First Week Of School

I have to say I really enjoy the schedule even though it needs MAJOR modification. All of us do better knowing what comes next. The other day Ruby asked me, "Mama, after breakfast and clean-up, and Bible then can I play with my popcorn?"
I am amazed at how long I resisted using a schedule and how quickly the children adapted to one. I bought this cute little jar and cups (I think it is a Sake thing) at Goodwill for $1.99 and I knew it would be perfect for pour and sort activities. It is reserved only for school time and must be used at the high chair if it contains something that Libby can choke on.
One of my favorite quotes of the week was when Ruby was playing with some of her 'rock babies' and they were all in a box.
Ruby,"Mama my babies are flying"
Me, "Where are they going?"
Ruby,"They are going to Bismark, that is the capitol of North Dakota!"


Erik has been wearing a hat ever since his hair cut. He takes it off to pray and shower. I guess we are all waiting for his hair to grow.
Erik is the hardest of my children to home school. Everything he does comes naturally to him except book learning. He really wants to read but gets frustrated quickly when the lessons get too hard for him. He knows all the letters and most of the letter combinations and the sounds they make but seems to get stuck on putting it all together. He wants to be fluent without the work. I am looking for any reading suggestions that look like a competition. He loves to compete.

I had the younger children memorize and recite a poem called, "The Caterpillar" from "First Language Lessons" I then gave them supplies and instructions to make a caterpillar. Erik's is shown above (who knew caterpillars came in the shape of glasses?) and Ian's is below, his picture contains the toad from the poem and the birds that are named in the poem in addition to, the leaf and he used red,orange, yellow,green,blue and indigo (from rainbow week). Guess who likes to follow directions and who is an independent spirit?

Poor little Ruby had to wear a bib while she got to play in whipped cream on her high chair tray and she did not want to have the bib on. She pouted for quite awhile and the other children were all trying to get her to trade places with them. Erik even offered for Ruby to do his math and he could take care of her whipped cream.

The most difficult part for me is the lack of sleep I am getting. I think I could easily sleep for 10 hours a day and that really is not an option. If I could consistently get a 20 minute nap every day I would be OK too. How much sleep do you need/get? My other question is how often do you get out your supplies for school and keep them laying around. I don't like stuff not put away but I lose the children if I go grab glue, scissors, etc., Where do you put the stuff you are using for the week and what consequences do you have for children who get distracted by the fly on the wall and don't complete their lessons? Enough questions for now, we are refining our day but Loving the schedule (did I really just say that?)