Isn’t that just typical

 I often get asked what a “typical day” is like here at LaPaz. And while some days I might answer that every day is different, and other days I may feel like every day is the same, the truth lies somewhere in between. Though we have no rigid schedule, we do have a sort of rhythm to our days that keeps us moving forward and helps keep us sane. And though that rhythm often changes with the seasons or our moods, I thought I’d share what that looks like lately:

Mornings are our busiest time and the time when I am most actively involved in schooling. This is the time for language arts, math, read-alouds, geography, and all of the more “schoolish” stuff we do.

We typically start with our morning read-aloud. Then while Superboy gets his math out of the way,  JBug will spend some time reading with me, and then do some independent Montessori-inspired reading work as well. Here she is doing the “command” game, which she has just discovered she really likes. She takes a slip of paper on which are written simple commands (”pet the cat” or “sit in the sun”), she reads it and has to do whatever it says.

A current interest around here is geography. Here  Superboy is immersed in his plans for a cross-country trip with Dad. He has his route all planned out, along with some alternates should weather be a problem along the way. JBug and Squirt are making world maps, and JackJack is learning the continents using the world puzzle map.

The little guy keeps me hopping. Here he is with his beloved bird cards. Of all the children, he is the one who has really taken to these the most, asking to do them several times a day, at least. I try to add in a new bird or two every few days. His recall is amazing. I think he is up to 30 species now. It’s so cute to hear him call out “pinch”(finch), “mitmouse” (titmouse) or “dee-dee”(chick-a-dee) when he sees their pictures.

Squirt just loves to build with blocks. His new “X-men” are his current favorite. I have to admit really liking them as well. But he has several different types of blocks he can choose from at any time, including treeblocks and Legos,  as well as a train set and toy cars.

At 4 years old he doesn’t care much for sit-down work, which is fine with me. He does like to do the metal insets and chooses them probably two or three times a week and we are just beginning letter sounds using the sandpaper letters.

JackJack’s other favorite things are the knobbed cylinders. He was starting to get bored with them and was choosing them less often, so I tried giving him two at once. It was just the challenge he needed to revive his interest in them again.

Jbug also does math in the mornings. Ive shown pictures of that recently so I won’t add them here, but her current interests are the addition strip board, the hundred board, and counting the new bead chains. She is also learning to add up to thousands with the golden bead materials. This week we are learning about exchanging. Superboy also has reading assignments and writing to do. These vary from day to day but may include Bible, geography, short stories, catechism, you name it.

Then comes lunch,  currently we are listening to some stories from around the world by Jim Weiss. Then the boys take their naps. Yay! (did I just say that?) and Superboy gets some one-on one science with me while JBug does some quiet reading or the like.

Then comes nature study, which has been hit-or-miss lately. Just a lull until we hit our big Alaska/Iditarod study which will include lots of wintry nature to hold us over until spring’s botany unit.

And then it is independent project time for both Superboy and JBug. This is where there is a lot of variation from day to day. Superboy has his potato cannon started and JBug is making a book of “space” drawings. Today it happened to be that they were both interested in doing their snap circuits. JBug has her small set she got for Christmas…

and Superboy has a much larger set. His had sat in a closet unused for awhile, but seeing JBug with hers has gotten him back into working with his again.

After that they all usually go outside and play for awhile until supper or until we take Superboy to twice weekly Karate lessons.

And that is about it. Our “typical” day. It’s not much, but it suits us just fine!

I’d love to hear about YOUR typical day!