Adventures of The Haven School for Boys: A Day in the Life of HSFB

Even though we are well into the school year at this point, I finally feel like we are getting into a more predictable rhythm with our daily and weekly routines. It has taken some time to figure out! One of the more common questions I will be asked by inquiring minds, in regards to our homeschool, is about what a typical day looks like. So, here goes: The boys have internal clocks that wake them up at 6:30, plus or minus ten minutes. If I could adjust those internal clocks to 7:30, I'd be a happy mommy! I jest, because from 6:30 until 7, I usually find them curled up on the living room couches, hunched over a common book, and I wouldn't give that up for all the sleep in the world. Favorites are American Military Aircraft and Military Jets: 1945 to the Present. I will usually slip in the door around 6:45 from my morning walk and find them this way.

Although it still takes a little (a LOT, on the part of my obstinate 3 year-old) prompting, the boys have to get dressed and make their beds before breakfast. I have found food to be the most successful motivating factor in the early hours. Around 8:00, we gather at the table for breakfast. Our mealtimes are a springboard for our daily lessons, as we start our day with Bible reading, verse recitation, current events, and conversation about the day ahead.

After breakfast and teeth brushing, James reads aloud from a selection of early reader books. We are working our way through "The Beginners Bible," and then I supplement with a different reader that has high interest appeal. The last three have been about the Wright Brothers, Pompeii, and most recently, The Pied Piper of Hamelin. I was interested to learn that the Pied Piper tale originated from an actual disappearance/ departure of 130 children from the town of Hamelin during the Middle Ages. Theories still circulate as to why, and, as often is the case, legends and fairy tales arise in response. But, I digress.

Following reading, James has ten minutes of piano practice. As motivation, I allow him to choose his own ringtone to accompany the timer on my phone. The latest timer chime was the Looney Tunes ditty. It makes for a good chuckle, and James feels like he has some element of control over the torture I inflict during practice (smile). Around this time, the boys show signs of needing to wiggle, so we squeeze in a little structured exercise. Last week we worked on jumping jacks (to familiar jumprope chants), push ups, and hanging (from a pull up bar in the hallway). Even Samuel gets in on the hanging. I cannot get a picture, due to the necessary spotting, but suffice to say it is one of the cutest things you've seen. His little chest puffs out and he determinedly hangs for about 15 seconds before saying, "Nown! Nown!" (down in grownup speak).

Following our wiggle session, we will pull up the chairs in front of the computer to watch CNN Student News. We review the marked places on the globe from previous broadcasts, and then preview other locations from the new transcript. I will also preview concepts from the upcoming broadcasts. The broadcast itself is only ten minutes, but we pause frequently to discuss and review. After this, I give them about fifteen unstructured minutes to run willy nilly while I prep the school room (i.e. scramble to clear the table and load the dishwasher) for our next stage.

At that point, James and I sit down to work on more focused tasks that are not toddler or Joshua-friendly. They have the run of the house together for about 45 minutes. We start with a calendar and clock review, before moving on to daily oral language, analogies, copywork (from one of our texts, either narrative or expository), language lessons (mostly oral, and mostly focusing on using complete sentences while learning about parts of speech), and writing lessons (again, focusing on using complete sentences and dissecting good text). One of the pieces of copywork that we worked on throughout the course of this week came from the wonderful text, Mountain Born, a Newberry Honor book about a young boy learning the shepherding trade of his father. As you well know, shepherds of old could spend hours and days on end watching over their sheep, with time for thoughts-a-plenty. His mentor and grandfather-like figure offered these words of wisdom to Peter, which became our copywork: "A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he's alone on a hillside and draws it out, he'll want treasures to be his company, not regrets." Sage advice with wisdom that transcends generations. We had the opportunity to talk about what sorts of things we want to put in our minds, and conversely, what we should take care to not put in our minds.

Following our language arts, I usually call Joshua in to start his letter and number work. I have some great workbooks that he enjoys, and we use chalk and slate, wooden pieces to shape letters and numbers, and songs. He completes tangram patterns and other manipulative-based activities, like stringing beads and geoboard shapes. He loves his vocabulary program, "Wordly Wise," and we enjoy going on letter hunts throughout the house. I will be honest. I don't PUSH it with Joshua. He is still at a fragile age. He is a little sponge, but he still needs big chunks of unstructured play time inbetween our learning spurts. He is making great progress even still.

After our major session, I typically break for lunch. I find that if we jump straight into math after our focused language portion, I find myself dealing with a spacey six year-old. So, we eat lunch over poetry recitation, read-alouds and trivia games, and they follow lunch with an extended "rest" time, where they retire to separate rooms and enjoy their Legos, books, and whatever else their imaginations dig up. And Samuel SLEEPS. Let's be honest--I am the one who needs this session every bit as much as they. Following naps and rest, I lasso James for the final push of our school day, math, Latin (every other day), and the sciences.

At the end of their schoolwork, they enjoy a t.v. program before late afternoon begins. I had found some worthy Netflix programs that I stream from online, such as the "How Things are Made" series and various IMAX shows about nature. They watched the most fascinating thirty-minute program about Beavers. You might be interested to learn that two beavers (left to their devices) will fell over 500 trees in construction of their dam! We also watched the process of how tinfoil, snowboards, contact lenses, and bread are made. I am thankful to have found a cache of great programs because I was tiring of the endless and redundant kids' shows on PBS and Sprout.

Our Friday nights have become a special family time/ movie night session (especially during football season when Papa is otherwise occupied at a game). Last week we watched an IMAX movie about Dolphins and last night we watched one on the Mount Saint Helens eruption(s). Those ash clouds were other-worldly. The boys were awed by the power of nature.

I think I will leave well enough alone with this post. A masked Joshua has informed met that he is going to save me from myself. Thank heavens!