A Day in Our Life

I have been wanting to do this for awhile and finally decided to just take the plunge!  I chose Monday since B was sick yesterday and we didn’t actually do anything. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures but I hope to add some later as we do this every week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arise at 7AM (after hitting the snooze for 30minutes), wake M and send her off to get dressed.  I get dressed myself and quickly check my e-mail while she eats breakfast and packs her backpack for school.  We are off to the bus stop by 7:30 and I am back home by 7:40.

I grab my coffee and continue to check my boards and blogs.  B wakes up at 8 and stumbles bleary eyed into my lap.  He asks for clothes and then to watch an episode of Holmes on Homes.  He gets dressed,  grabs a bowl of cereal and sits on the couch under a blanket while watching.  I continue on the computer.  We both wake slowly 🙂  He asks me to help him vote for his favorite songs on the local alternative rock’s website.

After his show is over B votes then grabs some workbooks and does some pages (copying CVC words, place value and measurement).  At 9:30 we both wake K.  She stumbles out, makes a cup of tea and retreats to her room to get ready.  At 10:15 we leave for Homeschool Music Appreciation at the local community center. 

The kids gather in the lobby and chat while waiting for Mr. A (the music teacher) to get ready.  The age range in the lobby is 3ys-15yrs, the range for class is 8yrs-15yrs.  Down into the music room (which is actually a wrestling room LOL) for class.  Mr. A talks about how all genres of music use the same chords and about the names of notes.  He plays guitar for them and asks them what they listen to at home.  While class is going on I share my new American history books with some of the other moms.

At 11 when class is over the kids and I go to the library so I can get some books for our homeschooling.  While I pick out books on Marie Antoinette, Queen Elizabeth and the water cycle, K talks with the children’s librarian.  CL asks K if she would make a giant paper mache bug for the library and assist her with the craft at the reading program’s craft time.  K happily agrees! B helps me find books 😉

We are home by 11:45.  B eats lunch while I get a chicken in the oven and tidy a bit.  K pulls out her new Sherlock Holmes book and begins to read The Crooked Man.  We leave at 12:15 to drop B off at speech/OT/reading/math at the local public school at 12:30.  Back at home K and I eat lunch and she goes to relax a bit and play with her rats.

1:30 our Foster Granny arrives.  She chats with us for a bit.  Daycare kid arrives at 2 and she and K start chatting about books and then play Apples to Apples with foster granny. FG leaves to get an updated cell phone.  K and DK go to K’s room to listen to music.

At 3:20 I head down to the bus stop to pick up B and M.  Once home, M turns on the TV to watch W.I.T.C.H. (I record it every night at 3AM and she watches it when she gets home).  B and DK head outside to play.  They make snow ramps for the sleds and slide.  K comes out of her room and we plan how to make the giant bug (it will be a dragon fly).  Since CL asked that it be made from as many recycled materials as possible we find an old broom handle for the base.  Plans are made to pick up newspapers from Grandma’s house this weekend.  I look up paste recipes on-line.

At 4:30 B and DK come in the house.  As I put all their snow gear in the dryer, they grab a snack and settle down to listen to the *top 5 @ 5* on the local alternative rock station.  B is thrilled that he picked number 2 an 3 🙂  W arrives home at 5 and I start the rest of dinner.  The kids all come out to welcome W home and then go back to the TV to await dinner.  We are eating by 5:45, done by 6:30. W and I tidy while the kids get ready to go dance.

K gets changed, grabs a bottle of water and her shoes.  B grabs his calculator, M her CD player and DK her homeschool work (sent from home) and we head out to dance class at 6:45 and arrive at 7:15.

7:15-8:15 K is in hip hop class.  M listens to music and I read Cartoon History of the US.  DK finished her work in 15min so she and B stage The Great Pink Pony War (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zvB.5ywzfqjP.TxyN82gF.Wo?p=135). 

We head home and are there by 8:45.  K begins her bookwork (a sheet of fractions, Rosetta Stone, an exercise from Drawing with Children and a grammar sheet).  She decided to take her reading work (section of Story of Mankind on the French Revolution, working on her creative writing) to bed as well as the remainder of her math (reading a chapter of Murderous Maths-the mean and vulgar bits).   DK plays Harry Potter on the computer.  I read to M and B (The Industrial Revolution, Children in History-the 1900s, Magic School Bus at the Waterworks and a chapter from The Fire Within). 

DK goes home at 9:30.  I read to K from The Divide and W brings her to bed (they chat in her room before she goes to bed).  I take a quick shower and then W and I watch The Tudors once K is settled. 

I’m in bed by 11:30.  I read the rest of Stardust by Neil Gaiman and turn off the light by 12. 

THE END

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not all of our days are this busy, but we rarely spend an entire day at home (unless someone is sick of course) and we never sit at the kitchen table unless we were eating 😉

I am sometimes amazed by how much we manage to cover with a minimum of fuss.  This day B learned about music, science, libraries, math, history, writing, construction, PE and computers.  That’s not even including what he did at school! K had literature, art, PE, math, Italian, grammar, creative writing and history.  All this and still plenty of time to hang out, get enough sleep and just be. 

I often say we homeschool because I feel strongly that my kids should have a free childhood.  This is what I mean.  I want them to be able to just be kids and not have their whole day taken up with school and homework and keeping up.  I often feel bad that M spend all day in school and that it is draining enough that she spends the time that she’s at home regrouping with TV and Music.  She really does love school though and it gives her what she needs (therapies, intensive academic instruction, lots of specialized resources).  I have to keep her best interest in mind and I know I would have hard time giving her what she needs.

Learning all the time-Hermit Crabs

Every once in a while we have something happen in our everyday life that becomes a huge learning opportunity all on it’s own.  Becoming the owner of five hermit crabs last fall was one of those things. 

When  a friend asked if we would be willing to take them since her kids were no longer interested in them I though *sure, what’s another tank of critters?*.  We are pretty well known in our circle of friends as The Zoo so they know who to ask LOL!  Once confirming they came with a place to live, delivery was arranged.

They arrived in a five gallon tank with a soap dish for a bathtub a few extra shells, some goldfish pellets for food and a book about hermit crabs.  They seemed happy enough and the kids were really excited.  They named them Angel, Irma, Mr. Crabs, Pigwidgeon and Demeter. 

Being the obsessive person that I am, I quickly went on-line and did some research into hermit crabs.  All the sites I read said the same things; they needed more room, more stuff and more heat and moisture. 

Sooooo…we headed to the pet store.  We came back with a ten gallon tank, a tank warmer, some more sand, two deeper *bathtubs* (one for salt water, one for fresh), a piece of cork, calcium chews, sponges (to keep the air moist), two small pots (for hiding), one fake log and some fake plants.

Now the crabs live in the marvelous *Crabitat* you see above.  Not only was a great deal of money spent, but a lot was learned as well. 

The kids learned about:

Hermit Crab care

how hermit crabs breathe (with gills)

humidity and how to measure it-what a hydrometer is

best way to monitor temperature in a tank

which plants are poisonous to hermit crabs

what molting is

difference between crabs and snails

depth and volume (while filling the tank with the correct amount of sand)

measurement (of crab shells)

cost analysis of various types of sand and other substrate products, foods and decorations

where cork comes from

They even Incorporated some other subjects by:

Painting pictures of their crabs (art)

setting up the crabitat to be visually appealing (interior design? art?)

talking about the crabs to M’s class and the kids at mom’s group (public speaking, oral reports)

We even have a book list (you knew this was coming right?)

A House for Hermit Crab

Is This a House for Hermit Crab?

Hermit Crabs for Dummies

Hermit Crabs-a complete owners manual

And a list of websites

http://www.hermitcrabs.org/

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/

http://www.crabbytalk.com/