A Really Great School Day

Sometimes we have long, slow, stretchy days. 

Sometimes we have crisp, faster, more up-beat days. 

Here's an example of an extra speedy, ultra-productive day when we are feeling good and getting along, and everything flows perfectly.

We started our morning at 7:30am with Lila Down's version of La Bamba and some other songs from our repertoire. I love it when we start the day singing.

At 7:45 Lu read an Aesop's fable aloud in Spanish, and then worked on his handwriting by copying the moral of the story in cursive.

 At 8:00 we were starting our MEP worksheet,

and flew through it.

At 8:20, Lu read me two Shel Silverstein poems.

At 8:30, we got out our Glencoe Math

 and did 4 problems in our notebook.

At 8:45 Lu read silently about Orpheus and Eurydice.

 At 9:00 we took a little break.

At 9:15 Lu took this free math placement test.

We do these once in a while, when I run into a free one,

just to see where we're at (in the standardized world).

I'll skip the part about Lu having a panic attack that ended in sobbing when he couldn't do one of the problems, because he got over it and understood that tests are just to help us figure out where we need to strengthen our skill.

 At 10am I worked out the score while Lu ate an apple.

We're right on track - 4th grade, 2nd semester.

At 10:30 we played Snatch.

Lu gets tense with tests,

so a game was much needed.

At 11am, Lu read a couple more chapters from 

How To Think Like a Scientist.

Last night, Lu offered to make today's lunch on his own,

(A BIG FIRST)

so at 11:30 he was done with schoolwork 

(an hour earlier than usual)

and started cooking.

 It was his first time making rice.

He set a lovely table with white rice, 

zucchini, and eggplant.

He was very proud of his spread.

 (and I was speechless and teary) 

As soon as we were finished eating, 

friends started showing up for afternoon group activities.

I wouldn't want every day to be so speedy. We like the long, slow days too, when we get side-tracked and too caught up in discussion to see what time it is, or worry about what we need to do next. But once in a while, days like today are great for plowing through and catching up.