A Monday in the Davis House

So I (mom) decided that this week we are going to start taking advantage of this gorgeous weather and start walking in the mornings before school. Today was day number 1, and all things considered, it went really well. We only had to carry Jack 1/4th of the way home as opposed to half the way ;-) We got back home around 8 am, had a light breakfast and dove into school. Ryan and Olivia take their book baskets and flop on the floor or a couch and start in, while Alec and Jack sit at the table with Taylor and I. This works out pretty well, if you can get Jack to sit up instead of upside down! But whatever works is typically the rule here. Alec and Jack typically start with math and Tay and I work with them, then they do a subject like handwriting and this gives me a few minutes to check in with Ryan and Olivia and answer any questions they may have. Then Alec and Jack do reading and language arts, and Tay and I usually split them up for this. After they both finish their individual subjects then they come back together to do history, science, art and music. They LOVE science, and now that Alec can read just about anything, they love to attempt their experiments by themselves. They are quite funny in the kitchen getting out their supplies and talking about their experiment and why it did or didn't work out. Ryan and Olivia are pretty self learning unless there is new material being introduced in math or science. Then I prepare ahead of time and teach the new concepts to make sure they understand it. Their other subjects are pretty self explanatory and when they have a problem they come and ask and we work it out. I try to check their work as soon as they complete it. This lets me know where they are having any difficulties, and what needs to be gone over again. It is also easier for them to see their mistakes while it is fresh in their minds. We love to read and discuss anything. So we typically add a lot of reading and discussion time to history, especially. We were all done today by 12. The boys went out and started demolishing their old swing set. We are really hoping to replace it come spring. The boys had a blast using the big mallet and the ax to chop it all up. Now lets hope they picked up all the screws and bolts before Ryan mows again! Taylor and Olivia go to piano Monday's at 2pm. Their teacher is wonderful! They both love Miss Faith. They have learned so much since starting lessons again. Faith is also good for Taylor. Since she was a lot like Taylor when she was younger, she is really good at pushing Tay out of her box. For those of us that really know Tay, this is huge! We are making homemade pasta carbonara for dinner and have both our crock pots filled with apples to make applesauce and apple butter tomorrow. Ryan goes to Boy Scouts on Monday nights. He is a Star Scout and is two ranks away from his Eagle. So that about wraps up our Monday! Have a great and blessed week!