A Morning In The Life Of Homeschool & We Finished Saxon Math 1

April 28, 2021 by Leave a Comment

This entire school year I have been wanting to do a day in the life of homeschool post. Mainly I wanted to document this journey for myself so I have it to look back on in the years to come. This year has been so amazing in so many ways, but this mama is tired at the end of day. Once the kids are asleep, I am usually fighting sleep myself on the sofa at 8:30 p.m..

I was determined to get a day in the homeschool life post done before the end of the school year. And I got as far getting the morning somewhat documented. But I am totally ok with that. The year hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows and some days have been really hard trying to figure out how to mom, teach, clean, cook, etc.. Homeschooling has taught me to have more patience and to also be more flexible. This year has been a new learning curve for me in many ways but I would 100% do it all over again if given the choice. It has been a joy and privilege to watch my kids learn and to help in that process.

5:45 a.m.

This is a somewhat typical morning in our current homeschool life. Obviously each day is different so keep that in mind. I don’t wake up early every morning to exercise but if I want to get a solid workout in the time before the kids wake up tends to work best for me.

I roll out of bed and walk out to our garage. I love having all our equipment in one place. It is the best. Also we kept my lululmeon ambassador photo from years ago and I finally told Josh he could hang it. I thought it was so weird to have my picture hanging in our garage gym. But now that it is up I like it. It is still probably weird but I am ok with that for now. Josh said it motivates him will he is working out and imagines I am giving him my little pep talks like I would give to a client.

I am currently doing Mind Pump Media’s HIIT program. I am on my 4th week and really loving it. M/W/F I am doing a 15 minute HIIT and 15 minute core workout. T/TH is 20 minutes of flexibility and 10 minutes of core work. I am so sweaty on the HIIT workout days and sooooooo sore. I love it, but hate it at the same time.

6:20 a.m.

I finish my workout and come inside as the kids are coming out of their bedrooms. Maisie wants to read me The Duckling Gets A Cookie?!. Best feeling seeing your child learn to read and even better knowing you helped them learn.

I get breakfast ready for the kids and make a protein smoothie for myself. The kids have kodiak cake waffles with bacon on the side. The smoothie for me consists of chocolate premier protein, spinach, banana, hemp seed, and frozen mixed berries.

6:45 a.m.

Everyone is sitting down for breakfast and on the table is our catechism and bible study. I have done several posts on these before and you can read about these HERE and HERE.

After breakfast I clean up the dishes, sweep the floor, make sure the kitchen is ready for our homeschool day. Then while I get cleaned up from my workout the kids get to watch a t.v. show. Each morning one of them gets to pick the show and as soon as it is over the television goes off for the rest of the day. Depending on the day they may watch another show later but we really try to limit it during the our school week.

8:00 a.m.

The two youngest in our house play in their bedroom at this point while I work with the older two on Math. On this day they each had an assessment. This is Maisie’s final day of her Saxon Math 1 worksheets.

I am so proud of us! Caden still has 10 more lessons to go and he will be finished also with Saxon Math 3. I am just so proud of our family. Those books looked so daunting at the start of the school and to be at this point feels so good.

8:30 a.m.

While math is still happening I realize the 4 year olds have been very quiet. They were having fun in their bedroom pulling out all the stuffed animals from the bean bag storage and also multiple other toys.

And that is the last picture I got for the morning.

8:45 a.m.

Josh is home by now from work and Maisie is working on ReadingEggs.com. She has finished her work and Caden is starting on his math lesson now, today it is learning how to use the scale on a map.

9:30 a.m.

Everyone gets a snack and we head into the backyard to play.

10 a.m.

Back inside the house and we are now moving onto our last week of lessons in the Journey’s series. I am not sure I would use these books again if we were to continue homeschooling. I picked them because the elementary school the kids attend use the series. We wanted to make sure if we sent them back to school this year they would be using the same curriculum. Overall, they served the purpose they needed but I don’t think they work best for homeschooling and are obviously intended for the classroom.

Caden is fairly independent for the next hour, which is perfect because I can focus on Maisie. During this time they do handwriting, phonics, reading, and grammar.

11 a.m.

It is time to get ready for lunch. And this is where I am going to end this morning in the life of homeschool post. We continue school after lunch too but that is a different post for hopefully another day.

Thanks for reading!

Tam

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Total Conditioning Xtreme Workout

February 15, 2021 by Leave a Comment

When I worked at Lifetime Fitness, almost eight years ago, they offered a class called TCX (Total Conditioning Xtreme). TCX was my favorite class to teach and take. It was the perfect blend of strength and cardio for 60 minutes.

I like to go through my old workouts from time to time and came across this workout from when I was teaching group fitness at Lifetime. If you don’t have a step you do all the exercises on level ground. The only other thing you will need is a set of heavy and medium weights.

The workout features six different sets of exercises. For set 1 do the pushups, sit-ups, and burpees, and then rest for 30 seconds before doing another round. Once you have finished all three rounds rest for 60 seconds before starting the next set.

This entire workout should take an 45 minutes to an hour to complete. If you only have 20 or 30 minutes pick several sets for a modified version of this workout.

If you really want to challenge yourself perform each round at a different tempo. Tempo is the time your muscles are working under tension and is the rate or pace each exercise is performed. This gets hard fast. For example if I were teaching this class and leading the pushups I would say ” Let’s lower down for a count of 1 2 3 4 and come back up with a count of 1.” The next round I could switch that up and lower for a count of 1 and come up with a count of 1 2 3 4.

I would love to know if you try this workout and what you think. Have a great day and thanks for reading.

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My 8 Year Old Son’s Favorite Book Series

January 25, 2021 by Leave a Comment

I am fortunate that my son Caden enjoys reading but it can be tricky sometimes finding the right books for your kid. Which is why I am always excited when I come across a book series that we both truly enjoy.

These book series are mom approved and don’t have much bathroom humor in them. I am looking at you Captain Underpants.

Without anymore chitchat, that will be at the end of the post, here is what my 8 year old says are his favorite book series.

Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol

Each book contains ten mysteries, and not only does Encyclopedia have a chance to solve them, but the reader is given all the clues as well. Caden read a few of these to me and they were challenging. Not going to lie, there was a few that I couldn’t figure out right away. I think he is currently on book 5 in this series and still enjoying them.

The Secret of The Hidden Scrolls by M.J Thomas

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series follows siblings Peter and Mary and their dog, Hank, as they discover ancient scrolls that transport them back to key moments in biblical history. In the first adventure in the series, Peter and Mary find themselves witnesses to the creation of the world just as God is speaking it into existence. Can they unlock the mystery of the scrolls before they get trapped in history forever?

This series was started by a Dad who was looking for books that his nine year old son could read that would teach him about the bible in a fun way. He couldn’t find any so he decided to write his own series. The books are well done and Caden talks about what he has learned with our family. There are 9 books total in this series and I am so thankful to have discovered these books.

Mac B. Kid Spy by Mac Barnett (Illustrated by Mike Lowery)

The precious Crown Jewels have been stolen, and there’s only one person who can help the Queen of England: her newest secret agent, Mac B. Mac travels around the globe in search of the stolen treasure…but will he find it in time?

These books are like gold in our house. The other kids circle around Caden so he can read them aloud to them. They love the illustrations so much, which are done by Mike Lowery who illustrates and write the Gingerbread Man Loose Series that our family loves too.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncellos Library by Chris Grabenstein

When Kyle Keeley learns that the world’s world’s most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town’s new library and is having an invitation-only lock-in on opening night, Kyle is determined to be there! But the tricky part isn’t getting into the library—it’s getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must catch every clue and solve every puzzle to find the hidden escape route!

This book was a little longer for Caden but he did great with it and enjoyed it so much. It reminded me slightly of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. If your child likes puzzles and a good adventure check out this 5 book series.

The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett

This book. We are currently reading this aloud during the day and it is so funny. I look forward to reading it just as much as the kids. It is by the same author as the Mac B. Kid Spy Series.

Miles Murphy is known for one thing and one thing only: pranking.
He’s the best prankster his school has ever seen. So when he’s forced to move to boring Yawnee Valley (also known for one thing and one thing only: cows), he assumes he’ll be the best prankster at his new school too. There’s one problem. The school already has a prankster—and he’s good. Really good.

We read it and I think I know what is going to happen and it always leaves me so surprised and laughing out loud with the kids. I would read this book even if I didn’t have kids.

I love hearing about new to me books that my kids might enjoy. If you have any please feel free to share in the comment section below.

Last week was a blur in our house. Between home schooling, a dentist appointment for me to get a crown put on, Josh’s work schedule, and watching the presidential inauguration it went by so fast.

I am feeling so hopeful for our country and Wednesday was just such a good day. We busted out our projector and watched the firework show on the wall in our bedroom. It was great.

Also all the Bernie Sanders meme’s are just making me smile so much. This one is my favorite currently.

I hope you are having a great day and thank you so much for stopping by the blog :).

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