Another week gone by!

The LEA inspector asked me on Monday about what we do on a normal day and I realised that our days really have no regular rhythm to them; it’s the weeks that follow a pattern. I think this may be part of the reason why time is whizzing by so fast!

On Mondays we go to Mustard Seeds, except when there’s CHEF sport (once a month) or a CHEF gathering (also once a month). Tomorrow, however, we will be having a couple of CHEF friends over for a fair part of the day and if that goes well it may become a regular thing. J and K have decided that it would be fun to save up all the Sonlight science stuff and do a week’s worth in one go while their friends are here, so we’ll give that a try tomorrow 🙂
Tuesday mornings are usually free, but J has French club in the afternoon. We try to use those mornings as a chance for a little normality, doing Maths and English and catching up a bit with the Sonlight Core, but often end up doing things with people we don’t see very often because it’s our only reliably free day 🙄
On Wednesdays we go to another CHEF friend and the boys have a reading session (currently The Wind in the Willows) with one of the mums, while the other mums keep all the younger children amused. After that J and a couple of other boys do science with one of the dads while the rest of us play and chat. Wednesday is also the day that CHEF trips out often seem to be arranged, so we hardly ever get to Bouncearound, which used to be J’s favourite activity before reading mornings came along.
On Thursdays we have Parents and Tots, which is starting to be a bit of a HE haven 😉 Usually a couple of the HE parents will take the older children aside to do activities (often from SOTW) while the younger ones make the most of charging round the hall. Thursday afternoons just recently have found us doing African drama/music, but this is only for a few weeks. Then at school pick-up time we have an old school-friend of J’s round to play and to stay for tea. His little sister has just started school too, so now we tend to get her as well – certainly keeps me on my toes!
Every other Friday we have Friday Club, which takes up much of the day, as we usually all stay and eat together afterwards. In good weather this can stretch to spending much of the afternoon playing. Alternate weeks are free, which gives us another chance to catch our breath and try to do those things we’re supposed to be doing on a “normal” day.
Saturdays vary wildly from big family days out to DIY or shopping filled busy-ness to mooching around at home or wandering to the park, then Sundays are largely taken up by church, especially if I am preaching or doing Sunday School or Bob is on creche. By the time we get back home all we want to do is laze around or potter.
In between all this we try to keep a little Maths and English going each day, along with lots of reading and playing. I would love for the boys, especially J, to start doing some music and I would also love for them to be doing a bit more sport. We’re looking into Badgers/Beavers/Woodcraft Folk etc for J (and I guess K soon) and have also been looking into Jesus College Choir, as J talked recently to a boy who has been doing that for a while and loves it. It’s quite a big commitment though (2-4 evenings a week, depending on age) and there is an audition to get in…

No wonder the holidays feel easier!