And we’re off! It’s our first unofficial week of homeschooling for the 21/22 school year. I thought it would be fun to write a bit about each day and share resources and my thoughts for homeschooling planning along the way. The modus operandi for right now: “we’re starting off slow.”
Monday, 8/2:
The kids began the day building forts out of the couch and creating “rooms” for themselves. We got a tour after lunch. They also finished a few more library books. We’re on track to get another batch at the library tomorrow.
We jumped into our 4th grade math workbooks today. I’ve already heard “This is just too easy…” Laugh out loud, kid. I bet there is a bit of review out of the gate before the real learning begins.
I taught the kids about how the months of years are represented as numbers (August = 8, etc.) and how dates can be written.
We also finished Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater this afternoon over a sweet treat. We had one chapter left.
We also did an exercise out of our Spectrum 2nd grade writing workbook. I’m determined to spark a bigger interest in writing. They like it for the most part but they struggle with getting their thoughts on paper.
Tuesday, 8/3
On the days I have work meetings, the kids keep themselves busy with reading and free play. One of their favorite things to do is play “super heroes” ala Miraculous. We got into our lessons after lunch. More math and writing from the workbooks. We also started a new read aloud “Sarah, Plain and Tall.” We read this book a couple of years ago with our in-person library book club. I didn’t realize it when I bought the book for Dart. But in the interest of completing everything, I started the first chapter. Then after we did our studies, and a few rounds of Uno, I sent the kids outside for some fleeting vitamin D. But not before checking the UV index and air quality first. We watered and weeded the garden and played a game of catch. At bedtime, we nearly finished “The One and Only Bob.”
Wednesday, 8/4
Tuesdays are supposed to be our library days. But we had a few pages to finish in our nightly read aloud before it was due back, so Wednesday is our day this week. We rounded up the finished books and headed off to return and check out some new titles.
Afterwards, we drove over the local beach park and did lessons in the car (math and writing) with the hopes of playtime on the newish playground and a possible popsicle. But the distractions got in the way for the younger one. At one point he said “I don’t want to do school anymore.” This coming from a kid who loves math. I felt my heart break a little. I could feel his frustration. Usually, it’s my oldest that has these problems. She was completely unaffected by our surroundings. And as the crowds starting flocking to the park, I made the decision to abandon our post and head home. That was met with disappointment, most visibly from my youngest. But we changed gears and took a walk in the neighborhood with juice boxes and snacks instead. That seemed to help.
In the evening, we watched selections from the Tokyo Summer Olympics: shotput, 400 relay, hurdles, diving, triple jump and trampoline. It think it was more inspiring for the grownups.
Thursday, 8/5
The kids started their day with a round of Battleship, after I sent them outside in the morning air. Thursdays we have “Tea Time” (virtual reading) with my mom. So the standing virtual date is affectionally called “Tea Time with Grandma.” The kids read all kinds of things to my mom.
After lunch, we dove into our studies. Writing has proved to be a little challenging this week. I think we need to approach “descriptive words” in a more creative way. Which is just so funny to me. I thought drawing pictures and coming up with words would have been the key. But I’m going to need to brainstorm a bit more on that. We also got hung up on math a bit – being overwhelmed by the number of problems on the page. Once we turned it into a game (who can solve the problems the fastest, me doing the problems upside down), that seemed to help.
Friday, 8/6
The kids started off the day with math games on their tablets. Their favorites are Prodigy and Math Tango. Fridays are generally our catch up days around the house. We don’t typically do much “school” on these days, as we’re usually running around with errands and such. It is also Family Fun Night – which means homemade pizza, a movie and sometimes Nintendo Wii (our favorite game to play as a family right now is Super Mario Bros).
Other things:
I’m starting to pencil in our schedule for the fall. Organizations are posting their class schedules. I’ve also been working on updating my Trello board for the upcoming school year. Trello is a great tool for planning, especially if you are a visual person.
One co-op I had high hopes in trying out this year (EHPTSA) is inactive for the upcoming school year per a post I saw on Facebook. I would post the link here but as of this post, the website is getting a 404 error.
Other extracurriculars we are considering but I have yet to fully investigate are:
- ballet with Emerald Ballet Theatre
- a mixed dance class at Duvall Performing Arts
- parkour class at Movefree Academy
- a karate class in Bothell
I’d love to do all of these but we’ll see if the scheduling lines up. Many of these classes are targeted towards public and private school families and are only offered late afternoon and early evening. I’ve been trying to avoid activities in these hours because traffic is really bad in the area. There is also a new homeschool soccer club starting 40 minutes away (in light traffic) but the idea of sitting in the car for at least an hour both directions for an hour club doesn’t seem like a fun use of our time. I did the evening activities as a kid and it was hard. So we’ll see.
Also, safety is still a huge issue. I know many families that aren’t abiding by the mask recommendation by the CDC and our kids have yet to be vaccinated. And while we will mask anyway, the social pressure and risk is very much there. I’m not going to argue with anyone about this – it’s just what is most comfortable for our family right now.
One other place I am definitely going to revisit this week for activity inspiration is the Seattle Homeschool Group resource list.
Other programs and activities that are on my radar:
Labyrinth (another co-op) is based out of Sammamish. They have creative writing, parkour and gameschooling classes I think the kids would be interested in but I think I may have missed the window for fall enrollment. I will have to revisit in Winter, most-likely.
Heartwood Nature Programs (formerly Camp Roots) is another possibility. Before COVID hit, we were in a class together that we really enjoyed. I want to explore this option for the kids again soon.
Frog Legs Cooking School is close by. And while I love cooking in the kitchen with the kids, this could be a fun opportunity for them to teach *me* something.
Advantage Gymnastics is also a contender. They have a Ninja program that would be a good fit for the never-ending energy supply that is my youngest. Just weighing the risks again.
Digipen is also down the road from us. They offer enrichment classes in everything from art appreciate to game design. As of this post, most of their classes for the 12 and under set will be offered online.
Resources I found this week:
While we’re not “heading off to school” (ahem, homeschool!) we have a serious interest in all-things unicorns so I’ll be showing the kids this craft. It looks pretty simple to make! Make a lucky mini unicorn for the first day of school (PBS Parents)
Literally a one-ingredient treat. We’ve made this on many occasion (and made it extra indulgent with a dash of cocoa powder and cinnamon). Daniel Tiger’s Banana Swirl (PBS Parents)
The kids erupted in cheers when I told them there’s a new season of “44 Cats.” I’m always looking for new things to watch with the family on Family Fun Night (Fridays). The Coolest New Titles Coming to Netflix for Families This August (redtri.com)
Math Mammoth online practice: https://www.mathmammoth.com/practice/
Events from King County Library System: online Chess class (runs 8/11 – 9/8) and a Radical Reactions workshop.
