Our "School Week"

With the New Year ringing in, we are thinking more about homeschooling. Samantha will be officially registered with the schoolboard this August as a HOMESCHOOLER! I would say we have a pretty good routine going that we are going to stick with. (Now that we are leaning not to lolly gag all the time.) Our week starts on Tuesday and ends Friday. DH works Tuesday through Saturday, but DD and I like to treat Saturday as a weekend.) 

Tuesday is the beginning of our week. We usually relax, draw, play games, watch an episode or two of the Magic School Bus, do an activity or craft, something pertaining to her current interest. One of my favorite days of the week because we can do whatever we want. It is a new adventure every day. And in the warmer months, we go outside a lot to explore! Go to the beach. Walk a train. Go down to the local playground and creek to find new habitats. The colder weather brings preparation for the holidays, lots of baking and decorating, visiting family, and spending time reading books and such.

Wednesdays we go to storytime and get new books from the library. I try to reserve books on the topics she is interested in. (Currently that is the solar system, cats, sign language, and spanish. We are still really focused on the solar system.) And then I let her pick out whatever books off the shelves that strike her interest. I also get my own reading materials. :) She learns a lot just through reading and she has learned a lot about using the computer to find books and she also knows her way around the library pretty well. We have been attending storytime for over a year now, so the librarians are familiar with her and she is comfortable with them. It is also our errand day. I play all the bills online, but I still have to grocery shop once a month or if go to the store for something else I need, I try to do that on Wednesday since we are already out. I Afterwards, we usually go over to fmy friend, Christina's house, and Sam plays with her friend, Grace. We generally don't leave until it is time for me to go home and cook dinner.

Thursdays we go to the Center. I was afraid that Samantha wasn't getting enough stimulation on those days because my mother in law keeps her on some days and I bring her with me others. It is about half and half. So I talked to my MIL and she has agreed to start doing more learning activities with her. I will either send an activity or they will play on an educational computer game. Or go outside and explore. MIL also likes to teach DD about her interests in things like crocheting. And then the Thursdays she goes with me, she learns a lot about serving and office work and being around other adults. Today she helped me count and roll change. We went over the different coins, and counted them out, used a coin sorter, rolled them, and did some simple math. We really had a fun time working and learning together. And we had lots of money to use as learning tools. She also sees me filing and using different machines like the copy machine. And as she gets older, I will teach her to use these things. When I see clients, she stays with one of the women I work with, and she is starting to get to know them better, so she talks with them and sings with them and they play games with her on the computer and whatnot. The Center is very laid back about that sort of stuff. I definitely found the right place to serve.

Fridays are another relaxed day. We sometimes have a playdate. (We prefer to set those up for Fridays rather than Tuesdays.) Other days we stay home and play on the computer, build with blocks, any of the stuff I named above that we do on Tuesdays. 

Saturday through Monday is our "weekend." Since Hubby works Saturday, if we don't have anything planned, we try to treat it like we do Tuesday-free day. Sundays we have church and we spend a majority of a day there or spending time together as a family. (It really depends on the season what we end up doing. But the summer brings loads of fishing and camping trips.) Same with Monday, minus church. 

Our learning definitely doesn't stop when our week is over. Right now Sam is doing some learning on her own. She grabbed her globe and some paper out of the closet while I was typing. It is a VTech globe and it names the oceans and continents as she stops on them. As she does that, she draws a picture of it and names it! And she just started labeling them. We have never done that before. It was completely on her own initiative. The learning never stops! Not to mention when I cook dinner and clean, she is learning measurement, science (different ingredients reacting), and life skills! Just so much to learn. I could go on all day! 

Sam Helping at the Center