The NVFD drove through the neighborhoods in Nolensville today, so the Easter Bunny could wave at the kids!!! How precious is that? I love our little town.
We also did one of our science experiments today, dyeing eggs with Cool Whip and gel food coloring. It was super easy, and the eggs turned out really well.
We had a PJ day today and ordered carry-out from Birdie’s Breakfast and Lunch Shop (I think it’s the beginning of a Friday homeschooling tradition). Here are some pictures of the boys during the Writing portion of our day…little cuties!!!
Jonas answered one of his teacher’s weekly questions (“If you could be invisible during the CoVid crisis, what would you do?”) and answered several questions about poems, read on Epic, progressed at his own pace on Kahn Academy and completed a few math worksheets from his packet, watched a few science videos (Forces and Motion and Properties of Matter) and answered questions about them on Freckle, played Rummy and Mexican Train Dominoes with me for Mommy and Me Time, and had a Zoom meeting with his best friend.
Xander wrote and solved a big word problem using five different compound sentences, worked on equivalent fractions and progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy, read on Epic, read and answered questions on a few articles about the Civil War on Social Studies Weekly, made snickerdoodles with me for Mommy and Me Time (for a friend who is quarantined with what she’s pretty sure is CoVid), and had a Zoom meeting with two of his good friends.
Roman wrote one narrative and two opinion paragraphs (I typed them out on Google Docs for him) and inserted pictures for fun, read on Epic, progressed at his own pace on Beast Academy for Math, played Wiffle Pickle in the backyard with me for Mommy and Me Time, and had a Zoom meeting with two of his good friends.
We ended up skipping our science experiment today, but we’ll probably get to it this weekend.
That’s week 3 of homeschooling in the books!!! The suggested activities for each grade level (2nd, 4th, and 5th) sent by the boys’ teachers were HUGELY helpful this week…total game changer.
Jonas slept in until 9:15 am!!! That is a first in our household. The beauty of homeschooling is that it’s okay if you’re running a little bit (or a lot) late.
We started our day with each of the boys picking two exercises to do for 30 seconds. They got super pumped up about it and made up all sorts of combinations. This exercise was pretty simple, I thought…ride a horse…but it turned into this really quickly…
Jonas completed his lesson on poetry, labeled a sentence from a chapter in a book he’s been reading with parts of speech, practiced editing/revising, read a book, progressed on Khan Academy at his own pace in math, finished a few math worksheets from his packet, and participated in a Zoom meeting for TaeKwonDo. For Mommy and Me Time, we played rummy (he beat me).
Xander made up some compound sentences of his own (they were so funny), read on Epic, used Freckle for math, read social studies articles and answered questions, and watched a life science video and completed two activities that went along with it. For Mommy and Me time, he helped me get lunch ready and we played pickle ball.
Roman created and solved a word search with the challenge spelling list, read on Epic, did math on Beast Academy, and participated in a Zoom meeting for TaeKwonDo. For Mommy and Me time, we played pickle ball and “wiffle pickle” (a game that Roman made up that’s a cross between wiffle ball and pickle ball…it was a lot of fun!).
Tom brought home some sidewalk chalk, so we were able to do an art activity this afternoon. Yay, Tom! Who knew sidewalk chalk would be so hard to find these days? We’ve seen these almost stained glass looking pieces of sidewalk chalk art all throughout our neighborhood and decided to give them a try. The boys started out with card stock Easter eggs…
Then, they took it to the street!!! It’s sweet to bring a little bit of color into our lives and the lives of others right now…any way we can.
Roman went with Tom to work today (thankfully, it’s just Tom there) to do his homeschooling. He wrote a story, read a book, did some math on Beast Academy, worked on coding with Kano Code, and had some Daddy and Me Time.
Jonas and Xander homeschooled with me…
Jonas did a lesson on prepositional phrases and identified some in the book he was reading, started a lesson on poetry, completed a few math worksheets and continued to progress on Khan Academy, and watched a video and answered questions on “The U.S. Enters WWII”. For Mommy and Me time, we played Kubb.
Xander found compound sentences in the book he was reading and wrote a round robin style story with me, read a book and made a list of the story elements, watched a video and completed a worksheet on simplifying fractions, watched a science video on why your biceps bulge, and read a few articles and answered questions on Social Studies Weekly. For Mommy and Me time, we played the Milk Jug/Bean Bag toss game.
After Tom brought Roman home, he set up the most awesome Pickleball court in our backyard. We all had fun playing a few rounds before Tom had to go back to work.
Then, it was science time with…Peeps. The boys each chose four liquids to submerge their Peeps in for 24 hours. They made predictions about what effect they thought the liquids would have on their Peeps. Jonas chose salt water, grape jelly, vinegar, and teriyaki sauce. Xander picked heavy whipping cream, almond milk, oil, and lemon juice. And Roman tried ranch dressing, milk, ketchup, and pickle juice. It was fun (and a little gross) to watch! We’ll see what happens tomorrow…
Let me start out by saying that there was QUITE a bit of fighting today between the boys, and I think we were all emotionally exhausted by the time bedtime rolled around.
Roman had MULTIPLE meltdowns…I’m not sure what’s going on with him. He’s sleeping well, eating well, having special time with mommy and daddy, getting exercise outdoors, etc. Tom and I talked about it tonight, and we think maybe he just needs a break from his brothers (since there’s no school and no playdates with friends right now to break up the time with them…AND they’re all taking everything out on each other). So, Tom is going to take Roman to work with him tomorrow morning (luckily, it’s just Tom at his office) and let him do homeschool there.
This weekend, the boys’ teachers sent out activity suggestions for the week, incorporating WCS online resources and the packet they already gave us, for each grade level. What a Godsend!!! The boys took right to it…I think it’s much less overwhelming than having things completely open-ended or having to sift through a load of information/choices to figure out exactly what to do. We were able to slide it all right into the daily homeschool routine that works best for us without a problem. Yay!
During Writing:
Jonas responded to a letter from Ethan (his best friend).
Xander added another post to his classroom discussion online and reviewed compound sentences on Flocabulary.
Roman wrote a letter to Owen (his best friend), filled out a story elements graphic organizer for “Captain Underpants” by Dav Pilkey, and wrote his spelling words in shaving cream.
During Math:
The boys progressed on their individualized math programs on Khan Academy and Beast Academy (love these!!!). Jonas worked on ratios, Xander on shapes and skip-counting, and Roman on comparing, subtraction, and odds and evens.
During Reading:
Jonas sat on the upstairs couch by the window, read on his Paperwhite Kindle, and typed out the answers to a few questions from his packet.
Xander curled up on the downstairs couch with his blanket and dove back into “Tales of an 8 Bit Kitten: A Call to Arms” by Cube Kid for the third time (he has been LOVING that book since he got it from Amazon last week).
Roman tucked into his bed with all of his stuffed animal monkeys and read a “Big Nate” book by Lincoln Pierce.
During Mommy and Me Time:
Jonas and I made blueberry muffins (actually, he did most of it by himself…so proud of him) and played Kubb.
Xander and I played Milk Jug/Bean Bag toss (a game Jonas used to play in rock climbing class). Xander is so fun with his trick shots…he reminds me so much of his Daddy in that.
Roman and I played Milk Jug/Bean Bag toss and Kubb as well.
During Science/Social Studies:
Jonas had already finished the recommended Science/Social Studies activities for today before school let out…lucky him.
Xander read two articles, watched a video, answered a few questions, and played a game on the Social Studies Weekly app.
Roman skipped Social Studies today.
All three of the boys did a Peep and jelly bean STEM activity, building nests and houses for their Peeps with jelly beans and toothpicks. (These pictures were taken at the beginning…by the end, their creations were quite elaborate…especially Jonas’…he built a Peep mansion…ha!)
We are so grateful for the beautiful weather this weekend…it even started to feel a little bit like summer. The boys had a blast playing with a gigantic bubble wand and water guns in the driveway.
Yesterday, we did “unschooling”.
Today, we went back to last week’s homeschooling schedule, and it worked much better for everyone.
The boys did a little exercise warm-up and wrote in their journals (there seems to be continuous weeping and gnashing of teeth with this one for some reason).
Then, they each read independently and worked on math with Khan Academy (except for Roman who blew a gasket over Go Math, Dreambox, and Freckle…so, I ended up going a different route with him and tried him out on a math program later in the afternoon that a dear friend told me about called Beast Academy…he loved it).
For Mommy and Me Time, Jonas and I built a fairy garden…
Xander and I made banana bread and played Kubb…
Roman and I played Kubb and enjoyed sensory play time with play-doh, magic sand, and slime.
In Science, we tried out Rainbow Shaving Cream Rain Clouds and talked about how rain is formed.
Oh, this day. Sigh.
It’s kind of all a blur now honestly…starting late, each boy at some point having a minor/major meltdown over their work, each boy eventually going to their room because of their attitudes, all of us taking a looooooooooong brain break, doing the schedule all out of order, leaving some things completely out, etc. It was just one of those days where there was frustration EVERY step of the way for EVERYbody.
The only thing that worked out was our science experiment with baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar…it was a bit of fizzy fun that the boys seemed to really enjoy.
At the end of the day, Tom and the boys and I all had a pow wow about last week’s schedule vs. this week’s schedule…what we thought worked and what we thought didn’t work. We ended up deciding to go back to last week’s schedule, tweak it a little bit (adding exercise first thing and swapping out coding/typing for independent reading), and pull ideas/resources from their binders as needed. Hopefully, that will be our last switcheroo, and we can finally settle in to our new normal.
We started our new homeschooling schedule/content today…
The district provided a packet full of information for each grade level, along with a suggested daily agenda. I spent all weekend, trying to wrap my head around it and organizing everything into binders for the boys. I tweaked the schedule just a little bit, so that they’re all on the same topic at the same time (even though they’re doing different levels of work). This is what their days are going to look like this week while we pilot it and see how it goes:
830 – 840 am Exercise
840 – 910 am Reading
910 – 930 am Communicating (Writing)
930 – 950 am Interest (Science M/W/F and Social Studies T/TH)
950 – 1020 am Arithmetic
1020 – 1040 am Creating (Art M/W/F and Music T/TH)
1040 – 1100 am Technology
1100 – 1130 am Independent Reading
They decided to try “Jump the Creek” today for exercise…they jumped from t-shirt to t-shirt on the floor, moving the t-shirt banks farther and farther apart each time. I was able to get some action shots…
So, basically during each block, the boys pick anywhere from 1 to 3 activities from their binder to complete. It sounds easy enough, but it’s met with attitude, refusal, and minor/major meltdowns. I was still able to capture a few peaceful moments. Here’s Xander, writing a letter to his best friend, Jeremy during Communicating. And here’s Roman, working on a science experiment I brought from home called “Dancing Worms” during Interest.
We ended up going for a walk up and down the street after the first four blocks of work. And, after completing the next two blocks of work, ate lunch and drove down the mountain and found a creek and a trail to explore off of one of the side roads. (We picked up with the last two blocks of work after we got home and relaxed a little bit.)
We’ll see what tomorrow holds…
Tom, bless his heart, rented us a cabin in the Smoky Mountains for a change of scenery while social distancing.
It is so quiet here…everything is completely shut down, including the Smoky Mountain National Park. We’ve been enjoying our little cabin in the woods…taking it slow and easy.
Here’s another win by Mr. and Mrs. Mast with Masters Martial Arts…workouts with Zoom!!! Mrs. Mast emailed us the meeting number/time, the boys downloaded the app onto their tablets (Roman facilitated that part for himself and for Jonas…he’s such a techie), and the boys joined the meeting when the time came…easy peasy. It was so good to see faces and hear voices that we know and love. I think I most enjoyed hearing the boys still being called out by their instructors, “Roman, stop talking.”…”Jonas, come on, man!” HaHa!
So, today was a little rough, honestly. Maybe the newness of homeschooling is starting to wear off?
Xander pushed back quite a bit in Writing, even though I had accommodated him by offering him things to list instead of spring writing prompts. During our Mommy and Me time, he rolled around on the floor, saying he was bored and complained that there was nothing to do. He seemed more sad than bored to me. So, we ended up doing one of his favorite, comforting things…climbing into my bed and reading together (today’s selection was Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls). I think the quarantine is starting to bum him out…I understand.
Coding and Math were uneventful, which was good. For Mommy and Me time, Jonas and I played Battleship and Roman and I played Exploding Kittens (they both won).
For Science in the afternoon, I was super pumped up to get out of the house for the first time in a week or so and take them to Crockett Park for a nature scavenger hunt!!! BUT I got a ton of lip and whining from Xander and Roman and ended up having to have a Come to Jesus with them on the way, which in turn soured things for me. Tom was a bright spot, as always, and joined us at the park…he knew I was struggling. Jonas, Xander, and I found most of the things on our nature scavenger hunt list and actually had fun doing it. Roman, on the other hand, boycotted the scavenger hunt and chose to lag behind and pout…although he did get in some good playing in the mud time. Tom saved the day with football throwing and games of Pooh Sticks (racing sticks) in the creek.
Mr. and Mrs. Mast at Masters Martial Arts are AWESOME!!! They’ve e-mailed activities/challenges for the kids to do at home, posted workouts on the MyStudio app (one steps, pushups, sit-ups, side kicks, round kicks, etc.), and invited the kids to work out with them on the Zoom app (I downloaded it today, so hopefully the boys can join in tomorrow).
Jonas and Roman both completed 21 Questions for Yellow and White Belts and will be receiving a star patch upon their return to the TaeKwonDo studio. Here they are finding out how many front stances and middle stances it takes to get to the end of the driveway…
Today was our second day of homeschooling!
I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea to bring down a huge stuffed animal out of each boy’s bedroom for them to use as their computer buddy (a bear for Jonas, a dolphin for Xander, and a monkey for Roman) and to create a sensory space in Roman’s room for him to go to when he’s close to or in meltdown mode.
We continued with our Spring Writing Prompts this morning (I joined them again…I love to write). For rotations today, the boys did Math, Typing, and Mommy and Me Time. In our special time together:
Roman and I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Xander and I made his bed (I helped him put the sheets and blankets on and tossed him his stuffed animals as he organized them in his amazingly thoughtful way), played stuffed animal hide and seek, and tossed the lacrosse ball back and forth.
Jonas and I played Ticket to Ride.
For Science, we made Wildflower Seed Bombs. Basically, you cut or tear construction paper into little pieces, separate them into bowls by color, let stand for 20 minutes, squeeze out about half of the water, shred each color in a blender/food processor, mix in wildflower seed, form into a ball, and let dry overnight. It was a little bit much with all three boys at once, so I ended up having two of them go upstairs to play together which made space for me to work with each one of them individually. The Wildflower Seed Bombs turned out well, and we’re excited to gift them to friends as a little ray of sunshine in this dark time.
We took our first official stab at homeschooling today.
I thought we would pilot our schedule and see how it feels. We have a list of WCS resources we can use, so for right now I decided to use those for Math, Coding, and Typing. I’m adding in Writing, with a page of prompts to choose from that will change each week, and a different fun activity that the boys can do each day for Science/Art (thank you, Pinterest!!!). The first block will be Writing and Rotations (Math, Coding M/W/F or Typing T/TH, and Mommy and Me Time for each boy). After the first block, it will be time for outside play, lunch, chores, and quiet time with tablets. Afterwards, we’ll finish up the homeschooling day with the second block, a Science/Art activity. (Over planning is a manifestation of my anxiety…still I’m grateful for what I feel like have been Holy Spirit downloads of creativity in homeschool lesson planning.)
Aside from Jonas and Roman getting into a fight while writing in their journals, during which I literally had to body block Jonas to keep him from hurting Roman for throwing a pencil at his head because Jonas made a snide remark about his writing and send Roman to his room for throwing a pencil at Jonas’ head and overreacting himself into a meltdown…we had a pretty decent first block. HaHa! During our Mommy and Me Time, Roman and I sorted his Pokemon cards (a boy after his mother’s heart), Xander and I played Forbidden Dessert (I’m glad he knows how to play that game and can explain it to me because I have no idea…it’s so complicated) and baked a cake (mix), and Jonas and I built towers with wooden dominoes and played several rounds of Jenga (Jonas dominated, of course).
For outside play, we went on a bear hunt around the neighborhood which was really fun. A mom in our neighborhood encouraged everyone to put bears in their windows for kids to find and count on bear hunt walks…such a great idea. There are several other neighborhoods in Nolensville participating now…I love our little town. Roman hung back and rescued worms, Xander ran ahead and recorded the number of bears and their addresses in a little notebook, and Jonas walked with Petra and helped me look for any bears that Xander might have missed. We only made it around the back part of our neighborhood because Roman took off through the woods to put the worms he rescued in our garden.
During our second block, we made peanut-free bird feeders out of empty toilet paper rolls, soy butter, and cheerios. It kind of made a big mess, but oh well. (I think it ended up being a good thing that the honey was solidified and we couldn’t add that to our concoctions.) It was fun to do, and I’m hoping the birds will appreciate it.
Before the lockdown, Jonas was heading home from the library pretty much every day with an armload of books. That boy is a voracious reader. So, when the library closed, I got in touch with Aunt Julie about that old Kindle Paperwhite of Dylan’s that he’s not using anymore. We’ve been able to load it up with books from my Libby app (if you don’t have it, get it…it’s a wonderful way to read or listen to books from your library), and Jonas is one happy camper. When Tom woke up on Monday morning, he found Jonas all cuddled up in the bed with his brothers and his stuffed animals, reading to them. So precious. What a blessing…thank you, Aunt Julie and Dylan!!!
We were so excited to get to go out on the boat this afternoon for the first time this spring!!! The dock and the lake were pretty much ghost towns, so it worked well for social distancing. It was Petra’s first boat ride. She was a little nervous at first but ended up taking to it really well. Her favorite part (and all of ours) was stopping to explore the “islands”. We were trying to keep her out of the water because it was so cold, but she jumped right in on our first stop, chasing ducks, and there was no turning back. She had a blast fetching sticks in the water…it is one of the cutest things in the world to me to see her swim. I’m amazed at how spritely she is for an almost 11 year old dog. It took her a while to dry out and warm up afterwards, but once she did, she was so fluffy and looked so cozy and contented, passed out for the rest of the day in her bean bag bed at home.
The boys and I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day today with a ton of (probably too many) Pinterest activities. We did a writing activity (I’m So Lucky, If I Caught a Leprechaun, etc.), watched a little YouTube video for kids about St.Patrick, made necklaces with rainbow thread and Fruit Loops, did a scavenger hunt (Tom is SO good at routing them all around with clues that make them think and work together) with a little rainbow and a pot of gold at the end (Sour Patch rainbow bites, marshmallows, and Rolos), and made green, shamrock-shaped Rice Krispie treats. Phew!!! You can bet I took a nap during quiet time after all of that…haha. When I woke up, we Face Timed with Aunt Beans to wish her a happy birthday!
We made slime today…ew!!!
We took a chilly, Sunday afternoon walk on Nolensville’s trails and came back to the house to warm up with dinner and home church.
