L.I.F.E. Academy- 2013-2014 begins

Our New Rhythm of the days~

We begin on Aug 13th.

Older kids work independently in the mornings.  I totally love that they just do their work.
That is the beauty of the Robinson curriculum*.
No fancy work, no expensive extras, just simply to read, write, and do math effectively.

So on my Rhythm chart above, we ideally begin around 9:00.
I am a morning person, so I like to get my morning routine wrapped up before we begin school.  =)
9:ish works for us.  Sometimes sooner, sometimes later.  I am not a drill Sargent.

I spend the morning with my littles. 

While the big kids do math, the younger kids & I do circle time;
Biblical character lessons, scripture memory work, emotions, weather & calendar work.

While the big kids read, the younger kids join me for table time;
Discuss animal of the week and how it pertains to our character lesson,
discussions, copy work, craft, & activity time.

While the big kids do their writing assignment,
the younger kids enjoy story time and Math lessons.

The “younger kids” are Andrew (2nd grade), Bryson (kinder), & Shelbee (neighbor girl, preK/K)

Our afternoons

I have lunch w/ my kids.
I’ve teamed up my kids on a buddy system.  An older one w/ a younger one.
One team prepares lunch, the other cleans up after lunch.  win/win for me.  *smile*
During lunch we will listen and practice our foreign language.
We will focus more strongly on Spanish this year,
but still review our French,
and slowly add our American Sign Language to what we are learning!
Foreign language is meant to be practiced actively.
Lunch time is a perfect setting for us.

Big Kids turn

The younger kids will have quiet time in the afternoon.
They may play quietly in their room, or watch a educational movie of my choice.

The big kids and I will be working through the Constitution this year,
followed by a read aloud time of a biography of a historical figure.
(Benjamin Franklin is up first on the list).
We will also do a quick spelling/grammar review before moving onto Chemistry lessons.

The “big kids” are TJ (junior), Shane (neighbor boy/ freshman), & Katie (6th grade).

School should wrap up around 2, followed by jurisdictions.

The rest of the day we are free to explore our interests~ 

nature walks, cooking, board games, gardening, foursquare, etc…

I have to admit that this year will be our easiest year by far since beginning homeschooling in 2001!
This is the first time there will be no baby/toddler distractions.  Our days are outlined quite smoothly, because, well, the littles are actually old enough to follow directions (and really shouldn’t be called “littles” anymore, but I haven’t quite figured out another phrase to distinguish them from the older kids, lol).