I thought I’d take some time to answer some of your questions from this post. 

What curriculum do I use for Language Arts?

We don’t use one single curriculum for our entire Language Arts program. For spelling, we use Spelling Power. For Phonics we use Explode the Code. For handwriting we are currently using Handwriting Without Tears, but for cursive we use Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting. (Asa doesn’t work out of a handwriting book anymore. His handwriting is better than mine now, and he just practices it when he does normal writing assignments or writes thank you notes, etc.)  As for grammar, I decided to try my own thing this year and it is working pretty well. I’ll write a whole post about it sometime for you. (One in which you is welcome to check for grammatical errors.)  :)

What do I do for exercise and when do I do it?

I LOVE to exercise…about as much as I LOVE to walk around a shopping mall for eight hours in high heels. (I don’t own any high heels.) 

Exercise is not my favorite activity. I’d rather clean toilets. But, I know it’s good for me…so when I do discipline myself enough to exercise (and when my lungs are cooperating and allowing me to breathe like a normal person) my favorite way to exercise is on a rebounder (mini trampoline). We have one in our “game room” and I pull it down sometimes and “jog” on it after I’ve worked on the computer in the afternoons before I start dinner. Sometimes. 

I enjoy taking brisk walks too, but I really, really like the rebounder. It hurts the least of all exercise I’ve ever done….and I like doing things that don’t hurt. I’m weird like that. (Or perhaps I’m just a wimp.)

Plus, I’ve heard that the rebounder is a very healthy way to make your body work well and get rid of toxins. You can read more about that here.

I wish I could tell you that I exercise on my rebounder regularly, but I don’t. Shame on me. Feel free to leave me a guilt trip in the comments section. Does it count that I move 100 miles an hour during the day and that while the boys were learning to sew I ran constantly from boy to boy re-threading their needles? 

When do I clean?

Thankfully, I clean more regularly than I exercise. In fact, I usually work up a sweat while I clean, so I think we can call it exercise. Yes, let’s do that.

We try to reserve Friday mornings for cleaning. The boys are old enough now to really help and I’m so, so happy about that. We also try to do a “pick-up” of the house in the evenings, but seriously, by Friday morning the house looks pretty scary. 

I’m trying to figure out a better routine…and some better discplines for the boys regarding putting their stuff away when they’re done playing with it. After Christmas, I’m going to try some new things to try to keep the house organized and clean for longer than a few short hours. If/when they work, I’ll let you know. 

Okay…there you go…some answers to some of your questions. What do you do to get exercise and when do you clean? And seriously, don’t you think they are one in the same?