Ladies and Gentlemen, Enthusiasm Has Left the Building...

October 15, 2013

5:38pm

What has changed in the course of a month?

It's not that we're (or I'm) being lazy. It's just that now that we have a steady rhythm going, we found that not everything needs to go exactly according to schedule.  Here's a reminder of what the schedule is:

Time		Activity
700		Wake-up
		Brush teeth
		Make bed
		Get dressed
730		Eat breakfast
745		Morning prayer/preparations
800		Warm-Up (Journal Entry)
815		Phonics & Reading
910		Break
915		Spelling and Vocabulary
1010		Break
1015		Math
1130		Lunch
1200		Outside Activity
1230		Come in/wash hands
1235		Penmanship
1255		Health (M/W)/Baking (T)/Arts & Crafts (Th)/Bible Story Hour (F)
1345		Snack
1355		Afternoon prayer/Clean-up
1410		Chores

From 7am to 2pm. Full day right? Well, now that we understand how the assignments flow and what we need to accomplish everyday, we can pretty much end our day by lunchtime. Awesomeness, right? We found that most of the lessons don't need the allotted time. We also don't need the frequent breaks. I scheduled them thinking that Jay would need that time to recharge his mind. At first he did, but he works so hard at all of his assignments, that he barely even notices the time (usually, he'll try to stick to the schedule). He's pretty good at voicing whether or not he needs a break. Most of the time, he just wants some music on, so I'll crank up Daft Punk's latest album Random Access Memories. Their music gets you moving! Anyone who's been a fan of theirs for at least the past ten years know good and well that they breathe so much life into an dreary, ho-hum day. So, that's what we do. 

Before you make any assumptions about us rushing through the work, let me be the first to tell you that Jay has learned so much! He's retaining so much information; much more than I thought he would. I love how the assignment books will revisit past lessons to keep the students' mind fresh. Good stuff going on in the Berry Household. Praise God!

Update: Jay baked a pizza today for his baking lesson. He made the dough, cooked the sausage, etc. His future wife is going to love him. *Lol*