Things I don't want to miss!

Today was one of our first, maybe second, day where we haven't had ANYTHING going on..no where to go, no where to be...in which I am thankful.  I am getting to see how our real day will look....I'm going to post what our day looked like, what we have done...

First, I had my Bible and Prayer time in which I am finding is so valuable...(duh..how long have I been doing this Christian thing?)  Waking up by myself and being alone in a quiet house is so nice...it makes me so much happier throughout the day!  This morning, John had to be out the door really early so I was able to make him lunch and coffee...and he had cereal...

Then the kids woke up:

Breakfast
Reading through the Bible...Genesis
Get dressed
Math which included adding and subtracting flash cards, 100 chart, counting by 3s, measurements with ruler and yard stick and how many inches in foot, feet in yard, inches in yard, practice on meanings and words like addend, subtrahend, minuend, difference, factor, product.  Hours, seconds, minutes, days...we did a timed speed drill, and Emily did a work sheet and measured 6 things in the house and had to write them down.  We also reviewed 0 times tables and 1 times tables..and worked on some problems.

Then we read our Missions book Hero Tales about William and Catherine Booth.  The kids really like this book!  We found China on our map ..(where the previous "Hero" had been a missionary)

English which included phonics and special sounds review, Emily read a story out of a reader about Ben Franklin and she wrote down three vocab words in her vocab notebook.  Then she looked up the words and wrote out their definitions.  She answered some comprehension questions about the story verbally...She then read a poem out of the same reader in which she used to do copy work (her VERY BEST WRITING). 

After that we went outside and took apart a bird nest that had fallen from a tree in the front yard.  They put on their yard gloves and picked through it which was very interesting...there were many different ingredients in the making of this nest...hair, sticks, leaves, moss, tape, netting from a construction zone, and paper.  Emily then wrote a paragraph about it. 

We have also been doing great on chores...my new found freedom in asking the kids to do more is wonderful.  John Daniel did a whole load of darks while I did school with Emily.  He did it all!  They only thing I did was to check before he started the cycle to make sure he had not stuffed the machine too full.  He had to finish the load from start to finish (dried) He also went out and took care of the chickens and gave them treats. After lunch, Emily vacuumed all the carpet and even did some baseboards and corners. 

Side note:  The past two days....Emily and John Daniel have taken EVERY SINGLE stitch of clothing out of their drawers and closet and we have tried on, made stacks, given away, and organized!  Emily even organized her side of the closet into dresses, skirts, sweaters, jackets, blouses...ITS WONDERFUL! 

After chores, will be our Young Peacemakers study about making and keeping peace and solving conflict.  I read a little of the chapter each day.  They are long chapters.  They have things to do like role playing and stuff.

And that is it for school for the day!  We have two errands and rest time (my favorite).  I made a point to not turn on the computer, check my phone, or answer calls all morning.  The kitchen is clean as well.  All of this makes me happy and I know everyday will not be like this.

Things I still have to add are music and art appreciation, more science, history, geography, and timeline stuff..(I still have to buy this curriculum) but I read a blog by a homeschooling mother of 11 who has graduated 4 or more kids by now...she said, "work on doing a few subjects really good and then add some a little at a time."  She made the point that a lot of times moms want to get in so much that they sporadically hit subjects a little here and a little there....I could see myself doing this if I wasn't careful...so I'm trying really hard to concentrate on Language Arts and Math and when something "falls" out of the sky in front of us (the bird nest) we use it to teach another subject....I want SO bad to do art and music appreciation and thought about just listening to the music in the morning...some Bach or Handel or whatever...but haven't done it yet. 

We are reading Understood Betsy at night which we love already! 

So back to the reason I titled this post, things I don't want to miss....

Last year, I really didn't know what Emily was doing or liking or disliking...I mean I did her homework with her so I knew what they did in math and practiced spelling with her, but other than that....I really had only very small glimpses of what she was studying in science or writing about or geography....I've really enjoyed SO MUCH getting to know her in this setting....knowing what she likes, loves, dislikes, struggles with, excels in....for instance...she loves looking words up in the dictionary...she is really good at it!  She recognizes the words when we then read them.  Math work sheets are not her favorite but she loved going around the house measuring things.  She is not as inquisitive as John Daniel but she is soooo imaginative.  She is great at making up games, expressing herself in a story or writing.  She flies through the language arts but gets stumped on simple math at times...she loves working with these demonstration clocks that my mom got us to practice with.  These things I would not have known.  Its so nice because I see her "smarts"....where as before when we were sitting at home doing a math work sheet for homework every night....I got so frustrated because that is all I saw of her "schooling."

Another mom gave me some ABEKA 5th and 6th grade history, science, and test books.  I was going to pass them along because I didn't need them and John Daniel saw the book in the bag for giveaways.  He asked if he could have the 6th grade Science book.  I said sure and I am glad I did...for two days, he has carried the 5th grade science book around....has looked through it page by page.  He even took it to the Tractor Supply store with him yesterday to show his friend Cooper.  Cooper and John Daniel went with Daddy to the store to buy chicken feed and hay.  All day he says, "look mom!" and shows me something cool.  He loves space!  Loves rockets and planets!  Today, he looked at the Chemistry chapter and sat there for 1 hour looking at the elements and all the pages on the periodic table....found out that Fluorine is in our toothpaste and its a halogen!  John Daniel is more inquisitive, wants to know how things work, why, and how.  ANY machine interest him...even the sewing machine! 

These are things I don't want to miss out on!  How could I know all of this and share these little things with them if they were away at school all day...These are just my thoughts for today...no big revelation...just thankful for the little things!