Fresh off “vacation” week, I have a confession: I’ve gone rogue. I’m no longer strictly following the suggestions that come home from Travis’s teacher each day. I am so happy to report… wait for it… zero tantrums today and an extremely interested boy. The biggest change is that I broke out a summer K-to-1st workbook early. I’m using each page as a prompt for activities. There’s also now a sticker progress chart that Travis is thrilled about!

9-9.30: Math. The corresponding workbook page involved tracing numbers 1 through 9 and then circling his age. I then used the page’s desert theme as a prompt for… kinetic sand play!

We put the sand in a bin, but the twist was that I hid various 3-D shapes in the sand. Using clues, Travis had to guess each one before he could dig it out. For example, “I can roll and I have no edges,” was the clue for sphere. “I have 6 sides all made of squares,” helped him guess cube and so on.

After this little “quiz” I was happy to let the kids keep playing with the sand for a while! Incidentally this was a way to keep my toddler busy, too.

9.30-10: ELA. The corresponding workbook page involved singing the alphabet and filling in the missing letters. We then read Dragons Love Tacos, an old favorite. Travis drew pictures of the beginning, middle, and end of the story (Little sister was busy, meanwhile, with tissue paper).

The book made Travis hungry, so good thing it was…

10-10.30: Snack time! He decided he needed salsa just like those dragons, which made for silly happy kiddos.

10.30-11: Science: We read about the Earth in his children’s encyclopedia, which features a QR link on each page. This particular lesson took us to images of the Earth from the International Space Station.

We then repeated an old activity, making the layers of Earth from play dough and then slicing into it. The last time we did this, Travis was two years old! Needless to say, he was much more involved in the process this time and loved it.

It lead to an hour of play dough play after, which left me time for toddler music class with little sister, including homemade guitar strumming.

11-11.30: Spanish. His Spanish teacher had sent along a video of counting crocodile (cocodrilo) teeth.

We have a similar shark from a board game, so after watching her demo, we counted our shark’s teeth up to 24 in Spanish. Of course then we played a round of the board game and counted our playing pieces in Spanish as we went!

11.30-1.30: Lunch/free play/TV show of choice as a reward for an awesome morning! Travis also happily did about 15 minutes on Lexia.

1.30-2: Gym. Travis has disliked the suggestions coming from school. Instead, I challenged him to a Catch and Count. On our first try, we got to 29. Well, now he wanted to get to 100! We never got quite that far, but we did reach 50. He finished with 15 minutes of Star Wars yoga on this sleety cold day.

2-2.30: STEM/art. To round out the day, I challenged him to make Darth Vader’s face on his Lite Brite. Not bad!

Finally, at bedtime stories tonight, we dove into the Suggested Reading list from the summer workbook. First up was Amazing Grace. After the story, we discussed main character, themes (a new vocab word!), and more.

 

We went even lighter on the school work today, halfway through “vacation week”. I think it’s safe to say this mama teacher needs a bit of a break, too! For what it’s worth…

9-9.30: ELA. Doing the V and W letter pages in his workbook received lots of protest from Travis, but he was proud to reach the end of the next level in his Lexia computer program.

9.30-10: Math. Travis worked on patterns and adding on Dreambox for about 15 minutes.

10-10.30: Field trip! We “flew” over Bryce Canyon through the National Park’s website. It’s safe to say I thought this was cooler than Travis did.

10.30-11: Art. Travis painted drip pots, which was a neat method. Baby sister was busy painting rocks.

The “school day” ended there. A long lunch sort of derailed us all. We spent the afternoon without structure, but Travis had fun building with Magna-tiles, doing a story yoga about Harry Potter, and visiting with relatives online.

Well, the big news here is that Travis won’t be returning to school this year, due to Covid-19. I’m processing all the emotions that go along with this, even as I’m grateful for my family’s health. We went light on school today, since technically it is “vacation” week. So as a surprise we started with…

9-11: Movie morning! A special treat on a rainy day.

11-11.30: ELA. Travis is nearing the end of his letter workbook (T and U) and did 20 minutes on Lexia with topics like story sequencing and vocab building.

11.30-12: “Field Trip”. We took two virtual trips thanks to online videos, one near (the Great Lakes) and one far (the Borneo rainforest). I thought Travis would be interested, but I think the morning off derailed his momentum. You’ll notice he’s lying on the floor in protest.

12-1: Lunch/free play.

1-1.30: Math. Travis did 20 minutes in the online Dreambox program.

1.30-2: Cooking! We rocked out to pop music as we made popcorn.

2-2.30: Social studies. A nature craft was perfect here on the day before Earth Day.

2.30-3: Storytime. We discovered the delightful resource Circle Round, featuring stories and activities to go with them. Travis could color in a picture as he listened to a read-aloud of The Money Tree.

You’ll notice from the photo above that the kids are just playing and that’s because (shhh, don’t tell Travis!) it’s actually vacation week. But like many parents, I’m finding it easier to have structure to this week instead of a free-for-all. That said, I’m going lighter on the reading and math, and heavier on alternative activities, which means more time just to play. Travis, meanwhile, thinks I’m just a super cool home school mom!

9-9.30: ELA. I asked Travis to do 2 letter pages in his workbook (we’re up to R and S) before a few minutes on Lexia. He also watched an online read of The Rainbow Fish. He interspersed all this with lots of joining in on little sister’s play dough and squishy bag play. It was nice to watch them play together!

9.30-10: Math. Travis did about 20 minutes in the online math program Dreambox.

10.30-11: Recess/snack.

11-11.30: Gym. We set up an electricity circuit powered by… his body! For double the exercise, we played Fitness Go Fish again.

11.30-1.30: Long lunch/free play. While little sister napped, I sat down with him to go through a packet about Covid-19 and children’s emotions. I could tell he really benefited from the process.

1.30-2: Science. He checked out the Smithsonian zoo’s live animals cams, and proudly colored in an ‘I spy’ activity. We learned quite a bit about naked mole rats!

2-3: Outdoor time: A local arboretum was the perfect spot to run around.

3-4: Movement: Little sister had an online baby gym class, so Travis did some yoga. I also encouraged him to spend this quiet time “reading” picture books. But (hazards of homeschooling two kids!) he was more interested in Veronika’s gym class and she was more interested in his books.

Puzzles and popping bubble wrap rounded out the day.

I’m happy to report that Travis finished this fifth week of Covid-19 home schooling on a high note. Here’s a quick run-down as we head into the weekend. You’ll notice we didn’t take a break in the morning, which helped ward off temper tantrums of transitioning from play to “class”.

9-9.30: ELA. Travis worked on rhyming today. We looked at flashcards and took turns quizzing each other. Star and can? Thumbs down! Star and jar? Thumbs up!

This thumbs up made it feel silly for Travis. We then put together a booklet of the pairs we’d found, stapling them in since he didn’t want to use glue. He rounded out ELA by writing sight words in rainbow colors and did about 15 minutes on Lexia.

9.30-10: Math. Today’s big topic was subtraction, including an intro video from his teacher. He watched a read-through of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and we followed up with a snack subtraction game. Travis enjoyed watching our snack lines of cereal puffs dwindle down. We talked about who had more, less, or equal to as the game went on. “School is fun!” he declared.

10-10.30: Social Studies. Although there won’t be a real Patriot’s Day parade this year, Travis watched a video about the holiday and then made his own parade float. Little sister wanted to help decorate, too!

Of course Travis wanted to play with his minutemen and red coat soldiers, after!

10.30-12.30: Long lunch/free play. This coincided well with baby sister’s nap.

12.30-1: Art. First we watched a video of sea otters, and then checked out animals on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s website. His assignment was to draw his favorite animal in its habitat. Here’s a shark in the ocean!

That rounded out the day. The afternoon included a toddler music class for little sister, and a chance to get some fresh air despite cold weather. When he needed direction for his play, tangrams and online yoga helped fill the time.

It was another day of hits and misses, here in our Covid-19 home school. I’d be very curious to hear from readers what you’ve found that works and what doesn’t. Spreading out lessons all day? Having “school” in larger chunks of time? Please share in the comments!

9-10: ELA. Travis’s lesson today was going through a magazine for sight words. He seemed to particularly enjoy finding familiar words in adult reading.

It was also a nice lesson on how some words are more common than others. For example, he realized how many times he’d spotted “the” as we glued the words down after (to cardboard! I’m running low on construction paper). He also happily did 20 minutes on Lexia, which left me free to make beanbag fishfor lil sis.

10-10.30: Math. We played a game called Roll and Record, which teaches kids to add the pips from two dice and record the result. Fill in the result on a graph numbered 1 through 12 until a number “wins”! Any adult who has taken a probability course can guess how our chart looked. I was thrilled that it worked out as perfectly one could hope, with 7 the clear winner. He even understood why as we discussed it after, how more combinations on the dice add up to 7 than any other possibility.

10.30-11: Recess/snack. Travis wanted to play Legos instead of heading outside, which turned out to be a mistake. It was impossible to rope him back in for just about anything after.

11-12: Specials: We tried to do Music; he had a tantrum.

We tried to do Spanish (a silly video teaching likes and dislikes). Nope. We tried to do an emotional wellness handout from his school counselor. Nope.

At a certain point, I realized I was hindering his emotional wellness for the day, so we just played Uno.

12-1: Lunch/cooking. Travis helped make a salsa recipe, which helped reset his mood.

1-2: Yoga! On a whim, I started up a Star Wars-themed yoga from Cosmic Kids. Wouldn’t you know, it kept Travis entranced and active for a full hour. This counted as his teacher’s suggestion to act out a story too! We ended on that high note, which left time to socialize with friends online and enjoy free play.

 

Well, today was not as rough as Monday, not as fantastic as yesterday, but I can accept a middle-of-the-road middle of the week here in Covid-19 home school. Don’t forget to share how your day went in the comments!

9-10: ELA: Today’s focus was on the sounds in words. I put ten objects in a pillowcase, all with one syllable (pen, car, etc.).

As Travis drew them out, he tapped out the sounds on his fingers, so, for example pen has three distinct sounds (p, e, and n). He enjoyed the tactile nature of the game. He then did one letter page in his workbook and 30 full minutes on Lexia but then…

10-11: Math. When I asked him to come to his math lesson, he had a meltdown. I recommended free play and recess, but that didn’t cut it. So I pulled out a surprise (his latest package from Little Passports; stay tuned for my full recap!). Even this didn’t really reset him so I sort of just talked him through the lesson on 3-D shapes, despite a fun rap song to watch and a scavenger hunt.

11-11.30: Social studies. Travis watched videos on nurses and farmers as two important community jobs. He drew a picture of a farmer and wrote a sentence about how they help. Eating lunch after he told me, “Mom I ate my crops!” A cute, positive moment in the day.

11.30-1: Long lunch/free play.

1-1.30: Library. For his special today, we watched his librarian do a story read online of Tops and Bottoms, and do a silly bunny rabbit finger play.

1.30-2.30: Outside! We took a long walk. It was cold but sunny and it did everyone good.

We rounded out the afternoon with a bunch of miscellany, whether playing the card game Uno, fitting in a STEM craft on muscles, or just letting the siblings play.

On the heels of a trulydifficult Monday, we had a Terrific Tuesday around here. Travis loved school today and was up for every bit of it. Color me one proud mama.

9-10: ELA. For Tuesday writer’s workshop, we watched a read-through of Plant a Little Seed for an Earth Day unit. He then got busy writing a recap (first, next, last), using full sentences and periods, and he was so proud of the picture he drew. Baby sister, meanwhile, was happy with chalk. Travis was on such a roll that he requested extra time on the Lexia spelling program, after.

10-10.30: Recess/snack. Travis went off collecting rocks. Baby sister was happy with pom poms. I was happy in the sunshine.

10.30-11: Emotional Learning. Travis watched another read-through (How Full Is Your Bucket), and then we discussed the story and ways to fill our own emotional “buckets” each day. He drew himself playing a game nicely with his little sister!

11-12: We took a STEM break to make LED magnets!

12-1: Lunch/free play.

1-2: Outdoor time: We turned a beautiful spring day into a nature scavenger hunt.

Travis enjoyed checking off items on the list his teacher provided, as well as finding novelties like a square-shaped stick!

Little sister squeezed in some nature learning, too.

2-2.30: Acting: After a quick watch of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Travis built a bridge so we could act out the story. His involved two stools and a big cardboard box. Kids might also like making a bridge from smaller objects like Legos or building blocks. Then we acted out the billy goats gruff!

This led to an inventive afternoon of pretend play, leaving me free to make dinner. So hurray for Terrific Tuesday.

Well, happy Monday. There was lots of resistance and tantrums today, folks, a few moments of laughter to break the tension, and a toddler who refused to nap. Chaos, in sum! How did your day go? Please share!

9-10: ELA. Travis and I started out with a game of sight word Fiddlesticks. Ideally play this with craft sticks, but I recently used mine up so I wrote sight words on the end of paper strips.

We put these in a cup, along with one strip marked with a purple diamond. Travis and I took turns pulling out the strips and reading the word. If we drew the purple, we declared “Fiddlesticks!” and our strips went back in.

This got some laughter at least. He also did a letter page in his workbook and 20 minutes of Lexia, which involved a fair amount of yelling, fussing, and hating me.

10-10.30: Math. While Travis wrote the numbers 1 through 10 on red squares of paper, I marked 10 additional squares with hearts in corresponding amounts. Travis laughed at making me draw so many hearts. I’ll take laughter where I can!

Then we played a version of Memory: finding a number card and the corresponding number of hearts means you keep the pair and get another turn.

10.30-11: Much needed snack and free play (sigh, pouring rain).

11-11.30: Science: Travis watched a read-through of The Tiny Seed. Then we made a giant flower by coloring a green stem, yellow center, and tracing his hand on red paper for the petals. As a bonus, we glued down dried beans in the center for seeds! He was mildly into the project. At least he wasn’t screaming at me.

11.30-12: Gym. Everyone needed to move and baby sister wouldn’t take her nap, so we checked out his P.E. teacher’s suggestions.

A rhythm stick dance to ‘Thunder’ by Imagine Dragons fit the bill, followed by a game called Kicking Corners. Put 2 cups in each of the 4 corners of a rug or other open area. Time your child and see how long it takes to kick all the cups down with a soccer ball. This was great for kicking skills, no hands allowed.

12-1: Lunch/free play.

1-1.30: Spanish. For some silly fun we watched the teacher’s dog “sing” a song about 10 little dogs. Then Travis drew 10 animals in circles, and was proud of his own details!

We then looked up the names of each animal in Spanish. Mommy even learned a few new ones.

We called it quits early, turning to a fun cooking project instead and going for a drive in the pouring rain just to get out of the house. We’re hoping for a nature walk, fewer tantrums, and more naps tomorrow.

 

TGIF! Travis started the day strong, ended it not so strong, but heck now it’s the weekend!

9-10: ELA. After watching a read-through of the artsy picture book When Pigasso Met Mootisse, we discussed what the problem was in the story, and then the solution. Travis really enjoyed drawing it out! We were on such a roll that he did a letter page in his workbook and a few minutes of Lexia. Baby sister was busy with craft sticks, meanwhile!

10-10.30: Math. This subject got us moving today! After writing the numbers 10 through 19, we talked about how all teens are made up of 10 + X more.

Reinforce the idea with exercise. We put the numbers in a hat and had to do 10 jumps + X other exercises depending on what number we selected. Travis loved making me do side planks and jumping jacks, and found it especially funny if I drew the number 19.

10.30-11: Snack/free play (windy and rainy again, darn).

11-11.30: Social Studies. I tried to sneak in the day’s video on different types of homes, which was wildly unsuccessful. He threw a fit when I asked him to draw our neighborhood.

Good thing we had a…

11.30-12: Zoom session with his class! Technology has proved so helpful in keeping classmates connected. They all sang their morning circle time songs together.

12-1 – Lunch/free play. Because he couldn’t get outside, I challenged Travis to build a Lego house. Challenge accepted!

1-1.30: Art. I tried get Travis to sit for the day’s special, with the assignment to draw what he saw outside his window. Another temper tantrum. I got him happy going off-book and making goblets instead. Then we called it a day!

Little sister had an online music class at 2, and it felt nice to devote the time to her. We all really need some fresh air and we’re looking forward to a sunny weekend. How did your week of home school turn out? Please share in the comments!