Family Keeping Meeting, Summer Edition

Last fall we started a new tradition in our family.  Just about every Saturday, we gather around the breakfast table at 7:15 and share a meal and pieces of our work for the week.  This isn't just for the kids, but also for my husband and I as well.  This acts as a time to check in our the kids' work, as well as an opportunity for my husband and I to share what we are learning about and our attempts to be lifelong learners.

You know, it is very challenging to take a picture of a large family sitting at the table and have it turn out decently.  But I guess that's just to be expected.  Photo courtesy of Gregory (and his new-ish camera with a timer)

In our Family Keeping Meeting, we share each item from youngest to oldest before moving onto the next item.  We don't all bring everything each week, but we all have at least something to share.

What we share

• Book of Centuries/Century Charts/Stream of History or other time keeping
• Commonplace or Copywork
• Drawing Practice Exercises
• Drawn Narrations
• Written Narrations
• Nature Observations
• Finished Books (which I note and add to their reading lists)

Then we review the activities for the weekend and discuss upcoming events for the week.  We also settle on a schedule for our shared family work in Shakespeare, Plutarch and Art.  The kids then have an opportunity to ask questions or make comments about the week past or the the one to come.  The whole thing takes 45 min to an hour, but I feel like it has a much bigger impact on our overall life as a family than that.  It keeps my husband and I accountable for using these various tools that we know are important, it allows all of us a glimpse into what we each are doing, and it gives us additional  opportunities for conversation about what we're learning.

Examples from a recent Family Keeping Meeting

Gregory (12) - From Top Left - Drawing Practice, Drawing Exercise from Masterpiece Society Drawing 101 Lesson, Drawn Narration of the layout of the fort complex he is building with his siblings, and Nature Observations

Nathan (10) - Drawn narration of watching the fireworks on the 4th of July, Nature Observations, Drawing Exercise from Masterpiece Society Drawing 101 Lesson, and Drawing Practice

Emma (16) - Written narration (on iPad), quote shared from PEAK packet, Lettering in her PEAK journal. 

My work - Written narration (on iPad), Drawing Exercise from Masterpiece Society Drawing 101 Lesson, Commonplace quotes from The Memory of Old Jack and Norms and Nobility

Matt's work - Written narration (on iPad), Commonplace (on iPad - he uses his Commonplace for quotes and images that come from his reading), Drawing Exercise from Masterpiece Society Drawing 101 Lesson, and his Book of Centuries entries

Checklists

And some might be wondering about how I manage to keep track of what we are doing, and what I give my kids so that they can be prepared for this meeting.  

I keep a general Weekly Reference on my clipboard - this isn't just for the weekly meeting, but also has my evening review steps, weekly review steps and Sunday activities.  I mark it up as I go through the Family Keeping Meeting and use it as a place to jot down what the kids have read as ebooks or listened to as audiobooks.  (I have a place by my desk where the physical books are stacked.)  Each week I print a new one on the back of my weekly overview sheet.

And since it is summer, the boys' list of weekly work is a lot shorter, and they do not have to bring time keeping or written narrations to the Family Keeping Meeting.  They are welcome to, of course, but neither has taken me up on that yet!  This goes on their clipboard and they get a new one each week.

A Mother's Morning Walk

I made a few little changes to my Average Daily Chart at the beginning of the year.  I didn't make any drastic changes, just a few little adjustments to the flow of our day to try and make things even better.  But with kids being sick and a few days out of town, we've had a rough start to the year, and I'm still in the testing and adjusting stage with most of the changes.

Heading to the trail

One change, however, has been wonderful.  I've started taking a 15-20 minute walk by myself each morning before Morning Time begins.

The trail

I can vividly remember a time when I heard a mom with older kids remark that she was taking a walk by herself each day after lunch, leaving her kids home to clean up after the meal.  At the time I couldn't imagine being able to do that...  and now, here I am, almost ten years later, leaving the breakfast clean-up in Emma (13) and Nathan's (7) capable hands.  Emma is also tasked with dressing her two year old sister, and Justin, my 4 year old, is supposed to get dressed, play quietly, and not be a nuisance while I'm gone.  Gregory (10) does some independent work like practicing the piano and typing, and reviewing geography.

The trail junction.  This tree dropped in a early snow storm a few years ago and we left it there to discourage people exploring with ATVs.

There's a not insignificant part of me that feels guilty for not taking the kids with me, and feels guilty for enjoying the solitude and the beauty of the woods without making the effort to bring them with me.

Our recent rain have turned this portion of the trail into a small seasonal creek.

A good mom would take everyone, wouldn't she?  Everyone needs some fresh air and exercise to start off the day!

And then swells into a large puddle that requires some cross country travel or wading.  The sign on the tree says, "No Prospecting, Panning, Sluicing, Dredging, Sniping, or Metal Detecting"  This is gold country, after all, and this section of the creek is claimed and occasionally worked.

But if I bring everyone, the walk balloons into an expedition.  The two minutes it takes me to change my shoes and grab a jacket becomes at least 10, if not 15.  Someone doesn't want to wear that jacket.  Someone wants to bring a large stick and accidentally whacks someone else with it.  Someone starts crying.  Someone wants to be held.  Someone doesn't want to go in the stroller.  Someone else does want to go into the stroller, which makes the first child want to go in too.

Amazing to think this was the dry creek bed of late September!  I wonder what happened to all the banana slugs.

Much of the child-wrangling energy I have is expended getting out the door, getting everyone pointed in the same direction, and then getting everyone home again.  What was supposed to be short, restful, and invigorating becomes long, exhausting, and draining.  Most of the children will come home in good spirits, but there will be one or two who will not be, and will require additional soothing and care before they are ready to be content again.  I'm willing to do it once a week for our nature walk, but every day?

In a few months, this meadow will be a wonderful place to find wildflowers.

And so I go by myself.

The shortcut back to our property, can you see the house just peeking through the trees?

And I come back refreshed and invigorated and I'm much more able to be present and cheerful all day long.

Home!

But I still feel a little guilty.

Our Advent

Ah, here we are, the day before the fourth Sunday of Advent.  How did we get here already?

This is our ninth year of celebrating Advent, and it is so wonderful to reach a point where Advent and our traditions feel like home.  I usually add one or two new things each year to try in our family, but this year we did not add anything new.  It is a great comfort to see how this steady growth of thoughtful traditions has enriched our family life over the years, and has created many warm and wonderful memories.  

Some of our traditions include:

• Homemade beeswax Advent Candles
• Making chocolates for the Feast of St. Nicholas
• Decorating the house with lights on the Feast of St. Lucia
• Bringing down the great big box of Christmas books to read and enjoy during Advent and Christmas
• The Jesse Tree
• Handel's Messiah, in small sections using Cindy's guide
• Praying and singing to mark the O Antiphons
• The St. Andrew Christmas Anticipation Prayer (Thank you, Celeste, for your lovely prayer card)
• Mexican hot chocolate on (or near *ahem*) on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

I hope you and your family are having a lovely Advent!

In Praise of the Average Day Chart

Now I realize that the timing of this post may seem a little odd, since we're about to go into Thanksgiving week and then Advent and then Christmas vacation...  and all of those things mean that average weeks are guaranteed to be non-existent and even average days will be few and far between.

But I like to post about things that are actually working rather than things I hope will work, which puts me off the usual cycle for homeschooling posts.  Also, I hope it will serve as a reminder for me to try and protect at least a few days a week as average days, even as things get busier.

The Average Day Chart is inspired by Brandy at Afterthoughts (see here, here, here, and here - I think there's an even better post from her 2015 planning series lurking somewhere in the archives, but I can't seem to find it) and implementing it, along with Nicole's work on scheduling has been a life changing and sanity saving.

Having this regular rhythm to our days is a huge help for me, especially as I multiply this chart out over the course of the week.  Looking at our days as a concrete set of boxes of time has made me realize how much - or perhaps how little - we can actually do in a given day.  I am extremely good at creating long lists of things that need to be done, and then waving my hand somewhat despairingly at it and saying, oh, it'll all get done somehow...  but then either it doesn't actually get done, or the kids and I work ourselves into exhaustion trying to do far too much for a given day.

I assign my children's work to these various boxes, and if it doesn't fit into the boxes, then it doesn't get assigned.  Yes, children can dawdle and take longer than they should on their work...  but if they work in a reasonably diligently fashion, they will get their work done and then be done for the day.  And the kids all know that if they don't get their work done in the allotted time, then they will be doing their work later during their independent time.  This doesn't happen for the younger ones, as I am working more closely with them...  but it does happen for my Y8 daughter.  She also knows that if oral narrations are not done that day, then they turn into written narrations...  and she will not be included in fun family activities if her work is not completed.  But I am also extremely reasonable about how much work gets assigned in a slot, and I am very open to modifying assignments if something I've assigned turns out to be a lot more work than I originally expected.

This may look very regimented and difficult, but really it is the weeks when we have a couple out of the house engagements in the morning or early afternoon that are very difficult.  A week with only one or two average days is ever so much harder than a week with three or four average days.  There's so much peace in being able to move smoothly through what needs to be done, and having the children know what to expect from our day.   It is also such a huge help for me, as I have some rest time for myself in the course of the day, and I know exactly which children I'm working with at which time.  There is nothing that frazzles me more than having all five children needing something from me at once!

A few notes - Emma is Y8, Gregory Y4, Nathan Y2, Justin is 4 and Hannah is almost 2.

The readings that the boys have in the afternoon are generally shorter than scheduled.

The boys do piano together right now, taking turns working with me, which is why they are scheduled at the same time.

What my nature journaling really looks like

Photo by my daughter Emma

Yes, it would have been easier to pack up the pencils, call it a morning, and start in on lunch preparations.  But instead I stuck it out at the table after helping the three boys with their journal entries, wrote my entry and sketched my maple leaf, all the while trying to keep my journal in place and my pencils (and toddler!) on the table.  Yes, the table isn't where we generally encourage children to sit, but it was far easier to draw with her there than on my lap.  And in the end, I succeeded.

Loop Scheduling Using the Reminders App

I'm really not all angst and navel-gazing in my real life, and to try and give some evidence of this I thought I'd share how I manage loop scheduling.

If you haven't come across the term, loop schedules are the brainchild of Sarah Mackenzie of Amongst Lovely Things.   She has a great explanation on her blog, but in short you take a group of things you don't do every day but you'd like to do regularly and put them in a running todo list.  Then you have a spot in your daily rhythm where pick up the a thing on that list and do it.  Then you don't do anything on that list again until you've crossed all the items off.

When I read about this last year, I immediately recognized the brilliance of this idea.  No more missing the Tuesday read-aloud because Tuesdays were frequently a tough day!  No more skipping a particular activity for week after week because I just didn't really feel like tackling it with the kids that day!  (*ahem*)

Through the late spring, summer and fall last year I played around with how to best implement this in my home.  I started with a paper list, but that was not a good solution for me.  The paper always ended up in the wrong location when I needed it, got mangled, or I would forget to print a new one when I finished the old one.  And really, paper just drives me crazy.  The less paper in my life, the better.


Around the beginning of the year I hit upon a solution that is working extremely well for me.  I have two lists in the Reminders app on my phone.  One is for our morning read aloud, and the other is for our weekly work.  The weekly work might happen in the morning or afternoon, depending on how squirrelly the younger kids are and how much sleep I've had the night before.  But it generally is something that requires a bit more oomph from me than simply sitting there and reading aloud.


 During Morning Time, I open up the Morning Read-Aloud list and pick something.  I use this list non-linearly, picking whatever I feel like reading.  Then when I'm done, I check it off.  Sometimes I'll do an extra one if time and attitudes permit.  You might notice that I have one that says, "Longfellow each day".  I never check that one off, it is there to remind me that I am supposed to read that everyday.  It probably isn't where this belongs, but it helps me to remember to read our poetry selection before diving into the read aloud.

The same goes with the Weekly Work list.  I don't let myself reset the list until I've completed everything on it, which is very motivating for me.  And resetting the list is very easy:  I touch "Show Completed", uncheck everything, and I'm right back at the beginning of the loop again.  Very simple, no paper or printer needed.

I love how this keeps me moving through the different books, accommodates schedule changes and derailments, and keeps me from "overlooking" subjects or tasks that I might otherwise skip occasionally because I just can't quite work up the gumption to do it.  I know I have to pick one of them from each list on a day when we're home (or one from one list, if it is a half day at home), and somehow seeing that one last item on the list makes me screw up my courage and go ahead and tackle it.

There, practical and very little angst.  Hooray!

Activity and Recovery

On Nelleke’s blog, Education is a Life, she mentioned that she seems to function best when she’s out of the house only twice a week — once for church and once for other things.  Ever since I read that at the beginning of May, I’ve been wondering what my sweet spot is for outings.  Since March, I’ve been running at 4-6 days out a week, including church, and it is more than I can take.

Every outing for us is at least two hours, because we spend at minimum 30 minutes traveling plus the activity time.  And then there’s the get everyone ready and get everyone and everything out of the car…  and all of a sudden each outing is at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Practically speaking, that’s a whole morning, a whole afternoon, or a whole evening.

If the activity is a half day, we’ll still do Morning Time and our schoolwork, but chores may or may not be done and play time, nap time, and leisure time are curtailed or eliminated.  How we go about our schoolwork changes too.  Instead of sitting at the table and writing in my commonplace while Gregory and Nathan do their copy work and math, I’m folding laundry, starting dinner, or cleaning in the kitchen.  Morning time is abbreviated, since time is short.  We’ll still read the daily readings from Mass and pray together, but we might not sing, or we’ll skip a read aloud or something from our Morning Time loop (Shakespeare, Plutarch, Picture Study and Music Study).  The Morning Time loop starts taking a week and a half to get through rather than a week.  Memory work is reviewed in the car on the way, which means we’re treading water on the work rather than making headway.

If the activity is a full day, then we don’t do Morning Time at all.  We’ll (hopefully) pray and do memory work in the car.  We’ll listen to a wonderful audiobook together, but there’s no other school work, no play time, no leisure, and no completed chores.  Naps might happen in the car, but the little ones will be grumpy and tired.

I used to feel like each day was its own compartment, that what happened on one day wouldn’t spill into the next box.  After all, isn’t that what it looks like on the calendar?  But what about those chores that didn’t happen because we were on a field trip?  Or the stuff that got dumped in the entry because we got back late?  Or the crabby little people who are over-tired and over-stimulated?  Or the readings that should have happened earlier in the week but were postponed for another day?  They all spill over and add pressure and mess to the next day… or even the next several days.

So even if I look at my calendar and see a half day out on Monday, a morning out on Tuesday, a half day out on Wednesday, a day home on Thursday, a full day out on Friday, and a day home on Saturday that doesn’t mean that we can really reap the full benefits of those three half days at home and two full days at home.  We’re so activity lagged from the other days all we can do is try to slog through, tired and grumpy and trying to do six days worth of work in three and a half (non-consecutive) days.

At this point I have two options.  There’s the have it all approach, where I can continue running at our current rate, and try to figure out how to somehow manage, organize, and improve the workings of my family’s life so that we can do this much and still have play time, leisure time, and completed chores.  Perhaps there’s some mixture of grace and willpower and child (and adult!) training that will make us not short tempered and whiny when we’re worn out and over-stimulated.  After all, there’s always room for improvement, right?

The other option seems practically impossible, but yet appealing in its simplicity.  What if I limited our out of the house engagements to a certain number per week?  I’d miss out on opportunities and good things, but we’re missing out on those at home too by running around so much.

I suspect the first option isn’t really so much an option as a pipe dream, which really only leaves the second.  And the second option looks hard.  Very hard.  What is that level of a activity that our family can sustain at this point in our lives?  How do I figure out which activities are the ones I should be doing, the ones that will lead us towards our goals…  and which ones are merely good and fun but not much more?  How do I balance the needs of older kids who want to start engaging more with our community and the younger ones who want to be at home, building forts or having regular naps?  There’s lots of discernment needed  there, which probably means that I’m on the right track.  Why is it that the hard road seems to always be the right one?

And Sometimes the Problem is Me

When I'm dealing with these baby sleep issues, it is easy for me to look at my baby and think, "What is wrong with you?  Why won't you sleep??" but in this case I think the real problem is me.

After my blog post from last week and a "here's what you gotta do" conversation with another mom who I really respect, I realized I needed to expand my toolbox.  It is so easy for me to hunker down and think, "oh well, I guess I just have to suffer" instead of trying to figure out how to improve the situation.  I decided to buy a book I had seen mentioned last summer, one that seemed gentler than a straight cry it out approach, but hopefully more helpful than the attachment parenting type books I had read before.  (The Sleep Lady's Good Night, Sleep Tight, in case you're wondering)

I read through the first chapters and the chapter about Hannah's age group, and felt hopeful.  Finally some other tools!  Finally some different strategies!  Here was something I could try where I didn't have to just plunk her in the crib and walk away, but I also didn't have to respond to every little whimper with nursing or cuddling either.

I won't go into all the details, but in a week and a half we've gone from Hannah waking at least three or four times a night to barely waking at all.  She's napping well, and she's also happier and less fussy during the day too.  And there's been remarkably little crying, and she gets happy in the evenings when I get her ready for bed and talk about night-night with her blankies.  In just a couple nights, she slept through the night two nights in a row.  It hasn't been perfect - she didn't for the next three nights - but she did again last night.

I really feel like we've turned a corner and we're heading in the right direction.  Maybe an old dog can learn new tricks after all.

Stupid Tired

I was catching up on some financial paperwork yesterday by reconciling a couple months worth of statements from a credit card account.  I was absolutely astonished when I realized that we had almost $30 of interest charged on that account in February.  I quickly looked to make sure that I hadn't somehow missed a payment...  but no, I had paid the card on time.  I checked the following month and the previous month, and they both had on time payments, plus another $20 worth of interest paid.  What on earth did I do?  Was there some mistake?

After a little more digging, I realized that somehow I had only paid 2/3 of February's credit card balance.  We always pay our balances in full, and I always do so by clicking the "pay statement balance" button on the bank website.  How did I somehow change this amount?  How did I not notice this?

I'm noticing more and more strange things like this.  Things put in strange places, words that just can't come to mind, ending up in places in my house, holding things that don't make sense and not knowing why...  but what is far worse are the times when I blow pass the exit I was supposed to take, or miss a turn to a place I know well.  I'm trying to drive slowly and to never tailgate because I know my reaction time is not ideal... but can I guarantee that I'm always remembering to do so?  And what about those times when I find myself creeping up on the car in front of me because I've become inattentive?

Last night was a pretty average night.  I nursed Hannah, then put her in the crib at about 9:30.  She woke at about 11, then I nursed her and brought her into bed with me.  She was awake again at about 1, then 3, then 5, then up with me at 7.  She's 16 months old.  She slept better when she was four months old, and then it gradually got worse until it settled into this sort of pattern in October or November.  Some nights are better, it might only be two or three times...  but then other nights are worse.

Do you see a problem here?

I've come to realize that even though I have five children, I never really learned how to handle infant sleep.  Not that they're all the same, but my strategy has long been to suffer and wait it out.  And eventually they do learn to go to sleep alone, and to sleep through the night.  Some learned at around 16 months, and others took until 2 or even two and a half.  We're not one of those families where all the kids are in and out of bed with us all night, or up half the night asking for a glass of water.  Everyone else sleeps in their own bed and sleeps through the night without any hassles.  Everyone but the baby toddler.

But you know what?  I'm tired.  Really, really tired.  I'm not sure I have it in me to wait it out again. I'm not as young as I used to be, and maybe that's part of the problem.  But I'm also really stretched right now too, far more stretched when there were just little people around.  Right now I can go from a conversation about the probabilities of extraterrestrial life and if such life would have a soul to the latest and greatest plans for the drawbridge outside to "Mom, can I have a snack?" to "Mom, will you read me a story?" to "Ahhh!" with little arms waving in the air.

All in about three minutes.

And while I'm trying to make dinner.  I think.  At least that's what it looks like, because there are veggies everywhere and I'm holding a knife.  But I have to search my mind pretty hard to try and remember what exactly it was I was doing.  Or making.  And I've become too tired to try and focus enough to follow a recipe most nights.  I just cook by instinct.  Thankfully I've been cooking long enough that my instincts are pretty decent.  And people are still eating and complementing me on their dinners, so that's a plus.

Ages and ages ago, back when our thirteen year old was a wee little one who never wanted to nap or sleep at night, I read a lot of Dr. Sears.  And I'm starting to think that perhaps that was a mistake.  I know they had a gaggle of kids - more than me, if I remember correctly - but somehow I can't help to think that I've been led astray.  Or at least my memory of those books has led me astray? Entirely possible.

But I looked at his site a little while back, and I was struck by how much fear-mongering there is in what I was reading.  Do these things, or BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN!  Subtle bad things that you won't notice or realize until it is TOO LATE!  I'm simplifying and exaggerating, but nonetheless...  my impression of what I was reading is vastly different as a mother with thirteen years experience than that brand new mom over a decade ago.

And I'm left wondering...  perhaps there are subtle bad things that can happen to a child if you don't co-sleep and nurse all night long on demand and all that sort of thing.  But aren't there bad things that can happen to my marriage because I'm so tired all the time?  Bad things that can happen in my relationships with my other children, because I'm forgetful and short tempered and inattentive and sometimes just can't get up the nerve to gather all of those energetic little bodies together and try to do what I'm supposed to do with them?  (And what was that anyway??)  And what about all these little lives who are trusting me behind the wheel as I try to get them to Atrium and clay class and field trips and the grocery store?

FOLLOW-UP:  Things got better!

A Family Hike

Obligatory Baby in the Ergo photo

Hiking with five children, ages 12, 8, 6, 3 and 10 months, is a daunting process.  However, my husband and I decided to make it a family priority, so we persevere. As with most things, we are getting better at it with practice.

We eat like hobbits on Sundays, eating a light first breakfast, attending the 8 am Mass, then coming home and cooking either sourdough pancakes or waffles.  This last Sunday Matt and I had planned a hike after our second breakfast.  The sky was dull and grey, and there was intermittent drizzle that sometimes threatened to turn into actual rain.  We looked at each other, wondering if we were really up to hiking with the kids in the rain.  I declared that I didn't want our family to be fair weather hikers and my intrepid husband agreed, donning his rain hat and jacket to go put our cheaper-than-upgrading-to-a-Suburban hitch mounted platform on the back of the Tahoe.

Ah, finally there and ready to go!

  Challenges ensued - a bolt had vibrated off our ancient hand-me-down jogging stroller, necessitating a scrounge for something that would suffice as a quick fix, the three year old's rain boots wouldn't fit with his warm socks and we discovered that somehow he only has sandals, church shoes and rain boots that fit right now, the six year old was determined to wear shorts no matter what - but despite the temporary setbacks, water bottles were filled, jackets were found, appropriate shoes were placed on feet and everyone eventually piled out to the car.

Isn't this the greatest drainage pipe you've ever seen?  I'm looking forward to hiking here when there's some runoff.

We decided to try a local canal trail so Matt could push Justin (3) in the jog stroller rather than carry him in the backpack.  I had Hannah (10 mo) in the Ergo, and since the trail was reasonably flat, we brought Nathan's (6) bike.  He loves his bike, and is a much happier person on hikes with the bike than on foot.  This also allows us to keep a faster pace, something that makes the older kids and parents happier too.

The brand new suspension bridge over Deer Creek.  It is nice and bouncy with some great views.

We had some rain on our way to the trail, and a little drizzle now and then as we hiked, but overall we did quite well, proving the Swedish proverb that there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.  We only walked a little over two miles, but we decided that was sufficient for the day.  Justin and Nathan were starting to venture near the edge of whiny-ness, and it seemed best to turn around while spirits were still high.  And little by little, hike by hike, a family culture of being outdoors and hiking together is born and grows.

A tributary to Deer Creek, with some beautiful sculpted rocks and just a little bit of water.  Everyone wants to go back once the water starts flowing again in this area.

An Exchange

Setting:  The kids have just been turned out for recess (postponing their math lesson - morning time started late and went long - again), and I head into the kitchen area to refill my mug while my husband, who works from home, is doing the same.

Me:  *sigh*
Matt:  What's wrong?
Me:  I'm just trying to shove too many things into too little time.
Matt:  You should sleep less and drink more coffee.
Me (laughing):  Yes, but you're just making it work for yourself - I'm dealing with children here too!
Matt:  Have you tried giving them coffee?
Me (laughing):  Um, no.  I don't think that's a good idea.
Matt:  Don't knock my solution if you haven't tried it!
Emma:  I'll give coffee a try!

Fine Arts and Nature Fridays

I would love to belong to a Charlotte Mason coop like the Truth, Goodness, Beauty Community or this Charlotte Mason Nature Study Group.  However, while I've found a couple people who are vaguely interested, I haven't found anyone who looks at this and says, "yes, this is wonderful, this is exactly what I've been looking for!  Let's sit down and figure out how to make this happen!".  After feeling sorry for myself for awhile, I decided last spring that I would create my own coop.  For my family.  After all, just because we can't find anyone to join us shouldn't mean that would should deny ourselves the satisfaction and enjoyment we would derive from such an excellent endeavor.  We call it our Fine Arts and Nature Club and we've placed it under the patronage of Blessed John Paul the Second.

We started this last spring, right towards the end of our school year.  I put together a schedule that included Shakespeare, picture study, an art project, poetry, a nature walk with some nature journalling, composer study, some handicrafts time while listening to a read-aloud - in short, all the things you'd expect to see in a Charlotte Mason inspired Fine Arts and Nature coop.  Every Friday we would dive into all these beautiful and wonderful gifts and we all - from the four year old to this thirty-six year old mother - love it.  It is has a firm place in our school schedule, and it is a wonderful and enriching way to end the school week.

I find it interesting is to see how these Fine Arts and Nature Club Fridays bleed over into the rest of our week.  After awhile, we decided poetry just on Friday wasn't enough.  We wanted to listen to Longfellow's poetry as part of our morning time together too.  We started including more read-aloud and handicraft time during the week too, including some time listening to an audiobook together so I can craft too.  Knitting, crochet, and now pine needle basket making are daily events in our house, accompanied by good literature.  Our music studies have spilled over as well, although a little more fitfully.  By giving these good things a day of their own, they have filled and blessed that day and overflowed into the rest of our week, the rest of our lives.

As I was planning our Fine Arts and Nature Fridays for this term, I thought I would like to share what our schedule looks like, and also what actually ends up happening.  After all, in a house with busy and active children, those two things generally do not end up looking exactly alike, do they!

Friday, January 18th, 2013

The Plan:

8:30	Prayer
8:45	Poetry and Recitation	Read from Hiawatha, then review memory-work
9:00	Composer Biography	Part of Handel from Story-Lives of Great Musicians (plus narration)
9:15	Picture Study	Winslow Homer Engraved version of the Sharpshooter Oil Painting Sharpshooter Oil Painting  (I used the Art Authority app for this painting)  Picture study of the oil painting, then look at both, compare.  Discuss why the different versions exist.
9:30	Recess
9:50	Math Game	Rummikub
10:40	Snack and Shakespeare	Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (narrate, draw a character map)
11:00	Art and Music	http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2009/03/18/multi-media-winter-birch-trees/ (for Emma) http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2011/11/09/birch-trees-art-lesson/ (for boys) Listen to Water Music
12:00	Angelus, then Lunch	Watch Great Composers and Their Music: George Frideric Handel (Discovery Education)

I usually would have my weekly meeting with Emma after lunch, then we would go on a nature walk and do some journalling.  However, we had a trip to the ice skating rink planned with our homeschooling group, so we did that instead!

So here's what our actual day looked like instead:

9:00	Prayer	Started late because it was a difficult morning - largely hair brushing angst with the 10 year old and a mom who is trying to do too many things in the morning and doesn’t want to give up any of them.
9:15	Poetry and Recitation	Read a short section from Hiawatha, then practiced memory-work as planned.
9:35	Composer Biography	Handel from Story-Lives of Great Musicians - this went well, and everyone enjoyed this read aloud.
9:50	Recess	The kids and I played with the plastic bat and ball.  They had fun hitting the ball while I attempted to pitch.  Boy, we are all so bad at it, but there was a lot of giggling and running around!
10:10	Picture Study	Winslow Homer Sharpshooter Oil Painting This went very well.  Gregory (7), before he even saw the picture, wanted to do a drawing narration of the painting.  We broke out the art supplies and did this for our art project instead.  Given the time, I quickly sliced some carrots, put out some peanut butter, and the kids snacked while they drew.  Just to add to the multi-tasking, I also played Water Music for them.  Emma decided to draw something inspired by the music instead of the Sharpshooter drawing, but I encouraged her to finish the Sharpshooter drawing then work on her water picture, as she was at least 3/4 of the way done already.
11:00	Math Game	Rummikub - we all enjoy this game and it is good practice for everyone in spotting patterns and strategy.
11:40	Read-aloud	After we finished the game, we decided to listen to the retelling of Shakespeare in the car (yay, Librivox) and I read some of The Shakespeare Stealer instead.  This is our squeeze in where ever we can read-aloud right now.  It doesn’t have an official place in the schedule, but we’re managing to find a few places to read it during the week.  We are all enjoying it a great deal!
12:00	Angelus, then Lunch	Watch Great Composers and Their Music: George Frideric Handel (Discovery Education)
12:45	Out the door for ice skating!	We listened to Nesbit’s version of Much Ado About Nothing in the car, pausing every few minutes to narrate and untangle the plot.  I wish the reader had read a little more slowly!

So even though this was a morning where I whined to my husband, "can I please give up now?  How about boarding school?", the day was redeemed and made lovely by our rich and varied course of study.  Yes, the art project was replaced by our sharpshooter drawn narrations, but I think that was a reasonable substitution.  We still need to draw our character map for Much Ado About Nothing, but we'll do that next week and it'll serve as a good review.

A Day in the Life: A More Typical Day

As I look over my notes from today, I'm both gratified to have done this and a little intimidated at the thought of typing it all up!  It is a busy and full life, but it is a wonderful one too.  And seeing my day scrawled out on this piece of binder paper next to me brings this home in a way I hadn't expected or experienced.  And I'm so glad to have the pictures that go with this day too.

Here's a quick summary of where the time went:

Reading out loud (mostly for school, includes narrations):  1 hr, 55 min
Prayer (alone and with kids, includes spiritual reading):  1 hr, 20 min
Cleaning:  50 min
Laundry:  30 min
Dishes:  1 hr, 15 min
Exercise:  1 hr, 5 min
School (in addition to reading out loud):  2 hr, 5 min
Personal (personal hygiene, email, blogs):  55 min
Personal learning:  30 min
Cooking:  2 hrs
Eating:  1 hr, 30 min

And overlapping with many of these things...  time spent with a 13 month old on my back:  5 hrs, 45 min!

6:19 - Up, praying morning prayer, Magnificat and Letter to the Hebrews

7:00 - Dressed, ready for the day, and downstairs.  Rolling out dough for donuts (because we're into healthy eating around here, folks!  Actually, this is a surprise treat for everyone - usually donuts are only done as a birthday breakfast around here.  The dough was made last night and rested in the fridge overnight)  Frying donuts, making chocolate glaze (might as well go all out!)

7:20 -  Breakfast.  Read Matt's latest NaNoWriMo installment, chatted with Matt and the kids.

8:00 - cleanup, sweeping, read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Nathan.  Yesterday Emma was doing Alphabet Path with him and they did an activity about the life cycle of a caterpillar.  Nathan was so excited to see that we had a book all about this very subject!

8:25 - Trying to decide if I should change Justin or squeeze in my consecration reading.  Decided to change his diaper, then handed him off to Emma for dressing.  Read 33 Days to Morning Glory.

8:40 - Started prayer with the kids - Mass Readings, narration

8:55 - Justin goes in the Ergo.  Memory work for everyone, including me!  I'm working on the new translation of the Nicene Creed, Emma is working on "To be or not to be..." from Hamlet and Mark Antony's funeral oration from Julius Caesar.  Gregory is working on At the Zoo by A.A. Milne.  We also reviewed work they already know.

9:05 - World History read aloud - Augustine Goes to Kent, narrations

9:15 - MEP math with Gregory (or since it is from the UK, I should probably call it MEP maths) Lesson 48, Year 1.  Love this program - such a great combination of hands on, logic, problem solving, review, facts practice...  and it is free.  What a wonderful find, I couldn't be more pleased with it.  Emma did reading, Stack the States app for map practice, and XtraMath for math facts practice.  Nathan was crazy for a bit, then settled down to instrument 3 part cards, then building with sticks and blocks.  I practiced counting and grouping with him as Gregory worked on problems by himself.  Gregory also did the Dot to Dot app for some skip counting practice.

9:55 - Recess.  The boys played ball and Emma and I walked while she narrated from St. Columba by Forbes and Life in Celtic Times (not really narrated from this - more talked about pictures that she found most interesting)  Visited briefly with the UPS guy (delivered our new router, yay!) and my father-in-law.

10:20 - Copywork and weather observations for Gregory, and reading practice with his reader and with the movable alphabet.  Emma worked on Delta, and Nathan worked with letters.  I wanted him to do some letter cards, but he was much more interested in the letter magnets.  I bugged him a little bit, then seeing he was working industriously I let him work.  He fished out all the square letter magnets, carefully lined them up ("N leads the way on the happy parade!") then rearranged the magnets on the board to spell his name again.  Gregory wandered over to spell his name with magnets, then went back to his work.  After this Nathan seemed ready for another activity, so we did the letter cards together - he has the sounds for about half the alphabet at this point.

10:50 - Snack prep.  Half a homemade sourdough whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, sliced pear.  (see, it isn't all donuts around here!)

11:00 - Snack and read aloud.  Today it is Tree in the Trail.  Discussion and narration.

11:15 - Read from Abraham Lincoln to the boys, nursed Justin.  Narration.

11:35 - Boys out to play.  Quickly typed Emma's freewrite from Monday (she was retelling a fairy tale from another character's perspective).  Discussed with her how to expand and improve it, helping her to find some places to add description and dialogue.  Left Emma to flesh out her writing.

11:45 - Huge diaper change.  Happier baby.

11:55 - From Emma:  "Mom, it is fun to write giant-talk, especially when they are arguing!"  Justin is back in the Ergo, and I'm picking up from snack.

Noon - Angelus.  We gathered outside to pray with the boys.  Took lunch orders.  (PB&J for two, quesadilla for one, Leftover chickpea and veggie curry with rice for Justin and me.  Apples for all.)  Working on lunch, chatting with Matt.

12:15 - Justin is asleep, but wouldn't transfer to his crib.  Back in the Ergo he goes.

12:40 - Starting laundry, finally serving lunch.  We watched a video from Discovery Streaming about Salmon spawning in preparation for our fish hatchery tour on Friday.

1:00 - Clean-up, Emma has programming class with Matt.

1:15 - Reading to the boys.  A River Runs Wild, Sword in the Tree, A Drop of Water.  Gregory also read for about 15 minutes.  Justin went in the Ergo at about 1:30 and I read while pacing.

1:55 - Water dispersion experiment - was supposed to be just the boys, but Emma wanted to join in.  Justin is finally(!!) asleep and transfered to his crib this time.  Phew!

2:10 - American History read aloud, Judith Lankaster

2:35 - Read Captain Small to Nathan

2:45 - Boys out to play again, I start a Rosetta Stone Spanish lesson.  Emma is finishing up some of her schoolwork then goes outside for awhile to boss around play with the boys.

3:10 - Briefly check email, answered one

3:15 - Folding laundry, doing dictation with Emma.  She's trying to populate her recipe box with recipes she likes, so I dictated a pulled pork recipe for her to record on an index card.

3:30 - Justin is awake and crabby.  I nursed him and read blogs.

3:55 - Justin goes in the Ergo while I put away laundry, put up chores, and got ready for a walk.

4:10 - Walked the deer path at the top of the property down to the 30 acre property and back by the road with Emma, Nathan and Justin.

Alas, poor Yorick...

4:50 - Cleaning chores - dusting, cleaning a few windows.

5:10 - Dinner prep.  I made a double batch of chicken and black bean enchiladas, one for tonight and one to freeze.  I also added diced tomatoes, bell pepper and onions to some plain brown rice from Monday night and made a salad.

6:25 - Dinner is finally ready.  I was tired and not moving as quickly as I usually do.  Thankfully Matt came down and helped at around 5:30.  He also rode herd on the kids as they did their cleaning chores and picked up.

7:00 - Dinner is over, time to do dishes.

7:40 - Dishes are done, kids are in PJs and Matt is reading Little House in the Big Woods to the boys.  Emma is helping with Justin.

8:00 - Bedtime for the boys.  I say prayers with the boys in their room, then nurse Justin while I pray the Rosary.

8:30 - All the boys are asleep.  Whew!  I had a little dessert (a piece of cake that Emma made), made some tea, added up some numbers and started typing this.  And now it is 9:30.  And now that I've dumped photos, made some photo collages, and uploaded photos, it is 10:15!  I'm not sure I'll be doing this very often...  but still, I'm glad I did.  I enjoyed creating this.  I hope someone has enjoyed looking at it!