Jan’s Day
A home school day with Jan Drexler, along with Jacob (15), Carrie (11), Benjamin (7) and Michael (6).
April 12, 2000
After reading other accounts of school days I thought I’d journal through a
day and share it with you. We have four children, ranging from 1st to 10th grades. The older two take some classes in the public school – both take music and the oldest also takes Computer Programming and French. We are blessed that the school allows our children to attend part-time, and the excellent experience they’re having in the string orchestra program at the school is well worth the daily chauffeuring. I’m also glad we live less than a mile from both schools! As the weather gets better, I’ll be spending much less time in the car!
BTW, this “typical” day happens to be a laundry day, too.
7:50 – I got up late this morning, so things have been a bit rushed. But I have had my prayer time, gotten Jacob to his computer class at the high school, gave the dog a quick walk around the block and spent some time on my Bible study. Now it’s time to fix breakfast and get the other children up before heading back to the school to pick up Jacob.
8:30 – Breakfast is on the table. Carrie eats her cereal while doing a couple of pages in her grammar. Jacob checks his e-mail before he eats. After breakfast he’ll start on his schoolwork. I let Benjamin and Michael play for awhile more – they’re involved in some game with plastic dinosaurs and Star Wars Micro Machines.
8:45 – The church secretary calls. I’ve forgotten to e-mail her a list of books to include in this Sunday’s bulletin (I’m the librarian). I take about 15 minutes to type the list and send it to her. I call to tell her I’ve sent it, then awhile later she calls back to ask which address I used. Of course, I sent it to one of the pastors instead of her; he’ll print it out for her.
9:00 – I go upstairs to Carrie’s room to check her grammar with her. She
has already finished her Bible study and Logic, so I tell her she can read her book until 9:45 when she goes to orchestra.
9:15 – Both Benjamin and Michael want to do their schoolwork at the same time. They work steadily with me sitting between them until 9:45. Michael finishes his work – today he has done copywork, math and Learning Through Sounds (Pathway Reader’s phonics book). Benjamin has finished his copywork, but is stuck on a math problem. I tell him to take a break while I take Carrie to orchestra.
10:00 – Back with Benjamin to finish his work. We put math aside and do his lesson from English For the Thoughtful Child and his Bible study lesson. After that break he’s ready to tackle math again. No problem – he just didn’t understand what he was supposed to do. Michael has been waiting for Benjamin to finish so we can do their history lesson together. Today it’s the story from Greenleaf’s Famous Men of Greece about Ptolemy.
10:30 – Both boys are now done with their schoolwork and have the rest of the day free. Benjamin goes to the living room to get a book. I see him later, lying on the couch reading to himself. Michael gets a book to read to me. We have been keeping track of points as they read as a way for them to earn money for our vacation this summer. Jacob comes into the kitchen and asks if we can go out for lunch (this is a daily question from him). I tell him I’ll take him to the library before lunch (his second choice) if he can get his schoolwork at least ½ way done. He goes up to his room to study, I start a load of laundry.
10:45 – Jacob is done with Chemistry and math, so I take him to the library when I pick up Carrie from orchestra. After the library I drop the boys at home and Carrie and I make a quick trip to Wal-Mart.
11:30 – Time to fix lunch. Michael gets out the Think it Through tiles and plays with them in the kitchen while I work. He says he wants my help, but he does it all himself. It’s Jacob’s day to help with the meals, so he
sets the table and we’re ready to eat.
12:15 – Lunch is over. Jacob cleans off the table and loads the dishwasher while I switch loads of laundry. Carrie goes up to her room to do her math and the younger boys are back at their Star Wars/Dinosaur game (these games last for days..the toys change, the story changes, but the boys just keep going.).
12:30 – I go up to Carrie’s room to finish up her Writing Strands, math and reading. She is reading Lives of Famous Romans by Olivia Coolidge and has read the chapter about Augustus. I don’t think she was too impressed with him, but she’s happy to be done with her schoolwork for the day. Now she gets to read the next Redwall book that we got at the library.
1:00 – I read two stories to Michael on his bed, then I fall asleep while
he goes off to play.
1:30 – I wake up. Michael is asking for help with his computer game. Carrie is drawing; Benjamin is watching a video. I hear Jacob taking a shower – he’ll have to finish his schoolwork after orchestra this afternoon.
I start sorting another basket of laundry.
2:30 – Another load of laundry started. I deliver Jacob to the high school for orchestra, then go to fill the gas tank. When I get back, Carrie is reading and the boys are watching a video they got at the library.
3:30 – Carrie’s friends are home from public school, so she goes to play a marathon Monopoly game with them. Jacob is home from orchestra, so he continues with his schoolwork while the younger boys play. He has read his history assignment, so we go over it together, then go over his grammar assignment. He has come to the end of his assignment in Writing Strands, but I feel he needs more practice (he can never have too much practice in expository writing.), so I assign a similar chapter in his Grammar and Composition book. We review his work in Chemistry and math – he is so far behind in Chemistry that he’ll be working on it through the summer, but he’ll be ready to take his final exam in math next week.
5:00 – Jacob is done with his schoolwork, supper is in the oven, and I start folding laundry. It’s been a successful day – everybody got his work done!
Go back to the Well Trained Mind Home page.
Go back to the Home School Days.
