Week 3, Day 12 of the CrononaCrazy Day Drills

Well we took a different approach today.  Jeremy agreed to do Science and Reading with the kids when he got home so I could skip them.  YES! I sat on conference calls or online teaching most of the afternoon, so it was a welcomed break. Don't worry- the 'chore charts' from yesterday are coming into play nicely.  The deep clean of the kitchen floor was AWESOME. I was on calls and they were stripped down to their undies scrubbing the kitchen floor trying to whiten the grout?! I have fab pictures I'm sure I'll pull out and embarrass them when their older! But they're not public material, so I'll save those for family.

I kicked off today with a call at 9, so we were all up by 9:30.  I set up the outdoor tent in the basement so once again, I'm letting them sleep in a tent and long for the outdoors, with all the wonderful amenities of the indoors. 

Math was excellent today. Check out the cool video of Isaac seeing the light click on with fractions. It only took me a week to figure out how to explain and work with him on these problems. I think he might actually get it now.  Tomorrow's test over the material will be the tall-tale sign. 

Bible Time today we learned about Jonah and the Whale. I was on yet another call when they watched this lesson, so no questions or follow up today.  Maybe better luck tomorrow.

I won't bore you with what they had for lunch, but know that they helped themselves as I was working today and told them to find something. Pretty sure they had pizza rolls. LOL

Then there was our Art Pop Cupcake project. First let me say we have two weeks to complete this project so there is NO NEED to do it one sitting. But 2.5 hours later, we finished the project. Kiddos had to watch videos on pop art. Have a look. It was super interesting. I learned something myself. Then they had like a 5-question test on pop art. I think* they both passed? Then I printed off the directions for the assignment portion and they both got to work.  The practice session with the cupcakes went pretty well.  Then we started the graded assignment.  Poor Isaac just doesn't get symmetry. First you had do everything in pencil. When I looked at his first version, you could have fit the entire thing in a half of a sheet of 8.5x11. UGH.  Before he colored, I made him start over. I put a dot in the center of the page and that helped him so much. When they finished and I went to upload to their folders I see that Olivia (different grade) was suppose to do a cookie, not a cupcake. What the heck? Are you kidding me? So I wrote a love note to the Art teacher and said we worked on them together and I hope she will accept the cupcake instead of the cookie without penalty. TBD. 

Reading and Science with Dad went pretty smoothly. Only Isaac has Science right now and it's about motion. I think their video talked about rollercoasters, which was all that was needed to get sidetracked and talk about Cedar Point. Dude, he can't WAIT for the park to open. I hope he doesn't have to wait too long to go enjoy.  He talks about that place all year long. 

If anyone actually reads these blogs and has any suggestions for a reading series or books that Isaac might actually want to read, drop me a note. We haven't found something for reading that is wonderful as XtraMath has been for math. 

Week 3, Day 11 of the CrononaCrazy Day Drills

It's Monday...in every sense of the word. We set up the day and logged onto Schoology only to find the error screen. Upon some research, we weren't the only ones who were experiencing some technical difficulties. I would love to say we just rolled with the punches, but if something needed punched, it was the iPad. I have the patience of Job for the most part, but my lack of sleep must be getting the best of me. I wanted to lose it. Not to mention, when it did start and I looked at Isaac's grades on his reading assessments, I went through the roof. He's not reading the passages. He's just reading the questions and guessing. I know that because I simply asked him and he confirmed that this is indeed what he's doing. Which means I can't just let him 'do it on his own' because he won't do it. Just another frustrating part of homeschooling and working full time online teaching college kiddos and trying to do it all and not feeling like I'm really doing either to the best of my ability 😰

Bible time was David and Goliath. I was excited to listen to this one because I'm reading another book about the story in my big-kid bible study. I was excited to hear what the kiddos thought of the story.  They informed they've already watched this one, but it was so good, they watched it again.

The paw prints is an Elida thing. I read it on one of my friends Facebook pages and see that several children in the district at decorating the paw prints and putting them in the windows/doors of their homes. So I just told the kids that we were going to decorate them and put them up in the garage door window.  Below is what their final products looked like.

 The last thing we tackled today was new chore charts. I use these in the summer, so they weren't new. But the kids were excited to see them return. There is something satisfying about getting something checked off your list. This is why I do things-to-do list almost every day. When I get to scribble out something, it's a great motivator.  Apparently for my kiddos, a smiley sticker 😊 is just as motivating.

The news of today from Ohio Governor Mike Dewine was that we continue this crazy new normal for at least another month, through April 30.  I have a really bad feeling that we'll be finishing out the school year this way and starting back this summer on our early schedule as they continue to build our new elementary school.

Be sure to check out the kiddos videos at the end. Another cool idea I've read online was to have the kids keep a journal (or video journal in our case) of this history in the making. I figure I'm journaling this craziness already, I'll let them talk. Although I haven't started it yet, the goal is to take these blog posts and pictures and make scrapbook (through Snapfish) and get a copy for each of the kiddos to keep forever. The hope is to look back someday and remember all the great memories instead of the sadness and loneliness in isolation in our own house. Just trying to make the best of it!

Week 2, Day 10 of the CrononaCrazy Day Drills

Olivia asked if we could make up the schedule early last night so she could write it on the whiteboard. I told her I like having a theme on Friday.  Can you spot what she came up with? "Get Out Early Day" is what she came up with for our theme. Ok, works for me. Must have an early release program at this school on Fridays. 😂

Decided we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for Bible Time and we want to kick the day off right, so we moved it to first. Remember yesterday when I said we found a really cool series on YouTube? Well, we pulled it up again today. Today we learned about Joshua and the battle of Jericho.  I asked the kids to tell it back to me and they did!  I should ask them again in a week and see how much they remember.

XtraMath time, they disappeared again. Olivia sometimes does hers before I even get out of bed. She's on subtraction and is angered that she hasn't progressed as quickly as she did through addition.  Isaac is finishing up division, which I believe is the last section. He's only a few days away from conquering. I'm fully expecting he will graduate from XtraMath Monday, if not earlier.  

In actual Math homework assigned by their teachers, Olivia is working on three-dimensional shapes and Isaac on fractions. Math was never my strong suit, so I try to keep up on what they're learning and how to best assist them in doing the problem how they're learning at school. I adore all the memes going around on FB about teaching them how to carry the one, but in all honesty, I'm trying hard to follow the ways of the state since that is how they'll be taught to test and neither could use any more 'ways' to do it.  They just need to learn a way and stick with it, so they're not confused.

Oh the solar system or Science/Art/Music project. When you put Olivia in charge, you better believe that she's going to incorporate these subjects. She asked if I would help her learn about the solar system. Who can deny their child of this educational lesson. So first I googled YouTube to learn a song to go with the lesson. Next I googled solar system lesson plans and found this gem. I printed off worksheet and even a quiz to cap off the lesson. What kind of teacher would I be without a pop quiz?! The quiz ended with Isaac in tears because Olivia got 100% and he didn't. ugh. Next time, group quiz. 

Reading was last today. We avoid having reading after lunch. Isaac is best in the morning when his brain is focused. I hate bumping it until after lunch, but today, under the new leadership-aka Olivia- that is where it was put.  So we finished up the day with reading/spelling test/vocab and grammar tests. Neither kid was feeling it, and neither was momma. I was spent. Isaac is learning about dependent and independent clauses. YES, right down my ally.  However, my biggest problem with Schoology is that after he completes the test, he sees the score, but not the ones he has missed.  How is he suppose to know (or how is momma suppose to know) what he needs more help on?  I know most don't care, but this momma wants to help sharpen those concepts he doesn't get yet.

Added bonus today was making Banana Crumb Cake. HIGHLY recommend if you have left over ripe bananas to use up.  It was AH-mazing.

Time for early release. They're heading to maw and paws for a sleepover tonight. They're beyond excited. We've seen maw and paw every day since this entire hoopla started, so I'm not too concerned about us sharing germs. Plus it will be nice for the teacher to send the students away for an evening. 😉

Week 2, Day 9 of the CrononaCrazy Day Drills

Will we be famous? That is the question Isaac asked me when the ONU photographer left the house this afternoon.  Nope buddy...but certainly glad he could swing by and encourage you two to do dishes and laundry before he got here. LOL.  I'm not 100% what they're using the photos for, but I think it's for a story about how faculty members are trying to do it all. Yep, that sounds about right.  I was encouraged to be natural in the pics, so I wore leggings and t-shirt with hair pulled back in a bun.  I didn't do my hair or wear something nice.  I don't have time for that!


In typical fashion, I've been burning the midnight oil and didn't go to be until a little after 3 a.m.  When I woke up around 9:45, I didn't hear a peep.  NO way were they still sleeping in that teepee in the living room with the light coming through the huge windows. But they were still sleeping!!! And they slept until 10:35.  I love this.  LOVE this. Especially on a busy Thursday when I have to teach at 9:30/12/1:30/6:30


The picture with Jerm and Isaac is actually from the evening.  I didn't get to Isaac's science homework during the day, so Jerm assured me that I don't have to do everything and that I should save something for him to do with them if we don't get to it during the day.  Science and laws of motion are not attractive enough for me to move up in the schedule, so I'll gladly save them for boy time later. It ended up being something interesting to them both, but hearing Jerm fret about how they scored on the 'quiz' at the end and saying the questions were 'worded incorrectly' had me cracking up laughing in the other room.  Yep, been there, said that before.


Xtra Math is such a big deal here. Both kids seek out a quiet place in the house and do it in isolation.  Isaac frequently picks our bedroom to plug in his iPad and do his math in there.  I found him in his favorite spot again today working away.  He's almost done with division.  I'm sad that it's almost over. I need another quick daily challenge for him to complete.


The best part of my day teaching online was when I asked one of my students where she was outside- it looked like a barn.  It was a barn.  A horse barn.  Well you've heard of squirrel disease when people get off topic, but today was horse disease.  For 10 minutes we learned all the horses names and watched her feed a snack to Steel here.  Productivity in college at it's finest.

Bible time we found a series on YouTube to watch. It was so beautiful outside so we didn't get to this part until it was time for me to start dinner. While I was busy in the kitchen, the kiddos were intently watching this series. I heard some laughter and the did learn something, so I think we'll keep the series going until we are done. Each clip is about 20-23 minutes, which is perfect for the half hour time slot.

The writing letters was such a hit, the kids wanted to do it again, except this time write my granny- their great grandma. So each one wrote a practice letter before I placed lines on the inside of a blank card for them to write letters. They were so excited to write them. We missed the mail today, but tomorrow we'll stick them out there and off to grams the letters go.  Hopefully it will cheer her up to hear about their homeschool adventures.

As I said earlier, the university photographer stopped by this afternoon.  He took lots of pictures and he sent me these two below.  It's nice that I'll actually be documented as doing this. He asked questions about our schedule and what we were working on.  I *tried to explain about the several different places I had to check on their iPads to make sure they complete all their work for today.  Isaac was writing his letter during this time, so the pic with us is me asking if one of the sentences make sense (it didn't) and asking him how we could correct the sentence.

We ended with history today.  Since the teepee has officially been taken back downstairs to the toy room so I can reclaim my basement, we are done learning about Native Americans.  Today, I found a clip on the Statue of Liberty.  Since we visited there this summer, I thought it would be cool for a refresher for the kids.  They loved it.  Then I found a 20 question quiz online that I asked them to take.  They did pretty good, considering the questions didn't all pertain to the video and some they had to guess.

We ended today with a run (me)/bike ride over to maws and then back.  5.5 miles. It was beautiful outside today.  Maybe 62 degrees? It started drizzling on our way back, but we were all sweaty and it felt good.  Got home with enough time to eat dinner before capstone and PRSSA online meeting tonight. Crazy to think in a month college will be nearing the end of the semester and we will have to again adjust to a new normal. Today was certainly better than yesterday.  Here is hoping tomorrow's Friday is AMAZING.

Week 2, Day 8 of the CrononaCrazy Day Drills

At 1:30 a.m. I finished the sign. I was READY for Wednesday.  Oh, I was still up that late because at midnight both kids were whispering in the teepee and I could hear them.  I asked why they were both still awake...of course they're not tired.  Too much Agozzino night-owl instilled in them.  So naturally, I sent one for a book and the other for a flashlight.  We made hot chocolate and read bedtime stories in the teepee that is still set up in the living room.  That's got to be a record for me allowing them to sleep out there. But they've set up 'camp' and made a sign, so who wants to disrespect that? Not this momma.  You want to continue living like Native Americans and learning about their history- let's embrace it and not be a stickler on my OCD perfectly vacuumed carpet.  (I"m in a ball in the corner rocking back and forth). I'm fine.  I'm fine. 

Um, it's 12:30 a.m.

Bedtime stories in the teepee

Sign for the Teepee

#epicFail

A simple Google search will tell you that every. single. day. is some type of day.  March 25? National Waffle Day.  lol.  Ok.  I love how I thought at 9 we'd all be up and ready to conquer.  When my eyes finally looked up to glance at the time and it said 10:30, I literally sprang up.  What? I missed the bus! haha. But we're good, we just will have a 2 hour delay.  It's all good.  

called in the backup

Brunch

Yummy!

To the kitchen I went to cook brunch. Naturally I was going to make waffles from scratch. I have coconut flour and milk and thought, yum, how good would that be? Well apparently not.  I had a hot mess.  I trashed the entire batch, got out the dairy milk and real all-purpose flour and called my reinforcement- Chef Isaac and Chef Olivia. They got things under control.  Isaac even asked for seconds and ate two waffles!

Isaac Reading to Olivia

History lesson on YouTube

By the time we got started today, it was noon.  I had checked my regular school email and was overwhelmed with the day that had barely started. While working with the kids on their reading, the day turned worse. Yesterday when they did their reading by themselves, they both did one thing and didn't do all 6-7 lessons for the day.  So when today's work had 5-6 more lessons, we quickly had 1.5 hour worth of work for each kid on one subject. UGH.  

outside GoNoodle

I almost made it two weeks lol

At 1:30 when we were still working on reading/spelling/vocab, momma had a melt down.  Yep, I don't want to sit here for 1.5 hour bouncing back and forth between kids, making sure they can find the password for the app, find the right lessons, hit submit, type in the boxes, print off worksheets, enlarge videos, etc.  I HAVEN'T CHECKED MY EMAIL.  It's 1:30 and my email box from real work, the work I'm getting paid for, is overflowing. Folks from work and students are registering for summer and fall classes.  PR just switched from A&S to Business and my only other PR colleague for the past seven years left me for another cool opportunity to make the transition by myself, so oh yeah, we are interviewing via Zoom for a new faculty member in the fall.  So overwhelmed swept over me.  Solution? We moved up Bible time!  Yep. Cain and Able was today's lesson.  Try not to kill people closest to you.  Thought that was a good lesson today. BLAHAHAHAHA. 

Bike Ride to the Park

Social Distancing with friends

After we were done with school work, the sun was out and it was time to get outside.  Yesterday I ran behind them. Today I jumped on my own bike and off we went to the park.  On the way, we passed Isaac's BFF house and he happened to be outside. We talked from the street until it was time to keep moving.  Isaac was so excited to see his friend. It just warms my heart that he was able to wave and chat.  Also makes me sad that we can't have sleep overs or go on adventures until this all passes.  Both of the boys are so looking forward to Cedar Point. I hope they get to enjoy some of the season, even though it might be delayed. Right now the website says May 9, but I'm not holding my breath this won't be delayed. 

Paw and Isaac

A little backyard baseball

We called Maw and Paw to see if they wanted to join us for the bike ride.  Paw was able to join. We headed down to the park and over to the cemetery with the beautiful Serenity Garden (Isaac's favorite).  We ended the night with some backyard barbecue and some baseball action. 

Olivia's addition at end

I think Olivia might have said it best though at the end of the schedule she wrote, Crazy Day. I think the 5 hours of work that were non-stop and stressed-ridden, we were all over it.  Tomorrow is another day and hoping for a start over.  But if you remember from yesterday's post, Thursdays are my hell day, so this should be fun.  Goal is to keep the bus moving (even if it's behind schedule) and keep plugging away.  I try to remember that 'this too shall pass' but in the thick of it, some days it is overwhelming and I'm ready for everyone to graduate!