Is it Spring Break yet???

These past couple of weeks have been ROUGH. Which means our wonderful routine has gone down the tubes a lot. I'm working out at the moment how to get everything back on track for this week. It's only the week--and really, only until Friday, because I will have a full house of kids that day. Then it's Spring Break. We are ALL very ready for Spring Break, but we need to go out with a bang. :)

Two weeks ago, I had at least one sick niece or nephew each day, plus my kids got sick, my 3yo niece has been sick... Then ds was still sick this past week, I was not well in the least, and the 16yo wasn't well. Very hard to think, much less plug through stuff, when you're not feeling well.

So, let me think through things here. Starting with my 3yo niece (since I tend to overlook her a lot; not fair for her):

PRACTICAL LIFE
*As much as the Swiffer Dusters suck (they do not grab the dust remotely as well as the commercials would indicate), I will invite the 3yo to dust each day with them (much easier than using a dusting cloth, I think). The entertainment equipment downstairs and the shelves can be dusted each morning, as well as the main level book case and shelving unit.
*Windows: she loves doing windows.
*Wash the table: It's been ages since I've had her clean the little table. Of course, part of that will mean I have to keep up my end of things by clearing it of my stuff and keeping it clear!
*Dry mopping with our microfibre mop.
*I'm thinking food prep would be great--maybe Friday, when everyone is here. She comes with her lunch and snacks already prepared. However, if she has something that needs to be cooked or heated, I will get her involved.

SENSORIAL
*continue bringing out different things she's already done (cylinder blocks, red rods, etc.) I'll have a look at how well she does the cylinder blocks and see if she's ready to try two at a time.
*touch tablets
*maybe put mystery bags together for Friday as some games the kids can play
*sorting grains

LANGUAGE
*"metal" insets
*I would say "speech", but she's gone back to not talking to us. *sigh*
*I have to find my sandpaper letters: I put them in storage, but have not been able to find them!

CULTURE
*land and water presentation would be good

OTHER
*paints, playdough, colouring, etc.

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This is a great starting point. Actually, if all of this got accomplished this week, that would be fantastic!


Okay, now for my 10yo:
LANGUAGE
*handwriting and copywork
*figure out a way to tie in narration, even if it's just from English things he's reading
*read to him again from Le voyage au centre de la Terre
*maybe talk to him a bit about what kinds of things kids in school are able to read and write

MATH
*He chose a multiplication workbook from a local French store. He's only doing a page a day. Part of me wants to insist on 2 pages, but that doesn't feel very Montessori. He could definitely do more, though, so maybe it's a matter of talking with him and seeing how much seems more reasonable to do.

SCIENCE

*We have a fantastic book out from the library at the moment: 

I saw it and knew it would be an immediate hit. I quietly placed it with other books in our living room and it has been a huge hit. THAT would be a fantastic thing to have him give me some narrations on that I could write down for him--especially since the book is in English and I want him to tell me about the things in French. :D We had an interesting conversation the other day: he thought the book was wrong because birds weren't in the mammals section. I think he is doing as I did as a kid: equating "mammals" with "animals". We have the classification of life poster up, but it really doesn't go into the different classifications of animals. Maybe it's time for me to find or make something for our environment.

SOCIAL STUDIES
*Um...

RELIGION
*Need to make some progress in Faith and Life! That can be read each morning at or just after breakfast.

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Okay, for 13yo dd:

Well, you know, she found a great French workbook at the store that covers a wide variety of subjects. That's her primary interest at the moment and she has spent hours on it already. She also has Life of Fred to work on, she will have some things to do for her Confirmation prep class, she's been working on some interior decorating work and decluttering and reorganizing of her room... The only other thing I can think of is to encourage her to work on art, piano... Oooh, typing! It would be good for her to have an idea just how fast she types at the moment. She really doesn't know. Oh, and I also wanted to work with her on creating a fitness plan. Soccer has been over for a few weeks now, but outdoor will be starting up again at the end of April/beginning of May (if the snow ever leaves...) and she's not really very fit. Very thin, but not fit.


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For the 16yo:

PHYSICS
*get all of unit 1 completely done: he has section quizzes to do, plus a unit assignment that will take a few days. His limit will be this week: what he does not finish, he will get 0 on. He is behind, has fallen again into "I don't feel like it".

MATH
*He has to get his current unit work and then the follow up work done. That will probably take 4 days.

ELA
*He has to get his novel study done. All of it. The novel was read ages ago, we've worked here and there on the study. He is finding it difficult to know what to say about different things. I need to get him thinking/writing daily.

SOCIAL STUDIES
*I'm going to have to figure out where he should be with this. It has been AGES since he touched it.


This gives me a great vision for the week! Yay!