31 August 2010

There was Bach... and it was better

The second day of school went MUCH better than the first. The kids knew what to expect, the waffles were not black, the three-year old kept it together -for the most part, and all went smoothly.

We still finished quickly -- about an hour or so. We're starting with Bible and memory verses during breakfast, then on to handwriting for Annalivia and letter-learning for Daniel. Then math and reading practice for Annalivia followed by read-alouds for everyone. Right now math is simplified -- just practicing writing numbers; tomorrow I'll add the full program, which I hope will be a little interesting to Daniel, too, so I expect it will get a little longer. Once I become more familiar with our spelling program, I'll add it to the mix, too. And our read-alouds may get longer, too, though right now we are reading ahead due to popular demand, so it may not add much time. Art is in the afternoon. I'm hoping to add piano after Christmas.

I was kind of concerned by how quickly everything goes, but if Annalivia was going to kindergarten, she'd be there for about 3 hours and couldn't possibly be doing academics all of that time. Things will get a little more intense, I guess, but for now the schedule is nice and easy. If we start by 8ish, we are finishing up by 9:30 or so which means my niece, who comes to visit in the mornings, gets in on some read-alouds and then we are done.

I like it.

4 comments:

~liz said...

i love classical music and have it on frequently, but i do not know my composers that well. i can pick out vivaldi as baroque has a unique sound...BUT...can you give me a few suggestions on what to play in the background? what bach is good for art time? handwriting practice? drawing/painting? :)

April said...

Liz... Are you able to get Pandora on a computer...or your phone? If so, I'd suggest creating a Bach radio station. That's what I play a lot of the time. The composers are usually Baroque, but they add in Mozart and some other Classical-era composers, too. It would be a good way to see what/ who you like.

I really like Baroque music, so we listen to it a lot. I leave it on a lot of the time at a low level, including when it may better to have silence. My kids are such noisemakers, though -- if there's not something in the background, they'll create it themselves! So, I played it after breakfast and through all of school. We do reading on the couch and I leave the music on in the other room. I may have to turn it off for real math class, but maybe not. I might just turn it down.

I also like to use Pandora for other composers, though I find it a hit and miss for the Romantics -- they tend to mix in everything. But it's a good starting point.

Does that help at all?

~liz said...

pandora! of course! that helps a lot, thanks! last year, i had the brandenburg concertos playing constantly. so it reminds me of colder weather. :) i'll use pandor for grammar before lunch today!

Lil said...

I'm glad it's going so well!