Homeschooling (AKA PJ School) Day 1

Dear Kids, 

So the COVID-19 situation has me stuck given me the opportunity to hang out with all three of you at the same time for at least the next 3 weeks. 😰

Last night, I did some prep work. I came up with a schedule, we would do artsy fun stuff in the morning so that Hailey could participate and then while she naps, we would do more academic stuff. 

We started the morning off with chores. I tried to get some buy in by letting you guys trade in chores for your screen time. Somehow, you thought I was talking about extra screen time, but I was really talking about no more free screen time and you having to earn it now. I'm just going to let that sink in for a bit... 

Then we had music class and exercise with a combination of yoga and dance moves. That was silly. And then there was snack time. 

Afterwards, we had art. I busted out the 3 brand spankin' new water color palates that I bought the other day and it was like Christmas morning. I also introduced to you guys oil pastels and we did some reist paintings of a desert. The theme for the day was desert. 

 Hailey, you drew a snake! But I think you ended up just interested in playing with the medicine dropper, so I just gave you a medicine dropper with an ice cube tray and you were occupied for like 30 minutes.

 Nathan you drew a snake too and I still love your people with the long necks. It's a cowboy holding a lasso. (Totally thought it was a skillet at first)

 And Hannah, you used bubble wrap to make a cactus sitting against a stunning sunset sky.

This is Upside Down

Hannah wanted to do math tubs, so I came up with a math tub activity...good thing the blocks were all in a tub because your teacher apparently has it all ready for you guys to get and play by yourself...

so-rry! 

 And we incorporated some graphing in.

 Then I had you all work on some math while I put Hailey down for a nap. Our neighbor came over and decided to run home to get her booklet and joined us as well.

 We then had science where we walked around the garden and picked succulent leaves. We categorized, sorted, and described the leaves and then we set them up to see how long it would take each leaf to grow roots.

 We had reading, took walks and had recess througout the day. Overall, I think you all had fun. For me, it was exhausting. It was definitley easier when Hailey was napping because when she's with the bigger kids, I'm constantly redirecting her from drawing on furniture or preventing her from "messing up" your work.

It's definitely a long day with no break. If I'm taking a break from "school", I'm prepping meals or going to the bathroom.  I was saying to Daddy that I need to schedule in some sort of break for myself. But then again, I thought to myself, a break to do what? Everything that I used to carve time out to take care of has now been put on hold. I've been complaining about how I don't get to spend time with you guys (since I'm always trying to get stuff done around the house) and now I get an opportunity to spend uninterrupted time with you all. I'll take it!

We'll see what the next 3 weeks (or possibly more) will bring. Skating, learning how to read, a new appreciation for the Harry Potter books? Who knows, but I do know that I will try to see this as an opportunity to hang out with my favorite 3 little people in the whole world. Everyone tells me that these days go by too fast, I'll take your word for it and enjoy it while I can.

Love,
Mommy