Our Real Life Homeschool

Today was one of those blistery cold days and I knew we'd be spending it all indoors, so I opted for staying in our pj's and taking pictures to document our day. I know in the future I will want to look back and remember the day in, day out, sometimes mundane, but definitely not ordinary times of life.

Nora almost always requests a learning/school activity when I am getting Aidan started on school, but she either a) does not want to do what I suggest or cooperate with the activity or b) changes it to her liking. Here's an example of option B (a clock with numbers, shapes, and blocks is a great place for sleeping Squinkies).

Then it's back to occupying Aidan with a task and sitting with him through most of it. I realized that the more work I was letting him do independently, the sloppier he got, so I've been trying to sit next to him and direct him when I see him rushing through stuff. 

And usually, at some point, we have a sweet baby join us. Love those big eyes! She sits on my lap, or I nurse her, or she occupies herself with toys while we do school. Today I let her sit with me for a little while so she could watch the interaction at the table.

You can also count on at least one or more major meltdowns from Nora-girl. I mean, the blocks won't all fit right, or something fell over, or (gasp!) the Squinkie won't stay where it's put, or something else just as life threatening or difficult.

Gotta love the girl's pouty face. She's perfected the stink eye for sure! The toy just doesn't hold its appeal anymore Mom...so she's off to....

...THE PANTRY! Oh, snacks are the cure-all for this girl's emotions! (I'm afraid she might take after her Mama on that point) Loved catching her sneaking in to find "sumpin," (notice the mood change!)

And since I denied snack until Aidan finished his handwriting, I now have two sweet girls on my lap. {My arms are always full and I'm trying to relish this time that they need SO MUCH from me instead of letting myself slip into the desire to just be alone, not touched, sat on, pulled on, whined at etc...}

Today we pulled out the paints and got busy. I needed a good activity (albeit a messy one) to keep them entertained on this cold gloomy day.

And then here is the kitchen...post lunch and painting projects, and a baby just woken up to eat. Oh my!

The rest of the day called for some listening to audio books (my new and major life-saver as a stay at home mom!). Aidan can listen to hours and he SITS STILL (unless it's mildly scary or intense in the story). They color or do puzzles and Nora plays happily by the quiet and somewhat subdued older brother (she loves to play by herself, but be near people as long as they don't bother her--so it's a win-win situation). She listens here or there, mostly catching words that make her break out into an all out belly laugh at random.

Some of our favorites:

Magic Tree House: We've now listened to almost 30 of these books. Aidan loves the adventure and if they are even mildly "scary" they resolve into something that is not scary after all. 

Half Magic: Hilarious, so funny, even for adults. I don't know if he quite gets it all...it's for older children, but a great story about how some kids find a coin that grants them wishes, but only in halves. 

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Magic: Just started this today and Aidan thinks it's hilarious. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle cures kids of different impolite behavior and bad habits.

Geronimo Stilton: I'm personally not a huge fan of these and I don't know if Aidan likes them as much, but he does ask for them. We just started them because we've almost run out of Magic Tree House.

Aidan also likes to listen to Adventures in Odyssey, but their episodes are shorter and he has listened to 3+ hours of books in a day. He seriously loves listening to things. I read books to the kids every day, but don't have time to sit down for hours on end, so this is a great plus to listening to these books. Most of these books are for 8-12 year olds, but Aidan is pretty advanced in reading and comprehension, so he enjoys them.