Back to Business
Our two week spring break is over and we’re getting back to business. After the great day the children had yesterday, they were tired out and went right to sleep. In the morning it was cold and gray, so the sunlight didn’t wake them as usual and I found them both still asleep at 8:00 am. Bip missed his morning nap on Sunday then was awake 6 hours before finally crashing. I let him sleep in until 9. So after a slow start, we got our day started.
I was happy to find that neither Boo nor Pumpkin Girl lost any ground during our time off. Even Boo’s handwriting looked good – after some practice- and I think his math has actually improved. I got a chance to try out my new planning sheet. Even though Sonlight’s Instructor Guides are all planned out and printed up nicely, with two children doing some of the same work, but not all, plus doing 4 days of school but using the 5 day plan, I have customized just enough to require a bit more planning on my part. I had considered using Home School Tracker, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. I also didn’t feel like spending money on a plan book only to find it also didn’t fit my needs. I found what I was looking for on Donna Young’s site (plus it seems like one of her children is a CAP cadet). On one side of the planning sheet I have what the children call their "couch" work – all the stuff we read together sitting on the couch. That would be Bible, history, science, read-alouds and readers. On the other side is the seat work. So far, it’s working fine.
Another good thing today was that Bip actually napped, two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. He was his usually happy self all day. I’m hoping to reset his clock and get him back on a good sleep pattern. He never quite recovered from the switch to Daylight Saving Time.
I have started reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Boo and Pumpkin Girl apart from school time. With the release of the DVD, they’ve been seeing ads for the movie and want to see it. It’s rated PG, so Phil and I will preview it first, but even before that, I want them to experience it the way I did, through the book. I also bought the radio theater production of the whole Chronicles that Focus on the Family put out. I’d like us to listen to them as a family. My mom recently attended a seminar by the author of Companion to Narnia, which she bought me. (that is, she bought me the book, not the author or the seminar, LOL!) He said the best way to experience the books was to have someone read them out loud to you. So thus, the CDs. Boo is really into LWW. I have to read two chapters at a time and he begs me for more, but Charlotte’s attention span won’t stand for it. I’m really glad he’s enjoying it. I really love sharing meaningful things from my childhood with the children and seeing them come to love them, too. Today, as a special treat since Daddy is gone, we popped popcorn and sat on the floor with Nicholas while we read our two chapters.
So there you have it. Not too bad of a day considering we all miss Phil and it was too cold and damp to be outside. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.
