{photos by Maureen Nibecker}
We haven't done one of these in awhile, but A Day in the Life is back! This time we hear from Track B mom Maureen Nibecker. She and her husband Josh, along with their kids Sean (LMS) and Caitlin (Primary), are in their 5th year at SLOCA. Sit back and read about a home day in their life! (And get some great ideas…)
I have always enjoyed “A Day in the Life” posts on the blog and so when asked to reveal a typical day, I felt it would be fun to share with you how we do our ‘crazy.’ Trying to determine a typical day was difficult because sometimes we are getting ready to go somewhere, or just getting back from a trip, have someone in town or it’s just getting back into the groove from a long weekend. I quickly realized that there is no typical day in that sense. So here is a day from my life. If it encourages you on your journey, then I have done my job.
My day begins the night before actually, as I review the grids for tomorrow, empty the dishwasher and make a checklist for Caitlin. Sean works directly off of his grid. The checklist is a guideline and not a schedule for me of ‘things to accomplish by the end of the day’ and thus my abstract random nature takes over. (Read Cynthia Tobias’s book The Way they Learn for more…) Thankfully, both of my kids are more random than sequential so this works for us. Since we just had a long weekend, we have finished Sean’s history reading last night and the literature reading last Friday.
6:00 am
I wake to my alarm and enjoy a blissful 1 hour of silence in my closet. Why the closet? Just in case they wander in my room; they can’t find me. Really. That hour sets my day’s priorities right as I read and pray. If I skip it, I feel my patience dwindling and they notice it in my attitude.
7:00 am
We make breakfast and chat about the course of the day and do a short morning devotional at the breakfast table. (A captive, hungry audience is attentive!) Caitlin recites her poem for her upcoming recitation. It’s easy for me to check because I have it pinned to my board in the kitchen. I devised it a couple years ago when thinking of ways to remember SLOCA’s character trait and latin phrase of the week, among other things. This little board has been so helpful for me: I can weave in little bits of learning at the table when we’re eating. We finish up, get ready for the day and do chores.
8:00-8:20 am
Even among my best efforts to give Caitlin some independent work (a math game of counting), she knocks three times while I have my morning meeting with Sean. Since he is in lower middle school he has become more independent, but as you will see, he still needs guidance. 
So I began devising a proactive morning meeting to review his grid with him, so we know the expectations for the day and to determine if he wants any help on anything. His main study space is in an office outside our house (with no heat), which works wonderfully for Sean, since he likes to have quiet and cool when he studies. (This idea came to me after hearing Andrew Pudewa’s lecture about boys.)
8:20-8:23 am
Caitlin and I begin with our math game, which is what she chose first off the list.
8:23-8:29 am
My friend stops by to pick up my compost and say hi. Caitlin’s feeling really frustrated but waits patiently, LYING ON THE FLOOR crying. Hmmmm, got to work on that….
8:30-8:50 am
We play and play and play her coloring math game until we finish the 100 chart. Again after Andrew Pudewa’s lecture on the difference between boys and girls, I added more color into Caitlin’s day with great success. The game we played helped her with handwriting, math facts and was just plain fun. “Do you want to keep going or are you done?” “Keep going!” I’ve tried to stop moving my kids on to ‘the next thing’ when they’re enjoying something, which is really hard for my scheduled brain but I’m learning to let them love learning. (Read Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto for this inspiration.)
8:50-9:05 am
Caitlin is pretty motivated to finish her spelling book so she can play Words With Friends (my deal with her) so she chooses spelling next, even though she did an entire step over the long weekend for fun. But the excitement ends there because she falls apart when I ask her to find the missing letter in the alphabet tiles and line them up. With her new color gel roller pens she completes the lesson with a bit of a struggle. Maybe I should have put it away and tried again later, but she had the motivation, so I continued.
9:05-9:28 am
Of course, it’s been a whole 2 hours since breakfast and she’s famished, so we head to the table with Story of the World reading. I have her narrate to me and I jot down her thoughts and prepare her copy work line so she will have something to do while I help Sean.
9:30-10:20 am
Sean has a snack and we prepare for his mock trial. This is really high level thinking for a 5th grader (and a 37 year old!) to create a defense case for Galileo on trial, so my brain is stretching quite a bit while helping him. We get down to the basic facts that need to be revealed by his questioning and I help him by talking about his created questions and ask how those help with his case. Caitlin finishes her copy work, corrects her spelling and reads independently.
10:20-11 am
I leave Sean to complete his preparation for the mock trial while I jump back inside to work with Caitlin. We cover Reading, Grammar and a Crown financial bible study. I’ve found it’s good to weave the reading lesson into a time of fun reading so we add in a little Morris the Moose, where I read all the Boris parts and she reads all the Morris parts. We are cracking up at what a goof ball Morris is. Sean works on his math.
11-11:20 am
We (Sean wandered in at this point) spent a few minutes looking through a website on bird photography, from which we were directed by a nice older gentleman in the park whom we happened upon when out for a run last week. He was photographing white tailed kites and we were curious, so we had a nice chat with him. (www.clevenash.com, if you’re curious) I realize allowing some self-directed learning in the day is essential to maintain a love for learning. (Again, Dumbing Us Down for inspiration on that one.)
Caitlin and I review Latin and she listens to the latin CD. Sean corrects his math and reads the third book in the Oz series. He settles into his favorite spot in the house for reading: his bean bag chair in his room. I email his coach about basketball practice, check Sean’s work and have a quick snack and glass of water.
11:45-12:55 pm
We head over to SLO-Op for a short bouldering session. On the way there, we talk about California geography since Daddy is on a business trip in the Bay Area. Wednesdays we usually meet my husband Josh there for lunchtime. It’s a great way for everyone to get a workout and get some interaction with another great community. Sean tackles a V4 after multiple tries and I make 2 more moves on a V2 that I’ve been working on. Climbing has really taught us to value the difficult process to success, not just getting there. (Read Mindset by Carol Dweck for this inspiration). On the way home, Caitlin starts some nonsense and I quickly turn on the classical station (thank you 99.7!) and ask her if she can figure out which 3 instruments she hears? Thinking begins, babbling stops. Whew. My brain is saved from torment.
12:55-1:15 pm
Sean practices his Latin vocabulary on the computer while Caitlin works on her treehouse project while I ready lunch. Its leftover frozen soup and I pop some blueberry muffins in the oven that I started yesterday that are for our upcoming trip to the snow.
1:15-1:40 pm
We settle into lunch as Grandma calls. We chat and eat, finish and clean up.
1:40-2:10 pm
I need a break, so everyone heads to their corners and we read quietly for a few moments.
2:10-2:20 pm
Sean and I play a quick math game together. We get ready to go to basketball practice.
2:30-3:10 pm
Drop Sean off at school and Caitlin and I head over to Fred & Betty’s for a while. We love the team there and Sarah even put Caitlin to work by coloring a sign. Volunteering with my kids kills so many birds with one stone: community building, modeling, helping our school & work development for them. Love it! Usually, we stay for an hour, but it begins to rain and we head back over to school to pick the boy up.
3:10-4 pm
We have a few moments of conversation and then do an errand. Sean reads Bedtime Math in the car. (http://bedtimemath.org/, if you’re curious. Thanks, Lisa Platt for the tip!)
4-4:30 pm
I’m catching up on kitchen stuff and planning. I also pop in the oven a loaf of bread I started yesterday.
4:30-5 pm
Head out to the garage to read while riding the spin bike.
5-5:45 pm
I prep dinner (taco salad) and prep lunch for tomorrow as well as breakfast. Caitlin and Sean take showers and do their pre-dinner chores then get to watch more Robin Hood. (We’re still stuck in Medieval times!)
5:45-6 pm
Shower
6-6:45 pm
Dinner is served as a family and we clean up. Sean dries and Caitlin is on table and floor duty.
6:45-7:45 pm
Now comes one of the most fun and relaxing parts of my day. Josh reads to us as we all snuggle on the couch. It took me a while to enjoy this, instead of thinking of everything else I have to do, but now… aaaah. Right now we’re into I Dared to Call Him Father about a woman in Pakistan with an amazing story.
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The homeschool closet. Everyone's got one and this is mine where all the homeschool stuff multiplies & takes over. |
8 pm
Bedtime for kids and I catch up on email and planning for the next day!
Truly, “semper discentes’ describes my continued pursuit to perfect my craft of teaching, parenting and growing. Perhaps this is what keeps me engaged in the SLOCA life more than anything… it’s a giant ever-changing puzzle that keeps me humbly placing one foot in front of the other on a marathon that we call parenting.
Thank you so much, Maureen, for taking the time to document all of this amidst everything else in your busy day. These glimpses into each other's lives are so very encouraging and relatable! It's wonderful to be part of this growth-minded, purposeful community.
