Quiet Time!

Some days I have been incorporating some free time into our schedule. I do, however, put stipulations on it.

1. You must remain quiet.
2. No TV, computer, phone, or radio.
3. You must get along
4. You must clean up your ENTIRE mess.

Also I gave them some suggestions.

1. Play a game (alone or with others)
   
2. Read a story
3. Draw
4. Write
5. Clean
6. Visit with each other
7. Anything you can think of within the above guidelines.

Here are some things they were doing during the last one.

Katey made letters out of Kix cereal. this is the letter m.

Emily graphed all the different plastic firemen by using her Math U See blocks.

Tommy has been really into reading Chicken Soup For The Kid's Soul. I think some of the things he enjoys about it, is that it is not a childrens book. He feels as if he is too old for the younger books, but his reading level is not quite up to the level of books that interest him. I have tried books on CD/tape/Ipod. He would rather be the one reading them. So I have been really happy with how interested he has stayed in this book. I like that it shows you kids can have a positive attitude when times are tough. All my kids like true stories, so I am planning on incorporating some of these books, or at least some of the stories in our character building curriculum next year.

I love quiet time. I try to plan it when Tyler is going to be napping. And I have the same rules as they do. I spend my time with them, playing a game, or visiting. Sometimes I am even able to read a book just for me. This is such a great break in our days. Since I don't do it daily, it is usually a welcome break. It is so funny to me now that I am homeschooling how little I am hearing, "I'm bored." Also, how little interest they have in TV. When they would come home from school they would always be "bored" or in front of the TV. I am often asked how do I keep them entertained all day long, day in, day out. Well, I must say that it is not that hard. I am actually amazed at how wonderful we have all adapted to this.

Today during quiet time we discussed our goals for the rest of this year, (what do we want to finish before we officially call it the end) and our goals for next year. (when do we want to start and what subjects we want to study, what schedule should we follow, etc) We all came to an agreement, and wrote it out on a calendar. Next year we will definitely be using Sue Patrick's Workbox System. I will even be using it with my Preschooler the rest of this year and over the summer as sort of a test drive.