new normal

Wow. Here we are. Week 1.

It went as well as it could, I suppose. Which says a lot.

The kids are home. Gabby and Penni are holding down the fort while Jason and I work. Jason is still going in every day. I went in Tuesday and Thursday but I’m not sure how long that will last. I think I’m nearing 100% WFH now.

Right away on Monday we dove into our weekly schedule and we were able to keep it up through the week. Very quickly the kids understood their schedule and their willingness to follow it said a lot to me about it’s value. In fact, Gabby asked if we could take our 2 hrs of Free Choice and add more structure so the kids now have options to do some video time focused on yoga, wildlife with the Cincinnati zoo, or story book read alouds. Later in the week I made mention of not being in school and one of the kids commented that the have school but it’s at home. We’ll keep at it.

Each morning kicks off with independent reading time and, afterward, the kids take turns reading books aloud to the group.

After reading we have 45 min of STEM time which is intended as building play with legos, magnatiles, marble runs, etc. That seems to work well, too. I was wondering if SSA would get bored of that as a daily activity but so far, so good!

After STEM time is a snack and then recess. On Monday and Wednesdays, Gabby has a class from 11am- 12:20 so I’m on point from about 10:45am- 12:30pm which works well, based on the activities planned.

Morning “recess” is going well. I wasn’t sure if they’d like the required outside time but, again, no complaints. They’re used to recess at school and seemed to slide right into it at home. It’s hard to be stuck here. They need to get outside. (Thank goodness it’s not January.)

One of the favorite times of the day is eLearning time. The kids all rotate through online learning programs provided by their school. One is math based and one is reading based. During this 90 minute block they also eat lunch, do their writing workshop and, at their request, work on some math worksheets (also provided by their school).

Here are some writing workshop sheets from Monday. (Which reminds me that I need some new options for this week! We have “This weekend I…”, “I like…”, “I love to…”, “I am happy when…” and one more that I can’t remember at this moment.)

Most of Amaya’s have been about Amie and Krystal from Lego Masters. Here’s a rare one about something else.

Steven

Sammy (“Is Queem” <3)

So Monday started well and ended well, but it’s still a lot of change. I’m trying to give lots and lots of extra hugs and as much emotional support as possible. I’m trying to find a balance between routine and structure and “business as usual” and understanding that this is anything but business as usual.

Tuesday I went into the office while Penni was with the kids. I don’t know how long I’ll go in but it’s literally a situation where I sat in my office with the door closed and took every call from my office. So it’s a change of scenery but certainly not different from working from home and I expect we’re about to be full work from home with about 80% of people already there.

I love that Amaya has Home School Style.

During STEM time, Penni worked with the kids on their KiwiCo kits from Grandma Sunshine. They were a great way to spend time and the projects were awesome.

Steven made a manual sweeper. It works!

Sammy made a marble timer.

Amaya made a working lantern!

I forgot to mention that we have Specials on the calendar. This is what the kids’ school refers to as their out of classroom classes like French, Art, Music, etc.

On Tuesday, Amaya led music class. First she led them in a couple of songs and then they took turns trying to make up a song together.

Afternoon recess seems to be focused around bike & scooter rides. Again, saving grace that it’s not the dead of winter.

All Hail Mo!! Mo Willems was such a godsend this week. He’s doing daily weekday Doodles with Mo on YouTube and they’re awesome. For me, he’s an amazing blend of Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross. We already love his books (especially ones that feature Piggy & Gerald) so this is a perfect afternoon activity.

I love that Steven, Sammy and Amaya are still innocent enough to show their artwork to Mo when he asks.

Here are drawings of a creature with a lot of legs.

Steven

Sammy

Amaya

And the kids’ interpretations of Gerald!

The OG.

What day is it? Oh, Wednesday. It’s going to be hard to keep track, soon, I think.

Sammy at writing workshop.

For their math activity, they had to find circular objects in the house, draw them, and then count them. The kids got really creative! Shower heads, screws on light plates, the bun in Amaya’s hair.

Very little tops their Dreambox and Raz-Kids time.

Amaya wanted to stay in her footie PJs for the day so she shoved her feet in rain boots and made it work.

Thursday, rinse, repeat. For STEM time, the kids made these cool Lego bracelets I got for them based on this new Dots line that Jason found.

Cosmic Kids Yoga is the best! The kids did yoga with Trolls and friends from Frozen. I hear there’s Minecraft, too.

We’re still reading. Though the schedule for bedtime books has been off a bit this week between weird schedules and Mo Willems. I want to get back to it regularly. I think I like consistency as much as the kids do.

Amaya’s favorite camp counselor, CC, was supposed to come on Friday morning until Gabby was done with class but she canceled last minute so I worked my work around the kids. While I was busy, they used their independent reading time to play Sight Word Swat. I love it!!

Steven wanted me to see everything they were doing with Magnatiles but I was working so he took my phone and brought me photos.

The kids have these star machines and I was doing a shadow animal show on the ceiling. Steven, in particular, thought it was hysterical.

We had a quiet, schedule free weekend. I worked most of it. Jason held down the fort an exercised. The kids got out today but yesterday was just a needed lazy day.

Amaya made a sign to cheer me on for my game of Scrabble Jr. with Steven. Loving the bubble letters!