A Day In The Life…

Today was a “typical” day around here.  A lot of people ask me how I get everything done.  Homeschooling a kindergartener, taking care of a toddler, and running a full time consulting business.  For the most part, it’s fun!  John and I have always worked together and we’re used to this.  I also rely heavily on my Evernote account with my to-do list.  It has everything for my clients, my  marketing, Luke’s schoolwork, all our projects, everything!

So here is a look at a typical day at the Sharp’s.

Kids wake up with sun.  We have toast and bananas for breakfast (and a big cup of coffee for the parents!)  I check email and online order reports for my business.  I also sneak a few minutes of reading blogs  while I finish my coffee.  Kids watch Sesame Street on Amazon.

Luke is ready to do his school work.  (He is always motivated since he earns video game time when he does good work.)  I pull out the kid’s calendar and we practice the date and days of the week.  (Saxon Math K Meeting Book)  Scarlett watches even though I’m  pretty sure she has no clue what I’m doing.  Then I grab the dry erase board and work with Luke on this week’s sight words from the Dolche sight word list.  This week the list is – be, black, brown, but, came.

Then I give him his handwriting practice sheets where I’ve pre-written the sight words and his name.  He goes to work practicing each one.

Scarlett is now loose from the highchair and playing in the floor.  John has been washing dishes and picking up and about to start studying.  It’s a nice level of controlled chaos.

I go back to my computer and review my work list.  Answer about 10 emails.  Then go to work on writing a lesson for my insurance marketing membership program.  (I teach marketing strategies to insurance agents.)  I draft the whole lesson and start editing.  Then it has to be formatted for the website, uploaded, have the links made live, tested, and published.  Plus all of the auto responders and membership levels have to be updated.   It’s a big project but I LOVE it.

Luke is back.  He’s finished his handwriting and ready to move on.  I hand him a set of number cards (1-20) and tell him to work on putting them in order.  He goes back to his bed so he can work without “the bear cub” (his sister) trying to steal the cards.

This is how the morning progresses with a few breaks for playing and more coffee.  Scarlett LOVES being read to and brings me about 4 different books through the morning and I stop and read to her.  Then she moves on to John with her book and pretends to read to her Elmo.

We’re still a little screwed up from the time change.  Everyone starts to get hungry for lunch.  After lunch, Scarlett goes to her bed for a nap.  I pull out the iPad and turn on Luke’s audio book for him to listen to.    He’s been listening to a series and on the fourth book now.  He sits quietly and finishes the book while we finish work.

I found an online quiz for the book he listened to (Magic Tree House Pirates Past Noon) and give it to him.  He got 90% right!  Then I pull out the easy reader we are working on and he practices on 13 pages out loud.  He does a wonderful job.  His reading is really beginning to “click”.

It’s now about 3:00.  We’ve finished all the school work and business work on the list.  Scarlett wakes up and we all go outside for a nice walk.  You can definitely tell Spring is on the way.  John washes the car and the kids play outside while I call one of my best friends and catch up for a while.

By 5:00 we’re back in, making dinner, and getting settled down for the evening.  Now it’s almost 8:00 and Scarlett is in bed with Luke on his way soon.  John is out for a run (he’s running over 4 miles now!) and I’m blogging.  The only thing left on my plan is to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead on Amazon and make a list for tomorrow.  :)