COVID-19 Homeschool, Day 53

Two weeks from today is the last day of school.

I don't know about you, but it helps me to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Milestones reassure me that we are making progress, and that time is passing, because sometimes the days blur into one another and it feels like one of those scenes in a horror movie where the main character is walking down a hallway but the door at the end never gets any closer.

The other day the kids and I were reading a chapter from Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, "The House on Plum Creek," and Pa has gone back east to get work. He sends a letter saying that he'll come home in two weeks, so Laura and Mary make hash marks on their school slate to count down the days, and every night when they go to bed, Mary erases one of them. It helps the time pass. I decided that at the two-week mark, we'd do the same thing, (I was torn between using the countdown to the end of school and the countdown until moving day - there's only two days' difference - but I opted for school because, to be honest, it's nearer.) So that will mark the end of the day today.

7-8:30am: I woke up with an arthritis flare in my shoulder that's making it tough to get dressed and get breakfast, so I got a late start and let the kids take charge of their own breakfasts again. My son says he didn't sleep well (not uncommon; he's an insomniac like his mother), so he's having a rough time getting going. And my daughter was wide awake when my husband checked on her when he came to bed a little before midnight. So we'll all be struggling a little today, I suspect. But eventually we all got ourselves dressed (sort of), washed and brushed (sort of), and fed (sort of).

8:30-8:45am: I've finally gotten smart and gotten both kids' school passwords so I can go directly to their teacher's Classroom pages and see their assignments without having to look over their shoulders. I gave them each the choice of starting with either English or math. My son chose English, so I asked him to start with an assignment on Martin Luther King, Jr., that involves doing a reading, watching a video, and then answering some questions. My daughter chose literacy over math, as well, so I had her read the assigned article on conserving water, which included making a list of a few ways that she can conserve water, which the kids will be asked to share at the Google Meet this afternoon.

8:45-9:15am: My son finished the MLK assignment in about 15 minutes, so he's moving on to reading on Lexia for 30 minutes. My daughter is continuing with her water conservation assignment. (It was 100+ ways to conserve, so even though it's a list, it's a fair amount to get through!) She finished up with Typing Club (her favorite).

9:15-10am: My son is moving on to playing math games on Kahoot! and then moved on to Zearn for 30 minutes. My daughter is working on Zearn for 20 minutes, then she'll finish up with some Math Playground games. While they're working on this, I'm slogging through updating my address with a bunch of providers and moving my prescriptions over to a new carrier with the new address. Transitions are hard. Can't do it too early or things will be delivered to someone else's house. Can't do it too late or things will be delivered to an empty house (not a problem for things that get forwarded, but my refrigerated medication would definitely be a problem). I am realizing that the last few days before our move are going to be a zoo. You know, those two days that are the last two days of school? Yeah, those. Aaaanyway...

10-10:30am: We didn't take our usual 10am break yesterday, but I'm making sure they get it today. Miss Tracey's Circle Time (which is actually a book reading today) and Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, here we come. My daughter took a short break after Circle Time, then went on to do independent reading. I'm baking bread, since I ate the last piece of French bread for breakfast this morning. Can't be without our fresh French bread these days!

10:30-11:30am: My daughter is working on Math Limbo while my son finishes up AWSC. When he finished, he asked to do a science experiment he found. We didn't have the right supplies, so we went back to the Waltham Robohawks team and did their next experiment: Building a Parachute!

11:30am-1pm: Lunch break and free time.

1-2pm: My daughter had a Google Classroom Meeting, followed by some informal chatting with classmates. My son had a band rehearsal.

Later in the afternoon, we had another reading session where I read them a few more chapters of "The Long Walk to Water." They didn't want to interrupt their playing to listen, but once we got going, they were both rapt, and when I got to a stopping point and asked if they wanted to hear another chapter, they both wanted to go on. I love it when that happens.

And that was our school day for today!