Eclectic Homeschooling: Week 4 of 2023

Wow, I can't believe we are on week 4 already! My weekend was anxiety filled over a huge church assignment I was in charge of. The moment church was over on Sunday, I could feel an emotional release, took a nap, and felt relief from all the stress I have felt the past month or so. It helped get me started on the right foot this week. 

Monday: I didn't exactly wake up on the right foot. I went to bed at a good time the night before, but slept poorly. So I felt pretty sluggish and cranky. We were given 2 dozen store bought rolls the day before, which the boys won't touch. They only like homemade rolls. So I made them into some cinnamon roll sliders. They whipped up pretty quickly and the boys devoured them. 

After morning routine, we got started on school. This week we are doing a much-requested dinosaur unit study. The boys are excited...I am not. I have never been interested in learning about dinosaurs. But then again, I have never really wanted to learn about wasps and bees, and that week was insightful for me. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised this week as well. 

Ean has learned 3 letter so far this school year, and when I asked him does he remember what a "F" looked like, he nodded and said, "It has two..." and proceeds to slash the air twice with his hand. Yay! He has almost mastered letter recognition for 1 letter! Actually, I guess he has mastered the letter "O" as well on his own. So 2 letters!

I think numbers are definitely more his thing, though. I printed off some dinosaur skip counting puzzles today, and he liked the easiest one, because it isn't a skip counting puzzle. It just has the numbers 1-10. He kept doing it over and over, and I think he is starting to recognize numbers. I am going to quiz his informally tomorrow to see if he is picking up number recognition naturally. That will be awesome if he is!

After lunch (sourdough chocolate zucchini muffins, yum! ), we went to the park for a hour and a half. I finished my book while they were playing, and then almost decided to leave when they all came sitting around me to talk, but thankfully had a moment of correction. The Spirit reminded me that I can enjoy being at the park with them. We don't have to go just because they aren't interested in independent play anymore. So I looked around the tree I was sitting under, and pointed out to them the maple seeds on the ground. I tried to show them how they would twirl around like helicopters when they fell down, but after a few failed attempts, I concluded maybe it wasn't maple seeds that did that after all. I moved on and showed Ean that some leaves were coming down, when Asa called me to look over. 

He was throwing the maple seeds as high as he could, and they were twirling like a helicopter! He was so pleased with himself for figuring it out, and spent the rest of the time gathering handfuls of seeds to have a shower of helicopters twirling down around him. 

After watching him for a while, Ean called to me, and I turned to see him holding a bouquet of fallen leaves. 

Then Owen had to show me what he found...

Haha, not quite so outdoor-sy, but he loved it all the same. Ira learned the word "flagpole" today in Explode the Code, and kept repeating how Owen found a flagpole. 😂 Not quite, but I was pleased he remembered a new vocabulary word and tried to make a connection in the real world.

When Owen's flag became a poky weapon, we had to throw it away and go home. Asa and Ean brought home their treasures, and I had to find a place to put them. I would love a nature table or shelf, but I don't want to spent money or find a space for one right now. I saw on Pinterest a "nature tray", so I went downstairs to see what I could find. No tray, but I did find a big bamboo bowl, so that I what I put their stuff in and we placed it on the school book shelf. Now that we have a space for nature treasures, I will more actively encourage the boys to find things to put in our bowl. 

My favorite parts about today were spending time with the boys at the park instead of pushing them away, and reading the sweetest book about Autumn- "Fletcher and the Falling Leaves" by Julia Rawlinson. The story and illustrations are just lovely. It is on my list of books to buy someday. I love it so much! Fletcher is in 4 or 5 other books, 3 of them about the other seasons. I can't wait to read those too! 

Tuesday: Tuesday's are always hard to get in curriculum work because Matthew is home most of the day. We had a late start. Although my Fitbit showed I didn't get any less sleep than usual, and had a decent score for quality, I needed a nap before breakfast was over. On a positive note for our morning, I made a sourdough peach cobbler this morning. It was less sweet than most cobblers I love, which made it great for breakfast. I messed up on the biscuit part, but thankfully I have so many peaches I can try again in a few days. I wish I took a picture because it was pretty, even if the biscuits weren't perfect. 

The boys love individual work over group lessons, so I had them do those while I folded laundry and cleaned. We didn't get Spanish, English, or Morning Table Time done. I think they really wanted a break from group lessons because usually they remind me to do Spanish and songs/hand rhyme. I am trying to embrace not stressing about doing everything on the schedule, so I have made myself not think about it too much.

I took a nap with Owen during Ira's therapy. I woke up feeling much better, and then researched more sourdough recipes. I let my sourdough starter hibernate in the fridge for a year or two, but just in the past week I have heard a few podcasts addressing the health benefits of sourdough. And Matthew, who is gluten free, seems to be able to eat it as long as it isn't served as a dessert too often. So I am motivated to make bread again. I know I will feel burned out in a few weeks, but I am enjoying trying a bunch of yummy new recipes. 

We went for a family walk, I made spaghetti while Matthew and the boys mowed the yard for possibly the last time this year (a sad day for Owen, who loves to mow), we ate dinner and now the boys are playing games before bed. 

We will be doing history and read alouds tonight. I am excited to start "Game on in Greece". Greece and the Greek culture are something I would love to learn more about. 

Independent play was great today! Maybe I need to schedule more days in our schedule when they are allowed to do minimal schoolwork. Or maybe it will just happen more often in 7ish weeks because of the baby. We will see. 

I wish I would have been honest with myself about my exhaustion, so that I would have chilled and been kinder to the boys. The boys and I learned about the gifts of the Spirit yesterday, and one of the things we committed to do better was use gentle hands and gentle voice. I could have definitely been a better example of that today. 

Wednesday: We had such a great day! It is fun to watch the the interest in independent/imaginative play take off the past several days. The only thing we are struggling with is a 2 year old destroying meticulously built buildings and stealing toys and puzzles because he doesn't quite know how to join in the play yet. So many screams and tears happening right now. I am trying to be better at taking a breath, and then helping everyone understand each others perspectives/teaching correct behavior when things aren't going our way. It can get a little exhausting, but we are all learning this together.

We finally got our dinosaur books from the library. The boys really love learning about dinosaurs. I wish I did, haha. So far nothing we have learned has blown me away. We will be watching some YouTube videos in the next few days, so maybe one of them will change my mind.

I got some outside time with just Owen today to help keep him out of what Asa and Ean were playing. 

We also did a lot of action songs and hand rhymes. He loves them!

We went to the park after the library, and because it was after 3, lots of school kids were there. Asa and Ean found a group to play with, and had a blast. I let them play for as long as I could, but I needed to go home to make dinner. I told them we would try to go after 3 more often, especially on days when dinner is in the crockpot. I am so glad they like to socialize and play with other kids. As a homeschool mom I sometimes worry I don't get them out of the house enough. But they do fine, obviously.

The best surprise today was when I went to go get the clothes off the line after bedtime read alouds. There was a random rabbit in our yard! All the boys except Asa were still awake, so I pulled them out to see it. It was adorable and they all loved watching it for a few minutes.

Thursday: There were parts of my house that have been driving me crazy with how dirty they have become, mainly the kitchen and dining room floors and the bathroom. So I let the boys watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse this morning while I did my morning chores, including mopping. Then I did the budget and shopping list. I was on my way to clean the bathroom when Ean asked me if I would do a puzzle with him. They spent all morning alone, so I decided I shouldn't say no. By the time we were done with it, I had to make lunch and drop Ira off at therapy.

After shopping, we tried a park we haven't been to in a while, but it was closed for resurfacing.

So we tried another park, but we had to leave after 15 minutes because Ean said he desperately needed to go poop. All the bathrooms are already locked up, even thought it isn't even October yet 😒, so we went to a library instead. Then he ended up only needing to pee. I was kind of bummed because I was hoping to get at least an hour outside, but they at least enjoyed themselves at the library.

They watched even more TV while I made dinner and laid down for a short nap. We had dinner, did bedtime read-alouds, and played Minecraft for a while. 

I think it is pretty obvious what my biggest regret was today... way too much screen time! But, I am not going to lie. It was wonderful to get a mental break from the boys screaming and fighting all the time. But, tomorrow will be our Thursday when it comes to doing school since we took a break today. 

Friday: Since we didn't do any school yesterday, today was kind of like a Thursday. They quickly got their work done, and since today was a work day for Matthew, we packed a lunch and went to the neighborhood park. Owen asked if he could ride the tricycle, and since we weren't in rush, I decided to let him and see how far he made it... he went the whole way there and back! 

I was so surprised! When we go to this park, because it is the closest, I will need to let him ride it every time so he can get more practice. 

They played for almost 2 hours, thanks to a church friend showing up and keeping them busy riding bikes around and around the tree I was sitting under. I almost got ran over a few times, but thankfully came away without any injuries and a few more chapters of my book read.

Once we got home, I put Owen down for a nap, and Ira, Asa, and I playing Minecraft while Ean was playing with their Lego castle. I wanted to finish fixing the dresses I am making into skirts tonight, so I wanted to get Minecraft time in earlier. Now I am procrastinating working on those skirts, so I should really get to them. I am not following any patterns. I am just trying to turn my two favorite dresses into skirts because their tops fell apart. Because I am not following a pattern, I am unsure exactly what to do, so I keep pushing off working on them. I wish I was better at freelancing stuff. But unfortunately, I prefer steps that tell me that what I am working on will turn out how I picture it. 

In reflection, dinosaur week was a huge hit with the boys...I am still not a fan, haha. But, it really is more about them, not what I want to learn. It is just always a wonderful time when I enjoy what they are learning as much as them.