"What do you do the rest of the day?"
"Uh...." Maybe it was because I was slightly distracted with pain at that very moment, but I stuttered and stammered. He caught me off guard.
"Do they watch TV?"
I lamely mentioned something about involving them in what I do, playing puzzles and games, and that they don't watch much TV. I lay on that table thinking that we are always busy, but I can't think of one good example of something we do in a typical day.
The purpose of this post is to prove to myself that we don't lay around all the time.
I was happy to find a game that we can all play together...and Thing2 can be on his own team! Bunny Money is a game Marmee gave to us when she was cleaning out her old school room.
It is a very simple Monopoly-ish game with a Max and Ruby theme. All you have to do is roll dice, move the rolled number of spaces, and follow the space's instructions.
Object: To buy everything on your shopping list. Who knew it would be so much fun to have your own shopping list and your own money!
For simplicity's sake (and so Thing2 could be on his own team), we eliminated the $5 bills and only played with $1 bills. This allowed Thing2 to count out his own money. After the third time we played the game, he was recognizing the numbers 1 and 2 so he didn't have to ask me how much to pay.
Did I mention we played the game three times in two days?
Back to the chiropractor...What should I say when someone asks me what we do all day? We live. We do chores. We play. Good grief; the boys are only 5 and 3. What else should they be doing all day? I don't want to sound sarcastic because I know he was just curious, but the answer seems so obvious to me that any reply I think of sounds smart-aleck.
If anyone reads this, I am open for input!
Linked with Hip Homeschool Hop
9 comments:
I've been homeschooling for over 12 years, and I would have choked as well. Hmmm, what do we do all day? We live life! Perhaps, We make sure to enrich our everyday activities with learning opportunities! There that doesn't say much, but might be high-flutin enough to put an end to questions like that!
I usually say something like, "We experience life...you know, they go to the store with me and help get the groceries. We talk about the price of various items. They talk to the clerks, etc. They may not be having a formal sit down math lesson but they learn math and economics at the store. They also learn social skills at the store. Other days we go to the library or take field trips. We visit with friends. The kids play board games, draw, do crafts, etc. We actually are so busy all the time that I couldn't distill it down into just a few sentences for you. Think of it this way, no matter what you are doing, you are learning."
Or at least that is how I usually respond. :)
Here from the HHH.
I have been asked this question by my family more than once. My response has been...we learn.
"Yes," they reply, "but what do you do."
I have always been struck by this response. As if learning happens by osmosis. I think I want a t-shirt that says:
We learn.
Who learns?
we-subject pronoun
What is being said about we?
learn-VERB!!!!!!!!!
Period - Statement- Declarative sentence.
Then again, I may have been doing Shurley English too much! ;)
I love the responses you got! I need to remember them the next time someone tries to corner me with a question like that. Your kiddos are so little, do people actually expect them to be sitting still all day? They are little boys! They aren't wired that way. My boys are much older than yours and I still don't make them sit in a chair all day and do workbooks. It would torture me and them, lol! :-)
Coming over to visit from the HHH. Hope you have a great rest of your week!
Many blessings,
Lisa
I'm a talker. When I get asked what we do all day, well, I think they usually wish they HADN'T asked! LOL I can talk their ear off about what we do (and not just the "real" school most are looking for). I haven't been caught off guard yet, but there's always a first time, right? The game looks AWESOME! Hoppin' in from HHH!
This question always made me madder than a wet hen! You are the keeper of the home which involves training your children, supporting your husband and taking care of their everyday needs.(which you do quite well I might add) But, one thing I learned over the years is that men even good ones do not think the way we do sooo they need a technical answer that they can understand. For example, " What do you do all day?" First we begin our day with lessons in self discipline by implementing chores and learning teamwork through the chore system. Then we have one hour of technical learning involving the child with the alphabet, numbers and of course, sequencing. Teamwork is integrated throughout the day as thing one and thing two must learn to share and get along with each other, etc, etc, etc. I wish I had a $1 for every time i was asked, What do I do? The most satisfying answer to me, though, has been - I am doing what God has required me to do to serve Him and give Him glory. I can live with that no matter who asks me.
I love how they learn in church when they are holding a hymnal, listening for the called song and find the song numbered from 1 to 400! What a great activity. And don!t under estimate the skill of sitting through a sermon or two! Especially as they get older and begin to gradually increase their attention span. Poppy!s tradition of asking each child to tell something they heard the preacher say during Monday morning devotion. That served at a subtle incentive to remember a story or analogy that was used in the sermon! Who said school occurs only from 8:00-3:00 Monday thru Friday! Thanks for letting me ramble along with you!
Ohh those questions make me crazy. But what it really makes me think.......these are people who are asking what I do with my kids all day. Do they not know what to do with kids? You play, you learn, you experience. They are kids. They learn by doing, by watching, by being involved. It makes me sad because so many adults have no idea how to interact with kids. That's the first thought that crosses my mind....
And the other comments are so true. We learn and enjoy! And yes, even as homeschoolers, we can play and relax, just like any other family.
PLAY! Definitely the littles need more playtime than anything else. For us the answer would be school, chores, reading, playing, outings, just normal stuff :)
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