We get this question a lot- What do you do all day with your kids?
Last night, I wrote a list out of some highlights of our day. We:
1/ played with our 24 Barred Rock chickens- fed & watered them, observed one that had been hurt and hand fed it
2/ found and chased a huge cicada near the swingset
3/ caught a baby praying mantis on the slide, made a house for it
4/ watched a monarch come out of its chrysalis in our terrarium- we put it in a tree in our yard and watched it fly away after a while
5/ read books:
~a gorgeous rendition of The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth (with lovely illustrations by Barbara McClintock) ~ and then made really molasses-y gingerbread cookies and acted out the story with our cookies
~Mary by Demi
~The Monkeys and the Peddler by Susanne Suba
~I Love You, Little One by Nancy Tafuri
6/ the kids watched DK's Tree video (They watch one video each day, or not. We don't get TV channels, but we can watch selected videos)
7/ went to the park/ river across the street as it was a gorgeous day (sunny and 80, whehew!) and found crayfish, frogs, pinhead minnnows, pond snails and lots of rocks, did some rock skipping and semi-swimming
8/ Joseph, who will be 7 in December, did a math lesson from his Saxon 2 book and a language arts lesson (learned -le words, like riddle) in his Explode the Code phonics book- this is the "daily" seatwork that he does. We end up doing it 4 or 5 times a week, weekends included sometimes, as we don't follow a set schedule. When we have time, we pull out these books and complete the lessons. It usually takes about 30 or 40 minutes and leaves the rest of the day free for hands-on, contextualized learning.
9/ played superheros with our Waldorf silks- the kids made capes and rode their bikes, had races, and made tents under the bed covers
This is a fairly typical day, although we usually go out somewhere or have friends over. More "What do you do?" lists coming soon!
Last night, I wrote a list out of some highlights of our day. We:
1/ played with our 24 Barred Rock chickens- fed & watered them, observed one that had been hurt and hand fed it
2/ found and chased a huge cicada near the swingset
3/ caught a baby praying mantis on the slide, made a house for it
4/ watched a monarch come out of its chrysalis in our terrarium- we put it in a tree in our yard and watched it fly away after a while
5/ read books:
~a gorgeous rendition of The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth (with lovely illustrations by Barbara McClintock) ~ and then made really molasses-y gingerbread cookies and acted out the story with our cookies
~Mary by Demi
~The Monkeys and the Peddler by Susanne Suba
~I Love You, Little One by Nancy Tafuri
6/ the kids watched DK's Tree video (They watch one video each day, or not. We don't get TV channels, but we can watch selected videos)
7/ went to the park/ river across the street as it was a gorgeous day (sunny and 80, whehew!) and found crayfish, frogs, pinhead minnnows, pond snails and lots of rocks, did some rock skipping and semi-swimming
8/ Joseph, who will be 7 in December, did a math lesson from his Saxon 2 book and a language arts lesson (learned -le words, like riddle) in his Explode the Code phonics book- this is the "daily" seatwork that he does. We end up doing it 4 or 5 times a week, weekends included sometimes, as we don't follow a set schedule. When we have time, we pull out these books and complete the lessons. It usually takes about 30 or 40 minutes and leaves the rest of the day free for hands-on, contextualized learning.
9/ played superheros with our Waldorf silks- the kids made capes and rode their bikes, had races, and made tents under the bed covers
This is a fairly typical day, although we usually go out somewhere or have friends over. More "What do you do?" lists coming soon!
