My School Week

I don't know if anyone is curious about how we do school around here, but just in case anyone was wondering, I will tell you.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are filled with school work. Ella really loves doing work books. That was the thing I hated in school, but, hey, more power to her. We have been using a Math Readiness work book. It has taught her the numbers 1-12 and how much they are. Going from that to the Clock. She can't really tell time yet, but she has the basic idea. She has learned to identify her coins. And today we started addition. She loved it. I think she is crazy for liking math so much, but I will keep that little bit of information to myself. Since she can identify all her letters pretty easily now, we do a lot of alphabet puzzles. We are also getting Olivia involved in that too. We are currently working on the sounds each letter makes. I would say she has about half of the sounds down. We are about to move on to learning to read. I will be using a book called, How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. A lot of homeschooling parents use that book for their kindergartners with much success, so we are going to give it a try.
Most of those 3 days we do a good bit of work, but we don't just sit at the table and work all day. There is time for play and in playing there is learning also. I have discovered I am not very good at coming up with lesson plans that involve every single subject, so next year, we are getting a boxed curriculum. I am very excited about it. We are going to use Calvert. It is not christian based and that is fine. I will get my own stuff for that. The reason I am going with them, is because they have everything planned out for me for the whole year. I have a lesson planner that tell me what we are going to do for that day, and I don't have to do a thing as far as planning goes. I can add to or take away what doesn't work. It also is some of the cheapest(not cheap though) I have found that gives me everything I will need for a school year. I showed Ella what we will be doing next year and she got really excited about it.
On to the other days of the week...
On Thursday, we have a playdate with some friends. They have children around Olivia's age. While it is good for Olivia to play with them, it is also good for Ella. It helps to work on her social skills. Yes, they are younger, but it still helps. We usually go to a public place to let the kids run around somewhere other than our houses. When we do that, Ella seeks out other kids close to her age. She is also getting in her P.E.
Friday is cleaning day. Ella dust! While she doesn't do the greatest job, she is learning.
This is just the very basics of our days. I know some are curious. I am curious of how other homeschooler's days go. For those that are interested in doing it for their kids, I have a bit of advice. Don't be too hard on yourself. There are many days I want to enroll her in school. We both get frustrated with each other, because she isn't getting it and I am not teaching it right. That is when we take a break. Research. Research. Research. I often find inspiration from blogs of homeschooling parents. Also, be willing to change your routine. A very scheduled day may work for you, but it may not. We have a set time that we do school. It works well for us. It works well for Ella. She likes to know what and when things are going to happen.
I have learned a lot in the past few months. I have learned a lot about myself and my child. I will take that with me through the rest of the time we homeschool. I get great joy from seeing Ella's face light up when she gets something. Her confidence in herself is building, and I get to be there while it happens. I love it!