Kids’ clothes provided by Tea Collection.

I’m excited about this year. As crazy as things are, teaching three children different subjects and managing a two year old, I’m still looking forward to it.

We’ve changed our schedule up a little and it is really working for us. We start the morning with reading aloud. A bible chapter, a science chapter, then a chapter of our current read aloud which right now is Where the Red Fern Grows.

After reading time, I give them a short recess. I force them outside to ride bikes, run around, jump on the trampoline…whatever they can find.

Then I round them back up for table work. I bounce between all four: answering questions, cleaning up messes, putting out fires, for as long as it takes to get through math, history, English, phonics, handwriting, vocabulary and spelling. It’s the most hectic time of the day. When it’s over I just want to crash.

Luckily, it’s almost nap time at that point, right after lunch.

I get Tess settled down for her nap and while I’m laying with her I catch up on my Words With Friends games.

Meanwhile, everyone else is playing and then practicing music.

While Tess is napping I try to work on any blogging, photo editing, bill paying, online ordering or lesson planning I need to do.

On Wednesdays, we have a different schedule. Because we have music lessons that day, I only do reading aloud, then chemistry and art. It’s their favorite day. No math!

How does your school schedule look this year?

Boy’s clothing and girls’ clothes provided by Tea Collection.

I’ve struggled with what to do with science this year. We quit Jeannie Fulbright’s Anatomy after I had to read about the inner workings of the eyeball. That was it. I was done with anatomy. My kids can always pick that up in college. I was ready for a change. A friend told me about this thing called The Big Bag of Science (I ordered it from Timberdoodle). It comes with everything you need to do your experiments and a little guide book that tells you what to do and a little bit about how it works. I knew it would be supplemental, but fun.

It arrived today and the kids couldn’t wait to get started.

The first lesson was very simple. Tablets that fizz and turn colors in water. It didn’t take long and then the kids took it further by mixing the colors (which when I read ahead was actually something they were supposed to do in the next few lessons).

There was just one small problem.

The two year old LOVED chemistry. She wanted to do it all, hold it all and have it all right then.

She loved mixing.

And shaking and pouring.

And absolutely, under no circumstances wanted to be told no, or just a minute.

We finally tore ourselves away from all the learning to do our page on what we learned. Meanwhile, I sent little miss Marie Curie off to the bedroom to watch some Little Bear and decompress.

Later, I walked into my bedroom to discover the little scientist just didn’t know when to quit. My hairspray and two cups of water were on the rug in my room.

I may live to regret this science choice. It may be a bit too much spark for the two year old imagination.