The Week That Contained "The Perfect Homeschool Day"

The elusive "perfect homeschool day."  It only happens a handful of times per year.  We have a LOT of great days, but when an actual "perfect homeschool day" occurs, it feels soooo great!  The whole week was great, really. Here's what we did:

Monday:

Today was a little odd because I had to meet my new school friend (!!) at the science lab.  The girls hung out at the condo, and did a little independent school work.  When I got back, we had a quick lunch, and went to globe making class at a friends house.  I'm so thankful for this class, since I'm supposed to be teaching geography this year, but I'm *kind of* falling behind.  It's challenging, and Millie is being forced to think outside her box.  Elise spends her time playing with one of her favorite friends.

Tuesday:

Rise and shine!  We woke up early and went to piano lessons.  Afterwards we wen to the condo for a quick lunch (are you noticing a trend?), and then met up with our playgroup at the Science Museum, looked at exhibits, and watched an Omni Theater movie about the ocean.  It was fun!  After playgroup, we went to the library.  While we were there, it snowed the most amazing, lightest, fluffiest snowflakes.  It was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, because of the snow, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get home!!  Millie was supposed to have play practice, but I opted out, because I couldn't handle being in the car for another 1+ hours.


Wednesday:

THE PERFECT DAY! Here's how it all went down:  The girls asked if they could go out and shovel in the morning while I ate breakfast.  I certainly wouldn't stand in their way of fresh air, so they went out.  They ended up shoveling our driveway, and two neighbors driveways.  They earned $5 and a handful of butterscotch candies :)  They were pumped when they came in.  It didn't take long for the girls to get settled into their school work.  They got their 3 R's done, we had lunch, and then the real fun began ;)  We buckled down and started learning about Afghanistan.  We read 4 Feet, 2 Sandals.  It was such a great book!  It was an eye opener for the girls to see how kids in other parts of the world live.  They learned about Islam.  Then, they learned about the importance of spices, and did a little spice painting.  By now, I should be exhausted, and ready to crash.  But, since it was "perfect homeschool day," I was still full of energy.  Yay!  The girls worked on their 4-H Food Revue projects. Around 3:30, Millie went outside to play with neighbor kids, and Elise played with her tablet.  What did that mean for me?  Two and a half hours of uninterrupted studying time.  It was SUCH a great day!!

A Refugee Village, by Millie

A Self Portrait, by Elise

Painting with spices

Thursday:

Today we spent the morning at home again.  It was an average day of school work, piano practice, and homework.  I had a surprise up my sleeve for the afternoon!  The orangutan at the zoo that recently had a baby, was on display with the baby for the first time!  We went out to the zoo to see the them, and walked around the conservatory for a while.  it was such a great way to beat any winter doldrums that we may have been feeling.  The best part was when we went to the sunken garden, and looked at all the flowers.  After walking around once (Elise was looking for "silver bells and cockle shells"), we walked around again so Elise and I could smell all the flowers.  It was so fun to see the sunken garden through a child's eyes (and nose). It was a pretty sweet day.

Friday:

This was seriously the most chaotic, longest day ever.  I woke up after only 4 hours of sleep, and immediately had to start running errands.  I didn't even cross off half of them before we had to come home, eat lunch, and drop Millie off at her murder mystery play practice.  While she was there, Elise and I ran...you guessed it...more errands.  Ugh.  When I got Millie at 2:30, we went home, Millie cooked, I had my first cup of coffee for the day, and then we had to bolt out the door to go to 4-H.  I was in charge of set up, snacks, and clean up.  It was a long. long. day.  We got home at quarter to 10.  As I type this, I'm very much enjoying the couch, a glass of wine, and Big Bang Theory reruns.

It was a nice week.  

Find out what other homeschoolers were doing this week, here!