What's Been Going On: Monday, 22 August - Wednesday, 25 August, 2022

Hello, hello! School is going well here so far!

We’ve had a few blips in the road; math and Language Arts were a little tough the few days, not gonna lie. My daughter was a little resistant, and of course, the work is a little harder this year. Third grade writing is a lot more intense than second grade, and I have big expectations for her. But we’re hanging in there, and Wednesday went SO well, even the tough parts. I think we’ll eventually get into a smoother pattern altogether, but there were bound to be a few bumps in the road in the beginning no matter what.

It’s been hard finding time to squeeze everything in. I’ve basically been in constant motion from the moment my feet hit the ground, and I don’t get a break until usually 7:30 or 8pm. It’s exhausting, but it’s worth it. It’s good work. : )

Here’s what I’ve been up to so far this week!

 

Monday, 22 August, 2022

 

After getting dressed, I had coffee and breakfast, then finished and posted Monday’s post. I posted my review for Idiot’s Guide: Foraging by Mark Vorderbruggen over on my book blog, then scooped the dishwasher, and emptied and refilled the dishwasher. I did a half hour of volunteer work, and then it was time to get all the pictures done for the grandparents and various social media outlets.And then, school!

We started our day with On This Day in History, geography (Pakistan), and a new brief reading from a daily history book (Leif Ericson). For math, we covered G3M1L8, then moved into Language Arts, covering G3M1U1L1. This took for-ev-er, and my daughter didn’t have the greatest attitude about it (third grade work is a lot more intense and writing/thinking-heavy than second grade, so she really has to step up her game here, and it’s HARD for the kids to make this transition!). We took a break for lunch, worked through it a little, and had it conquered by the time her plate of leftovers was empty.

We read twenty pages of Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, and we measured out, on the driveway and in string, what a 16-foot tapeworm (that apparently enjoyed making their homes in the intestines of certain indigenous children’s intestines) looked like. We read Fossils by Peter Mavrikis, then read 25 pages of Fossils by Ann Squire. We read (and loved!) North Pole, South Pole by Nancy Levinson, then dove into the first chapter of History Smashers: The Mayflower by Kate Messner, where we took turns reading. I walked my daughter through her spelling; she wrote out her words afterwards. Then she copied some definitions of vocabulary into her vocab notebook, and we cleaned up the living room.

 

And off to the library, which was the carrot I was dangling in front of my daughter all day. It worked out, because I ended up having two interlibrary loan books in. After we checked those out, I picked up a prescription at Walgreens, and then it was home to write about my day and do another 30 minutes of volunteer work. I reheated dinner, and we had leftover black bean soup and grilled cheese for dinner, and I did my Duolingo, took out the recycling and the trash. My husband and daughter and I went on a 2.5 mile walk with my husband and daughter (crowded streets this night! Lots of people out for a walk with their doggos). I hauled the cans to the curb, showered, and read my book; my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed. Slightly better sleep this night!

 

Tuesday, 23 August, 2022

After getting dressed, I had breakfast and coffee, then posted my review for In Pain by Travis Rieder on my book blog. I did thirty minutes of volunteer, filled and ran the dishwasher, and got our school books ready, then it was time to begin!

The morning was full of math and Language Arts, followed by spelling practice. We broke for a quick lunch, I got some beans in the Instant Pot, and then it was back to work! We read more of Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, finished Fossils by Ann Squire, then read half of Fantastic Fossils by Rob Stone. We read another chapter of History Mashers: The Mayflower, my daughter wrote out her spelling words and read to my husband, and I headed to the kitchen, to empty and refill the dishwasher.

 I made an Instant Pot full of enchilada rice with black beans, read twenty pages of Come and Hear out on the porch, then went upstairs to read but ended up dozing a bit instead. My son and I walked four miles, I had dinner, put the rest of dinner away, and I wrote out the pages for the next day’s math and Language Arts. I did my Duolingo then showered and put my daughter to bed. I read my book, my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects, and I had another awful night of sleep. Eurgh!

 

Wednesday, 24 August, 2022

 

I woke up when my husband left at 5 am, but after reading a few pages of my book, I managed to fall back asleep. I woke back up at 6:30, got dressed, and then it was time for breakfast, coffee, and 30 more minutes of volunteer work. I made out my grocery list, then posted my review for I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day on my book blog. I filled and ran the dishwasher, then it was time for school.

 We did a unit of math, and a unit of Language Arts. The first two days of the week, there was some foot-dragging, whining and complaining, the usual spiel. On this day, I figured out a trick for getting through to my daughter with math that I don’t know how long is going to work, but I’m going to run with it as long as I can, because there was ZERO whining or complaining this day, and Language Arts went off without a hitch as well! SO enjoyable when that happens.

 And then it was music time. I played the recorder for YEARS as a kid; I played at religious services, I played in recitals, I played with a madrigal group. It wasn’t the usual Hot Cross Buns nonsense; the recorder is actually a beautiful instrument when played properly, and I figured my daughter is old enough to start learning, so we began her musical adventure with the recorder. She’s just starting to get comfortable holding it and figuring out how her fingers need to cover the holes (and where on her fingers need to be covering the holes!). She did so well and she really enjoyed it. I was so proud!

 We had a quick lunch, and then it was art time! My daughter made a few different drawings; I finished one I’d started earlier in the year. The text on the right comes from Amos 5:24: But let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing stream.

My son and I left for groceries when my husband got home, and we stopped by three stores. We got some marked-down cheese, marked-down milk, and marked-down bagels. We also dropped off some books at a neighboring library. At home, I put the groceries away, baked the pizza, and finished the last few details of my drawing. We ate dinner, I worked on this post, did my Duolingo, then put together the next day’s math and LA. I showered, read my book, and my husband and I watched one episode of Unusual Suspects before bed.

 

And that’s it! I’m absolutely loving the way our Wednesday school is structured. I missed having time to do art and music last year, so I knew I had to pick at day where we got that in there. We’re still doing math and Language Arts on that day, so we can get all the work done throughout the school year (and maybe even finish a little ahead of time!), but our afternoons are free for the arts, and my daughter loves that as well. It’s nice to have a little bit of a mid-week breather!

 

I hope you’re all having a lovely week as well. : )