Technically today was Travis’s half day, but we were incredibly busy!

9-9.30: STEM. Both of Travis’s workbook pages today inspired lots of hands-on play. The first was about mapping, specifically with an ant colony. He colored in the picture according to directions, and then I surprised him with… a real ant farm! I’ve had this in my back pocket (so to speak) for a while, but have always been nervous about it. Well, the time seems right. Our ants are actually still on their way in the mail, but Travis helped set up the sand for their habitat and we can’t wait for this science project to begin!

The second workbook page counted toward the E in STEM: imagining how to reuse boxes. After he drew ideas on the page, I surprised Travis with a collection of boxes I’ve been saving. What could we make them? A robot was up first with toilet paper tubes for arms.

But then the robot turned into a rocket with a little help from tissue paper and a coffee filter cone!

This was perfect for blasting toys into space. Travis also colored a few boxes to be background sets for play, like a fiery volcano in reds and oranges.

9.30-10: ELA. Travis did 20 minutes on Lexia. I asked if he wanted to write a story for Writers Workshop about our box play, but he said no. Instead he happily did a few pages of his Star Wars writing workbook.

10-10.30: Snack/recess.

10.30-11.30: Science. We read two pages in his encyclopedia, on electricity and sound, with a QR code video to watch about each. Both pages featured balloon experiments! For electricity, I demonstrated the classic balloon-on-sweater static electricity trick.

For sound, we held a balloon in front of a speaker to feel the vibrations.

This prompted Travis to remember his old record player, which led to almost an hour of musical fun!

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2.30: Outside. We turned an afternoon in the park into a lesson on spring poetry! Plus we played shadow tag.

2-2.30: Social/emotional learning. There was a nice prompt from Travis’s teacher to read the book In My Heart and begin to fill in a self-esteem worksheet.

To get moving real quick, I asked him to do 10 jumping jacks, 20 push ups, and run in place for 20 seconds.

2.30-3: Every school specials teacher will have a Zoom with the class now, and today was Library! This was a good reminder on how to sit and pay attention for a full 30 minutes. The librarian led them through Simon Says, a read-aloud, and a song before Travis got to share a favorite book.

His bedtime story was the non-fiction I’m a Caterpillar, a cute book about the butterfly life cycle that doubles as a great easy reader.

The first thing to note about the day is how Travis needed me. Beyond all the school lessons I had planned, he wanted me in his games every time there was “recess” or “free play”, reminding me how sorely he misses interaction with other kids. It is hard to be there not just as a teacher and mom and chef, but also as playmate! Luckily, the constant need for my attention was woven through with lots of fun, and here’s what we did:

9-9.30: Letter F/Food. After completing a workbook page on letter F with a focus on food, we set up a restaurant!

Using an old play set, Travis thought it was just a riot to be my waiter, including menus to look at and guest checks to fill out.

This doubled as our math lesson for the day because everything had prices. If my check was $28, which bills did he need?

We also had an adorable waitress, when she wasn’t busy with math of her own.

9.30-10: Letter G/Games. After a workbook page on letter G, we switched over to a game of “golf”.

I had hoped for this to count as his P.E. for the day, but it was short-lived. He much preferred selecting a board game. Taking the time to sit and play a few rounds together really mattered to him.

10-10.30: Snack/free play.

10.30-11: ELA. Travis did about 20 minutes on Lexia. Little sister learned about emotions!

11-11.30: Science. Our encyclopedia page today was about magnets, prompting me to pull out an old magnet set. It turned out to be the hit of the day! Travis wanted to go through all of the experiment cards, plus just had exuberant fun with the set.

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play.

1.30-2: Zoom. From now on his teacher will lead the class in circle time songs every Monday. It was really hard for Travis to sit still for this; he’s out of practice when it comes to following teacher rules. Something to work on…

2-2.30: Writing. Travis opted to do a few pages in his Star Wars book instead of writing an “Over the Weekend…” assignment.

2.30-3: Spanish. This week’s silly video was his teacher asking her niece what foods she likes and doesn’t like. Travis then went through the food from our earlier restaurant play and gave a big thumbs up “si me gusta!” or thumbs down “no me gusta!” to each one.

Lessons ended there, and it was time to make a batch of homemade lemonade. Too rainy for a walk, so we’ll need our exercise and sunshine tomorrow!

His bedtime story was the non-fiction Wild Ideas.