A Week in the Life of Jaden!

Welcome to the new "A Day in the Life" series! This weekly string of blog posts will feature individuals or families here on the Big Island, describing what "a day in the life" (or a week!) of a homeschooler is like. Our second post is called, "A Week in the Life of Jaden," and is written by his Mama. 

A Week In the Life of Jaden

Hello everyone,

Sally asked me to write up a little blog about our typical week in the life of an 8 year old boy's homeschool life.We are a part of a coop - Aloha Coop, where different parents on different days and times hold various classes.

On Monday Jaden goes to Literature club where they are reading The Magic Tree House series.  They get spelling words to practice and sometimes vocabulary words.
Jaden has really started to improve with his reading skills just in the last couple months or so.

Jaden also takes piano lessons on Mondays from his daddy and then practices throughout the week.

On Tuesday he has a math and geography class where they are learning fractions, multiplication tables and carry over addition and subtraction.  They play learning games and have a fun time.  He loves math and recently asked me for a 2nd grade math book that he can write in.  So, the next time we are in Wal-mart or Target off to the learning book section we will go.

Science experiment. A baggie full of water with 10 pencils poked through it
and no spill! Magic!

We are currently studying the Solar System for geography this semester.  After class the kids play for an hour or so before pick up time.
Tues. evening Jaden goes to Gymnastics class in Hilo.
On Wed. he goes to Half and Half class where they spend half of the time doing tumbling and motor skill activities and the other half reading stories out loud.
Jaden is really into tumbling and gymnastics these days.

On Thursday I teach a Fun With Basics class at my home.  We are studying about the Solar System so we hypothesis about each planet, have vocabulary words, science experiments, art, music etc.
It lasts about 2 to 21/2 hours then the kids play for 1/2 hour to 1 hour before pick up.
Jaden has violin lesson in Kea'au at 3:00 on Thursday's and then we drive into Hilo for Gymnastics.

Feeling proud with his violin

On Friday's they were doing Kung Fu followed by Drama club but Jaden has not been interested in that so he and his Daddy do various things.
Find a friend to play with.  Do science experiments or art projects.  Go ride their bikes.  It's an open day at this time.
Saturdays Jaden has Gymnastics in Hilo then we either run errands, go to the library and/or go to Imiloa Astronomy center.
During the evenings we practice violin, listen to violin music or our solar system music while we have dinner.  Then we draw, read, play a learning game online or watch a movie.  I follow his interests here.
This week when we went to the library Jaden said "I want to have some books about wars with pictures."  I asked him "what type of war?"  He said "Like the Revolutionary War."  So off to find these books with pictures we did.
He also loves Garfield comics, joke books and anything Star Wars or Harry Potter.
We generally try to follow his lead and expose him to things he wants to learn about.

Structured class time is very minimal to the amount of imaginary play time that he has.

We also go to Imiloa Astronomy Center a couple times a month to see the shows that they have there.  Family memberships are a good price $85 for a year.  Go for free and see the shows for free any time they are open.

Sunday is chore and market day.
Jaden is a very busy 8 year old with lots of socialization and lots of activities to keep him engaged and learning. He loves being homeschooled.  Just ask him he'll be happy to tell you himself since he is very expressive.
Happy Learning,
Rachelle

Thank you Rachelle and Jaden for sharing your week with us! Your passion for homeschooling and spending time learning together is apparent!