Getting the day started

[ClassicalTwins]

We are going to start back up in about a week. How do you start your day (no chore time), but get the sit down and do work time. 7 year old twin boys..who are very active little guys.

 

Trying to establish a routine to reduce resistance :glare:

[Food4Thought]

We get up, eat breakfast, then do the seat work part of school (math, writing, misc. worksheets) first thing while we're still at the table. Even before getting dressed most days. The sooner it's done, the sooner we move on to better things (aka science, read-alouds, and the stuff he actually likes).

[NanceXToo]

We almost always start with me reading aloud to my daughter while she eats her breakfast. She loves that.

[Faithr]

We do the same thing! I read aloud during breakfast and then we quickly whisk the dishes into the sink and start in on seatwork stuff. I found that if I stop to anything else, like wash the dishes, make a phone call, whatever, the kids would quickly wander off and then it was much harder to get them back and in the mood to cooperate. So I clean the breakfast dishes while making lunch instead, by that time we've got the bulk or all of the focused seatwork over. Then it's on to read alouds, projects, errands, play etc.

[ClassicalTwins]

Great suggestions...keep them coming!!

[Amber in AUS]

After breakfast and everyone is dressed, chores done we sit down and read a virtue for the day. We discuss it a little and then we sing a few songs (latin or nursery rhymes or from our song book). After that we sit at the table for maths and everyone is in school mode. When we head straight for maths we crash and burn, it is almost like they need that warm up time.

[Soror]

We start with readaloud as well, it helps get him in the mode for sitting and calming down.

[Wendy Inman]

We start our school time by going outside for what we call our morning greeting. We say a little "good morning to the glad new day" poem. We check our garden plants. Alex will then swing or rock in his rocking chair while we go over oral spelling review, poetry memorization review, sometimes math facts. Then we head in for seatwork. It seems to get the wiggles out before it is time to start the sitting part.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

We are going to start back up in about a week. How do you start your day (no chore time), but get the sit down and do work time. 7 year old twin boys..who are very active little guys.

 

Trying to establish a routine to reduce resistance :glare:

 

 

I do not allow any electronics before school, I found this helps a lot.

I actually read aloud during breakfast, so we naturally move from there to schoolwork.

[KJsMom]

We shower and get dressed before breakfast to prevent dawdling, and then start school as soon as breakfast is over.

[MamaT]

We do Bible, memory work, and read aloud all together cuddled up on the couch. After that, everyone starts on math.

[kathkath]

My kids have dishpans which hold 3 independent activities (I have preschoolers, and even the 18mo does this). Kids clear dishes, clean their spots, get started on their activities. DH and I finish up breakfast dishes/tidying during this time. It helps that we do this the same way every day so they all know the drill. Keeps them busy while I finish, and there's no lag time.

[ClassicalTwins]

We start our school time by going outside for what we call our morning greeting. We say a little "good morning to the glad new day" poem. We check our garden plants. Alex will then swing or rock in his rocking chair while we go over oral spelling review, poetry memorization review, sometimes math facts. Then we head in for seatwork. It seems to get the wiggles out before it is time to start the sitting part.

 

 

Get the wiggles out....you hit it right on! I need a way thats gets them to switch on the learning brain and turn off the play only brain...or at least more learning less play. I did introduce read alouds during the bath time at night, so they are getting "tricked" into school....:D. So the sitting on a swing thing may be another route.

[melissel]

Get the wiggles out....you hit it right on! I need a way thats gets them to switch on the learning brain and turn off the play only brain...or at least more learning less play. I did introduce read alouds during the bath time at night, so they are getting "tricked" into school....:D. So the sitting on a swing thing may be another route.

 

I've heard (but have not needed to do this yet, so I can't speak directly to it) that some people need to let their kids do some significant physical activity before they can manage to settle down to schoolwork. I've read about treadmill or trampoline time, running laps around the house or yard, etc. Maybe you'd need to start your day that way if they're super wiggly?

[hsmom27]

I've got 8yo twin boys. It doesn't get any better!:tongue_smilie:I also have a preschooler, toddler and baby. We get up early and take the dogs for a ~3mile hike. Then the kids do chores while I make breakfast. After breakfast everyone is more than happy to focus on seat work or sit around and read. And the crazy dogs are ready to lay around and nap too!

[Alicia64]

I have just turned 7 year old twin boys too -- we should keep in touch.

 

I found that every Monday and, often, Tues. was a major battle to get back in the groove of hs. What I decided to do that really works will make me sound like an ogre and I'm totally not. . .

 

but I hs 7 days a week. But on Sat. and Sun. I do a MUCH shorter version. Just enough so that they don't lose the rhythm of sitting down, picking up a pencil, opening their math book -- that kind of thing. Then maybe they do a whole 5 math problems tops.

 

I also include a little from their spelling book. And, of course, practice our reading aloud.

 

The idea behind this idea isn't to actually get a ton done, only to keep them in a groove.

 

And -- unbelievably -- they've responded really, really well. The fussing has gone away. And, no, I'm not kidding.

 

I've been doing it for about 2 months now.

 

Alley

[MtnTeaching]

I second (or third) getting the wiggles out! We eat breakfast then head right out for a brisk walk or bike ride. I find that not only the kids do a better job of focusing after fresh air and blood circulating, but I feel much sharper and ready for the day. ( When the weather's bad, we have a treadmill and a stationary bike in the basement.)

 

We've found, though, that this only works if we get a really early start on the day. Otherwise, we wind up finishing the day pretty late. The good thing is that if we do get some exercise, we focus and zip through the work at a much faster pace than if we don't.

[naturelovinmama]

We have no electronics too until school is done, so my ds 7 and daughter 14 ask me--"When Can I start school?" every day. With two the same age, it must be much harder. We also do read-aloud while he's eating breakfast. It's easier to get him to sit. We try to do the subjects in the same order every day, and he likes me to stick to it. That way he knows when he's almost finished. And our neighbors were out walking or bike riding first thing every day. I tend to stay in my pajamas until 1pm or so, so I'm not sure if I'm ready for that, but thinking about doing it when we start back up in order to help him focus better.

[Soror]

I have just turned 7 year old twin boys too -- we should keep in touch.

 

I found that every Monday and, often, Tues. was a major battle to get back in the groove of hs. What I decided to do that really works will make me sound like an ogre and I'm totally not. . .

 

but I hs 7 days a week. But on Sat. and Sun. I do a MUCH shorter version. Just enough so that they don't lose the rhythm of sitting down, picking up a pencil, opening their math book -- that kind of thing. Then maybe they do a whole 5 math problems tops.

 

I also include a little from their spelling book. And, of course, practice our reading aloud.

 

The idea behind this idea isn't to actually get a ton done, only to keep them in a groove.

 

And -- unbelievably -- they've responded really, really well. The fussing has gone away. And, no, I'm not kidding.

 

I've been doing it for about 2 months now.

 

Alley

 

I don't think that sounds mean at all, but likely helpful. I try to keep a routine while on weekends for my own peace of mind, but haven't included schooling in that. I have been trying to use Sat mornings to get the house back in order instead.

[ClassicalTwins]

I have just turned 7 year old twin boys too -- we should keep in touch.

 

I found that every Monday and, often, Tues. was a major battle to get back in the groove of hs. What I decided to do that really works will make me sound like an ogre and I'm totally not. . .

 

but I hs 7 days a week. But on Sat. and Sun. I do a MUCH shorter version. Just enough so that they don't lose the rhythm of sitting down, picking up a pencil, opening their math book -- that kind of thing. Then maybe they do a whole 5 math problems tops.

 

I also include a little from their spelling book. And, of course, practice our reading aloud.

 

The idea behind this idea isn't to actually get a ton done, only to keep them in a groove.

 

And -- unbelievably -- they've responded really, really well. The fussing has gone away. And, no, I'm not kidding.

 

I've been doing it for about 2 months now.

 

Alley

Thats a good idea, may not work for us every week, but most of them. We must keep in touch

[creekmom]

We start the day on the couch with a devotion/prayer. Next, we go to the school room, and the kids work quietly on "seatwork" while I read a story to them. Seatwork varies each day- sometimes it's a journal entry, other days it's copywork. This past year we studied the states, so a couple times a week the kids copied the information about the state we were studying into their state notebook and worked on the state maze while I read aloud. Sometimes seatwork is a "word for the day". I pick a word from the Vocabulary Cartoons book and write the word and a sentence that uses the word on the board. They try to guess the meaning of the word and tell me the part of speech by looking at the sentence. They copy word/part of speech/definition and own original sentence in their notebooks. When we were studying the Presidents, sometimes seatwork consisted of writing down important information about the President and gluing his picture in their notebooks.

[Chris in VA]

We used to start with a devotion, but then we switched to starting with math most days.

Now we start with breakfast, and shower/pack lunch/scoot out the door.

 

I'd rather start with math at home than driving to school!

[Hedgehogs4]

I do not allow any electronics before school, I found this helps a lot.

I actually read aloud during breakfast, so we naturally move from there to schoolwork.

 

:iagree: on the electronics part. after b-fast we read aloud. i used to read devotions during b-fast but for some reason that isn't what we do anymore...don't know why, just isn't. maybe because I'm eating too??? anyway, it's b-fast, then downstairs to do our devotions and read alouds for the day, then to seat work from there.

[Celia]

We start at the piano! I play and we sing a song out of their Sunday School hymn book.

[FO4UR]

My ds7 starts his seatwork with me every day at 9am. This gives him time to eat, get dressed and play for a while before sitting down. (Sometimes children need to PLAY before they can concentrate. He will probably be the type who needs to work out in the am as an adult. LOL)

 

I am pretty strict about the 9am start time. He is free to run along and play at 10am, but if he's late or wastes my time during lessons he loses playtime in the afternoon to making up his work... He starts back at 11am and is done by noon. I work with my 5yo and read to my 4yo while he's playing before 9am and from 10am-11am, and remain fairly inflexible on those time frames. Otherwise, I could spend the entire morning waiting for him to get out of the bathroom, get another drink of water, another snack, and entertaining questions that have nothing to do with the lesson at hand...and that isn't fair to my other 2 dc.

 

Playtime is the big motivator here...I assure ds7 that best way to get the maximum amount of playtime is to focus and work with a happy heart while mommy is sitting with him. If he chooses to waste school-time, I make sure to get the mommy-intensive things done in the allotted time and leave the things he can do by himself for later...when he has to sit and realize that he could have been playing if he'd only obeyed. As much as possible, I put the responsibility and consequences on his shoulders.

 

This is still a work in progress...on bad days I threaten to give him Daddy as a substitute teacher.:lol: On really bad days, I follow through with that threat and then he thinks I'm the greatest teacher EVER.:lol:

[delaney]

I really like to start with memory work and the girls have made it into a game. Maybe make it a more active game with your 2? Throw in some movement when they get the answer right? My 2 little ladies are fine with traditional sitting to get their stuff done because they were in PS up until this year. I see that they are moving away from the table for more and more as we progress.

[Mom0012]

I wake my kids up around 7:30 and then I usually work with my son for 30 minutes to an hour going over his work from the day before and then covering new material while my daughter practices the piano and does her math fact software and then reads for awhile if she has time. Then my son goes off and works on his stuff and I spend one-on-one time with my daughter.

 

My kids have just turned 11 and 9, but this is how we've been doing things for the last few years.

 

Lisa

[Mandy in TN]

Begin fast and fun.

We start the day with memory cards and poetry.

 

Keep them moving. Keep the lessons short.

For example- move from the bedroom (memory work), to the gameroom (science), to the living room (math), to the kitchen (history and snack), etc.

 

Continue working while they snack.

Move to the kitchen for snack time, but bring the history book to the table and read aloud while they eat.

 

Get huge flash cards to use while they jump on the trampoline.

We used the CLE flashcards. They are made for a classroom, so they were big enough to be seen while the little man jumped. I have a friends who have mini-tramps and bouncy balls inside their homes.

 

Divide and conquer.

Put one on the couch and one at the kitchen table. Even though you will have to go back and forth, this will be faster on days when they just can't stop touching each other.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[ereks mom]

they play a quick game together or do some kind of word/logic puzzle. Sometimes I play too. I pick games that play quickly. A few of their favorite games are:

 

Scrabble Slam

 

Connect 4

 

Boggle

 

Blink

 

Mancala

 

Swap

[mommyto4]

We read our Bible story near the end of breakfast and then pray together. Then I herd the two older boys to the schoolroom to start on their handwriting, math, and language arts. The two little ones go to find some toys.

They don't get dressed until later. I find if they get a taste of playing with their toys, I've lost them for the day!!!