aloud
Mom reads aloud from the girls' Sonlight Core B read-aloud list. My husband reads aloud to the boys later at night from their Sonlight Core G read-aloud list. However, the boys also enjoy listening to the girls' selections. They're highly funny, engaging books! We just finished Owls In the Family by Farley Mowat, and now we're into Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary. On Fridays we read from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.
3:45 - 4:00 Afternoon Clean-Up
We tidy up the house. I wipe down the bathrooms or sweep, and finish up kitchen chores. The kids put away anything they've left out during the day. If it gets way too messy before this, we do five- minute pick-up segments during the day.
4:00 - 6:30 Free Time &Take Turns in Shower
Free time inside or out, depending on temperature and precipitation. In other seasons, they're outside during snack break and lunch break also.
Or, complete any unfinished school work.
Mom makes dinner, sometimes with kids' help, and conditions the 6-year-old's hair. Kids clear off table for dinner.
6:45 Dinner
Husband joins us when he arrives home at 7:00 PM. Having dinner this late isn't ideal, but it works for families in which Daddy works late.
7:30 Family Devotions & Prayer
We're currently working through Leading Little Ones to God, recommended by Sonlight as part of their Core B package.
8:10 Take vitamins, chronic-condition medicines, and brush teeth. If there are a lot of clothes in the boys' individual laundry baskets, they fold those and put them away after teeth brushing (folding during read-aloud time with Dad).
8:30 Daddy reads to boys. Mom reads picture books to kindergartner, and most often the 2nd grader cuddles with us too.
8:50 Bedtime for girls
9:20 - Bedtime for boys
Before bed I...read the Bible, get teaching materials ready for the next day, pay any necessary bills, research any curriculum or methods or books, order school supplies, or read blogs and/or write a blog. If there's a major news story ongoing, I read about that (we have no TV signal, so online news is all we have). I tend to stay up late because all of this takes time. My husband is on his feet all day, so he generally goes to bed by 10 PM. Two to three times a week, I also go to bed early.
Tuesday-Thursday Daily Schedule
8:00 - Wake-Up
I'm up at 8:00, in the shower at 8:10, after inserting a load of clothes. I dress, comb and scrunch my wet, permed hair, apply make-up and make my bed, and help the six-year-old with her bed.
Kids up at 8:00 and:
~ Make Bed
~ Get Dressed
~ Put pajamas in hamper
~ Personal Bible Reading for the boys; free time for the girls
If the boys get to bed late the night before for some reason, I let them sleep longer, and in that case they read the Bible before ending school for the day. The boys have a check-off sheet listing each subject, and that has to be checked by me before they're finished for the day.
9:00 - Breakfast & Devotions
The children will brush their teeth next, and I will fix the girls' hair.
10:00 - 10:20 - Quick Write Journals
They write in their journals for 20 minutes, with the kindergartner either using the Draw Write Now series of books, or working with me on Handwriting Without Tears. The kindergartner will often keep working into the next segment.
10:20 - 11:05
Notes: The boys only do Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they do a lot of science these two days. Last semester they did science daily. Since we school year round, we can still get through their Sonlight Science G this year without difficulty.
Sonlight Science - Peter
Sonlight Non-fiction History Reading & Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel - Paul
Saxon Math - Mommy and Girls
11:05 - 11:50
Sonlight Non-fiction History Reading & Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel - Peter
Sonlight Science - Paul
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, Drawing - Girls
And Mary first practices her current All About Reading story (from the reader), for 10 to 15 minutes. Reading the stories multiple times helps build reading fluency, which can be slow to build in dyslexic readers.
11:50 - 12:20 Snack and Break
12:20 - 12:50
Sonlight Science B - Peter teaches Mary (Beth does well with experiment day, but has trouble listening to the other lessons, so for now she is not included.)
AWANA - Paul works with Beth on her verses, and does his own.
Mom does laundry and cleaning, or meal prep.
12:50 - 1:50 Lunch Break
We practice speech sounds for a bit after they finish eating. Beth is working on /th/ in the middle and final positions. Mary and Paul are working on conversational use of /th/ and /r/. If we don't do this here, we do it after dinner, before their nightly stories.
1:50 - 2:20
Sonlight B Non-Fiction History - Paul teaches Mary and Beth
Proverbs - Peter aged out of AWANA, so he's working on memorizing the Proverbs we're studying in Wisdom and the Millers.
2:20 - 2:50
All About Spelling Level 1 - Girls and Mommy
Teaching Textbooks Level 7 Math - Paul
Easy Grammar - Peter
2:50 - 3:20
All About Spelling - Boys and Mom
Library Movie - Girls
The boys and I are diligently trying to get through the earlier spelling levels so we can get to their appropriate level. They have to learn all the spelling rules from the earlier levels, even though they can spell the words involved, because later rules build upon the early ones. I really need the girls fully engaged and not interrupting, asking for food or drink or whatever. I give them a drink, a small snack, and they watch something they picked out from the library the previous week, since we don't have a TV signal.
3:20 - 4:00
Teaching Textbooks Math Level 7 - Peter
Easy Grammar - Paul
Folding & Putting Away Their Own Clothes - Girls (boys do this before bed if their baskets are full.)
4:00 - 4:15 Afternoon Clean-Up
We tidy up the house. I wipe down the bathrooms or sweep, and finish up kitchen chores. The kids put away anything they've left out during the day. If it gets way too messy before this, we do five- minute pick-up segments during the day.
4:15 - 6:30 Free Time (and taking turns in shower)
Free time inside or out, depending on temperature and precipitation. In other seasons, they're outside during snack break and lunch break also.
Or, complete any unfinished school work.
Mom makes dinner and conditions the 6-year-old's hair. Kids clear off table for dinner.
6:45 Dinner
Husband joins us when he arrives home at 7:00 PM. Having dinner this late isn't ideal, but it works for families in which Daddy works late.
7:30 Family Devotions & Prayer
We're currently working through Leading Little Ones to God, recommended by Sonlight as part of their Core B package.
8:10 Take vitamins, chronic-condition medicines, and brush teeth. If there are a lot of clothes in the kids' individual laundry baskets, they fold those and put them away after teeth brushing.
8:30 Daddy reads to boys. Mom reads picture books to kindergartner, and some of their Sonlight Core B read-aloud selections, if I didn't do them during the day. I try to do some at lunch too, while they eat.
8:50 Bedtime for girls
9:20 - Bedtime for boys (Takes them some time to settle down in there, so they actually fall asleep around 9:50 PM. They like to tell each other stories.)
My days are full and fabulous, despite the difficult health conditions we deal with. I couldn't be more grateful for this lifestyle. Being together so much strengthens and grounds us, and prepares us to serve God with joy when we go out into the world, at church, at the library, in the neighborhood, at appointments, on errands. We pray for each other and share each other's burdens, and remind each other to give it all to God. Even when things are messy and some are in bad moods, it's still all good, all building toward a stronger character as we stumble but keep trying to be like Jesus.
I have two boys, Peter, age 13, and Paul, age 11. I also have two girls, Mary, age 8, and Beth, age 6.
The boys do the same curriculum and the girls do as well, with some modifications for 6-year-old Beth, who is in kindergarten this year.
Our Curriculum
All About Reading Levels 1 and 2 (for K and 2nd grader)
All About Spelling for all the kids
Writing: Write Shop Junior Level E; Writing With Skill 1 (Susan Wise Bauer), and book reports, their own fiction stories, poems, songs, blessing lists, and non-fiction reports. I also work with Peter, 7th grade, on five-paragraph essays--a skill he needs for high school and college.
Sonlight Core G World History Part 1 (for the boys)
Sonlight Core B World History Part 1 (a different version than G above, for younger children, used by both my girls)
Saxon Math (for the girls)
Teaching Textbooks DVD math program (for the boys)
Daily Schedule
for Monday, Wednesday, Friday
I'm up at 8:00, in the shower at 8:10, after inserting a load of clothes. I dress, comb and scrunch my wet, permed hair, apply make-up and make my bed, and help the six-year-old with her bed.
Kids up at 8:00:
~ Make Bed
~ Get Dressed & Put pajamas in hamper
~ Free Time for the girls; Personal Bible reading for the boys.
9:00 - Breakfast & Devotions
We eat oatmeal or Cheerios or Shredded Wheat, and then we all rinse our bowls and gather for devotions in the living room. I'm reading from the Miller Family Series, currently in their Proverbs book called Wisdom And the Miller's, to which we all look forward.
After the reading we all take turns praying about our upcoming day, about the Proverb we learned, about various needs, after first giving thanks.
The children will brush their teeth next, and I will fix the girls' hair.
10:00 - 10:20 Quick Write Journals
They write in their journals for 20 minutes, with the kindergartner either using the Draw Write Now series of books, or working with me on Handwriting Without Tears. The kindergartner will often keep working into the next segment.
10:20 - 11:05
All About Reading Level 2 - Mary (age 8) and Mommy
Teaching Textbooks Math DVD program Level 7 - Peter (age 13)
Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel from World History Part 1 (Core G) - Paul (age 11)
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, or Drawing - Beth (kindergarten)
11:05 - 11:50 (Everyone switches from the subjects above. The boys use the same curriculum so they have to rotate with some of the resources.)
All About Reading Level 1 - Beth (Grade K) and Mommy (She can only concentrate 30 minutes tops, and that's pushing it.)
Teaching Textbooks Math DVD program Level 7 - Paul
Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel from World History Part 1 (Core G) - Peter
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, or Drawing - Mary
11:50 - 12:20 Snack and Break
Children might do crafts, such as make up a miniature puppet theater, or get out the construction paper/scissors/glue, or play board games or cards after having a quick snack. If they're highly involved in their creations, this can go 20 to 30 minutes longer, but usually we stay on track.
I shuffle laundry throughout the day, including at this time. I also try to unload and load the dishwasher during this half-hour.
12:20 - 1:00
Writing - Boys and Mommy
Making Books at Writing Center - Girls
This was something we did in the past that the girls really wanted to do again. I put out writing and drawing materials (drawing instruction books) and stapled blank books of various sizes (homemade and simple) and the girls illustrate the pages. Later I help them write the story words they dictate to me. If there's a lengthy story, I write it myself as they dictate it to me.
1:00 - 2:00 Lunch Break
If we need milk from the dollar store or have to go to the pharmacy window, that will usually happen at the end of the lunch break. I buy five gallons of milk once a week (2 jugs nonfat and 3 jugs 2%), but we need one additional milk run before a week is up.
Split Week - The segment below, 2:00 - 2:45, is split for the girls. Monday and Friday the girls do Saxon Math with me at this time, and on Wednesday they do All About Spelling with me. This gives them 4 days per week of Math, and 3 days per week of spelling.
2:00 - 2:45 (Monday and Friday Only)
Saxon Math - Girls and Mommy (Beth, the K student, doesn't work the whole 45 minutes.)
Easy Grammar Workbooks - Boys
Paul plays the piano after grammar. He's teaching himself with piano books, with the goal of being able to play music at Christmas for his family, or hymns for his family devotions.
2:00 - 2:45 (Wednesday Only)
Easy Grammar Workbooks - Boys (same as Monday and Wednesday.)
2:45 - 3:15
All About Spelling Level 2 & 3 - Boys and Mommy
We switched to All About Spelling this year. It's recommended that you take older students through all the levels so they don't miss any of the spelling rules. Level 2 is too easy so I try to cover both 2 and 3 at the same time, only covering words from Level 2 that are needed to illustrate the spelling rules they don't know well.
Free Time - Girls
3:15 - 3:45 Read-Aloud
Mom reads aloud from the girls' Sonlight Core B read-aloud list. My husband reads aloud to the boys later at night from their Sonlight Core G read-aloud list. However, the boys also enjoy listening to the girls' selections. They're highly funny, engaging books! We just finished Owls In the Family by Farley Mowat, and now we're into Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary. On Fridays we read from Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.
3:45 - 4:00 Afternoon Clean-Up
We tidy up the house. I wipe down the bathrooms or sweep, and finish up kitchen chores. The kids put away anything they've left out during the day. If it gets way too messy before this, we do five- minute pick-up segments during the day.
4:00 - 6:30 Free Time &Take Turns in Shower
Free time inside or out, depending on temperature and precipitation. In other seasons, they're outside during snack break and lunch break also.
Or, complete any unfinished school work.
Mom makes dinner, sometimes with kids' help, and conditions the 6-year-old's hair. Kids clear off table for dinner.
6:45 Dinner
Husband joins us when he arrives home at 7:00 PM. Having dinner this late isn't ideal, but it works for families in which Daddy works late.
7:30 Family Devotions & Prayer
We're currently working through Leading Little Ones to God, recommended by Sonlight as part of their Core B package.
8:10 Take vitamins, chronic-condition medicines, and brush teeth. If there are a lot of clothes in the boys' individual laundry baskets, they fold those and put them away after teeth brushing (folding during read-aloud time with Dad).
8:30 Daddy reads to boys. Mom reads picture books to kindergartner, and most often the 2nd grader cuddles with us too.
8:50 Bedtime for girls
9:20 - Bedtime for boys
Before bed I...read the Bible, get teaching materials ready for the next day, pay any necessary bills, research any curriculum or methods or books, order school supplies, or read blogs and/or write a blog. If there's a major news story ongoing, I read about that (we have no TV signal, so online news is all we have). I tend to stay up late because all of this takes time. My husband is on his feet all day, so he generally goes to bed by 10 PM. Two to three times a week, I also go to bed early.
Tuesday-Thursday Daily Schedule
8:00 - Wake-Up
I'm up at 8:00, in the shower at 8:10, after inserting a load of clothes. I dress, comb and scrunch my wet, permed hair, apply make-up and make my bed, and help the six-year-old with her bed.
Kids up at 8:00 and:
~ Make Bed
~ Get Dressed
~ Put pajamas in hamper
~ Personal Bible Reading for the boys; free time for the girls
If the boys get to bed late the night before for some reason, I let them sleep longer, and in that case they read the Bible before ending school for the day. The boys have a check-off sheet listing each subject, and that has to be checked by me before they're finished for the day.
9:00 - Breakfast & Devotions
The children will brush their teeth next, and I will fix the girls' hair.
10:00 - 10:20 - Quick Write Journals
They write in their journals for 20 minutes, with the kindergartner either using the Draw Write Now series of books, or working with me on Handwriting Without Tears. The kindergartner will often keep working into the next segment.
 |
| Quick Write |
 |
| More Quick Write |
10:20 - 11:05
Notes: The boys only do Science on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they do a lot of science these two days. Last semester they did science daily. Since we school year round, we can still get through their Sonlight Science G this year without difficulty.
Sonlight Science - Peter
Sonlight Non-fiction History Reading & Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel - Paul
Saxon Math - Mommy and Girls
 |
| A free time creation |
 |
| Science with brother Peter |
11:05 - 11:50
Sonlight Non-fiction History Reading & Sonlight Historical Fiction Novel - Peter
Sonlight Science - Paul
Puzzles, Painting, PlayDoh, Drawing - Girls
And Mary first practices her current All About Reading story (from the reader), for 10 to 15 minutes. Reading the stories multiple times helps build reading fluency, which can be slow to build in dyslexic readers.
 |
| Melissa and Doug puzzle fun |
11:50 - 12:20 Snack and Break
12:20 - 12:50
Sonlight Science B - Peter teaches Mary (Beth does well with experiment day, but has trouble listening to the other lessons, so for now she is not included.)
AWANA - Paul works with Beth on her verses, and does his own.
Mom does laundry and cleaning, or meal prep.
12:50 - 1:50 Lunch Break
We practice speech sounds for a bit after they finish eating. Beth is working on /th/ in the middle and final positions. Mary and Paul are working on conversational use of /th/ and /r/. If we don't do this here, we do it after dinner, before their nightly stories.
1:50 - 2:20
Sonlight B Non-Fiction History - Paul teaches Mary and Beth
Proverbs - Peter aged out of AWANA, so he's working on memorizing the Proverbs we're studying in Wisdom and the Millers.
2:20 - 2:50
All About Spelling Level 1 - Girls and Mommy
Teaching Textbooks Level 7 Math - Paul
Easy Grammar - Peter
2:50 - 3:20
All About Spelling - Boys and Mom
Library Movie - Girls
The boys and I are diligently trying to get through the earlier spelling levels so we can get to their appropriate level. They have to learn all the spelling rules from the earlier levels, even though they can spell the words involved, because later rules build upon the early ones. I really need the girls fully engaged and not interrupting, asking for food or drink or whatever. I give them a drink, a small snack, and they watch something they picked out from the library the previous week, since we don't have a TV signal.
3:20 - 4:00
Teaching Textbooks Math Level 7 - Peter
Easy Grammar - Paul
Folding & Putting Away Their Own Clothes - Girls (boys do this before bed if their baskets are full.)
4:00 - 4:15 Afternoon Clean-Up
We tidy up the house. I wipe down the bathrooms or sweep, and finish up kitchen chores. The kids put away anything they've left out during the day. If it gets way too messy before this, we do five- minute pick-up segments during the day.
4:15 - 6:30 Free Time (and taking turns in shower)
Free time inside or out, depending on temperature and precipitation. In other seasons, they're outside during snack break and lunch break also.
Or, complete any unfinished school work.
Mom makes dinner and conditions the 6-year-old's hair. Kids clear off table for dinner.
6:45 Dinner
Husband joins us when he arrives home at 7:00 PM. Having dinner this late isn't ideal, but it works for families in which Daddy works late.
7:30 Family Devotions & Prayer
We're currently working through Leading Little Ones to God, recommended by Sonlight as part of their Core B package.
8:10 Take vitamins, chronic-condition medicines, and brush teeth. If there are a lot of clothes in the kids' individual laundry baskets, they fold those and put them away after teeth brushing.
8:30 Daddy reads to boys. Mom reads picture books to kindergartner, and some of their Sonlight Core B read-aloud selections, if I didn't do them during the day. I try to do some at lunch too, while they eat.
8:50 Bedtime for girls
9:20 - Bedtime for boys (Takes them some time to settle down in there, so they actually fall asleep around 9:50 PM. They like to tell each other stories.)
My days are full and fabulous, despite the difficult health conditions we deal with. I couldn't be more grateful for this lifestyle. Being together so much strengthens and grounds us, and prepares us to serve God with joy when we go out into the world, at church, at the library, in the neighborhood, at appointments, on errands. We pray for each other and share each other's burdens, and remind each other to give it all to God. Even when things are messy and some are in bad moods, it's still all good, all building toward a stronger character as we stumble but keep trying to be like Jesus.
1 comment:
You are so organized with your routine. I love it. We are a bit more laid back. :) Your kids are cute, especially that little one.
I have the Millers books. You reminded me of them and now I think they might be perfect little readers for my little ones.
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