A Day In The Life Of My ACE Student
Morning
He gets up at 7am each and every morning. We have a “Morning Routine” checklist that he goes through. He also helps his younger brother complete his routine checklist. Daily Bible reading happens before breakfast and during breakfast if needed.
After breakfast, we have a time slot for chores. He has one or two regular chores that he does depending on the day and then there are a few extras depending on what area of the house is the most neglected at that time.
There is a 30 minute outside time and then, at 9am, the children begin the “school” part of their day. The younger ones and I start on their work, while Justus tends to the tasks in ACE.
Each day, he writes out another Proverb in a separate notebook, so writing the next one is first on the list. If he hasn’t finished his personal Bible reading from before breakfast, that is completed as well.
Then, he takes out his goal card and PACEs so that he can write out his goals for the day. He looks at the pages he completed yesterday and sets his goal to complete the next four pages. At this time, he also makes sure he has fixed any errors that I found while correcting his work previously. Once all the goals are written for each subject, he brings his goal card to me to look at.
I enjoy the regular interaction with him about what he will be doing that day, asking if he has any questions before he starts and checking to make sure he is ready to start. He takes a quick bathroom break and makes sure that his water glass is full so that once he sits down, he can get completely engrossed and focused without having to get up for anything.
Periodically he will come across a place on the page that tells him to go correct his work. At the school, this is where he goes to the table where all the answer keys are stored and checks the answers against what he wrote down. He marks whatever may be wrong and goes back to his desk to correct it. At home, he comes to me and I do the checking for him. He still goes back to fix the errors and brings it back to me to make sure he understood what was wrong and so that I know he now has it right.
At the end of each PACE, there is a self-test and a test. The self-test is already figured into the daily pages and isn’t really treated any differently other than it reviews everything that he has learned in the PACE and he cannot turn back to look at the rest of the PACE to get the answers. I do correct the self-tests right away so that we can catch any issues he is having before the test.
The test, however, is treated differently. When I check his goal card in the morning, I also ask him to give me the PACEs for which he has a test that day. He does his subjects in the same order everyday (because he wants to, not because I make him) so when he gets to the PACE he has a test in, he comes to get me and lets me know that he needs the test. I try to quiz him a bit on the information and pray with him beforehand – then, he takes the test. When he is finished, he brings it to me and I try to get it corrected right away. If he gets below an 80%, ACE wants him to do the whole PACE over again. In the three years that we have been doing ACE, I only remember one PACE that he scored less than 80% and it was a 79%.
He gets a 15 minute break every hour. I use a timer set in front of him and he takes care of setting the appropriate intervals.
I do take him away from the ACE curriculum to learn some German with the rest of the kids. My husband was born and raised in Berlin, Germany and his family still lives there. My in-laws would be more than thrilled if the kids could talk to them in German. Besides, learning another language is very good for them at any age!
Lunch
Starting this year, I plan to allow him to prepare lunch. He really enjoys preparing meals for the family and lunchtime is a great outlet for that. I plan my meals weekly and, regardless of who is doing the cooking, I plan very easy meals for lunchtime. He’ll be able to just look at the menu plan and put lunch on the table. About 30 minutes before lunch, he begins the preparations.
After lunch, he does another 30 minutes of work while I put the younger ones down for a nap.
Afternoon
Then, he and I spend an hour together. We go over what he has been learning in each PACE – I quiz him on the checkups that he has already completed to make sure he is retaining the information. Sometimes, I’ll go way back to the beginning of the PACE or even to a previous PACE to see if the information is still “in there”. I have him recite the memory verses that are included in each PACE. We also pick out a section of Scripture or a written sermon and he practices his speaking skills. Sometimes, I don’t do every single one of those tasks and we play a quick card or board game. On Tuesday’s, we use that block of time for art class.
He goes off again to finish the work for the day and I make sure I have my lessons prepared for the younger ones for the next day.
After the children wake up from their naps, Justus begins a 30 minute piano practice and then it’s time for dinner chores, which include setting the table and freshening himself up for dinner and spending some time with Daddy.
Evening
We all eat dinner together, send Daddy off to Bible school and clean up the kitchen together.
Everyone goes through their bedtime routine at the same time. Once the younger ones are in bed for the night, Justus either gets some free time or he finishes up a few pages from the day’s goals.
He is in bed by 9pm to meet the recommended 10 hours of sleep each night. And, sleeps very soundly after a full, busy and happy day!
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