First day of school

School started last Thursday with most of the other public schoolers. It didn't go as smoothly as planned but it worked out well enough. Here's a peek at what we did which will be added to and altered throughout the year I'm sure. First we said the Pledge of Allegiance. (Each child will get a turn being the flag holder. Calvin doesn't like the days he's not it but he'll learn to take his turn.=) Then we had a family prayer. Then we went into storytime for the little ones.

This part is my favorite. Andrew read to Calvin and Izzy read to Alex (until she got tired and then asked Andrew to finish it off.--The plan is to switch off who reads to whom each day.) Calvin gets read to upstairs while Alex stays downstairs. (We've found that separation is best.) It's perfect! It gives my preschoolers some "being read to" time, one on one time with a sibling, and a feeling of being part of "school." The older kids get reading out loud practice and one on one sibling time. It was fun listening to Andrew that first day starting to put some feeling and different voices in the story. For me, this is my time to finish cleaning up breakfast if needed, maybe finish getting ready for school or a chance to sit and listen to my readers read. Can you see why would be my favorite time?!

After this, we find an activity for the preschoolers to do so we can keep on with school with fewer interruptions. First day of school we found that these toys didn't keep Calvin busy quite long enough for our big kid storytime, but we made it through.

We have discovered that getting the little ones outside keeps them busy a lot longer. Do you like our built in sandbox?=) It wasn't supposed to be but the kids discovered that digging down far enough in the dirt, there was nothing but sand. I absolutely LOVE our backyard. The kids go out and play like kids are supposed to.

So we got the little ones busy and started big kid storytime. One of Izzy's goals for this year is to finish our book of Fairy Tales. It's a compilation of Grimm's, Hans Christian Anderson and some others. These aren't the happy Disney versions but the kids eat them up. After we read a Fairy Tale, the kids get to pick from the narration jar how they want to narrate the story. (Examples from our narration jar: chalkboard (because we have this really cool chalkboard wall), chalkboard pictionary, paint, act it out, draw 1 picture, draw 2 pictures, playdoh, or tell it to mama. Basically they use any of these ways to tell what happened in the story.) Our first day we read Thumbelina and got to draw on the chalkboard. Alex and Calvin even got their own box for coloring.

All the extra details in this picture are hard to explain but you get the idea.=) They had fun and it's always amazing to see and hear the extra details they catch from stories. Izzy looks forward to this part of our school everyday.

These 2 kids of mine are very different. Andrew LOVES workbooks whereas Izzy can't sit still. So we're still trying to figure out the best way for her math. Right now we're getting some much needed chores done around the house while she practices her math. First day of school we needed to get stuff ready to go up and visit the grandparents. I needed to can peaches and the jars were still packaged in the garage. So, Izzy helped unwrap the jars and count them all the way up to 40 I think. Andrew then helped figure out how many more boxes we would need to purchase from the store. My next project for her to do is organize a box of pictures (from 1-375) that Calvin decided to dump out and mix up. It gets my chores done and her practice in. Andrew is still enjoying his Singapore Math workbooks and Sudoku books and any other math book he can get his hands on. I really need to practice flashcards with him to see how well he's really doing.

Last year the kids had their journals bound at Office Max but they didn't really enjoy the journaling so I wasn't going to MAKE them do it. Izzy (the one who truly hated the writing) kept asking if she could make another journal this year so I asked them both if they were interested and it was an overwhelming yes. So each day they write a journal page. Izzy only has to come up with and copy 1 simple sentence and Andrew does 2 good detailed sentences.

Also for handwriting, Andrew copies a quote from somewhere. Right now I have a book of wisdom quotes from all over that he copies. It's nothing long so it has to be neat or he gets to do it over. We follow the quality not quantity philosophy.

As for Izzy, we're working on getting her to use more lowercase letters and having them face the right direction. The past few days she's been practicing the alphabet on a plate of sugar (except for the day that Calvin was around and wanted to join so we used whipped topping.) Today I had her write her letters again in sugar and then write them on paper and already seeing massive improvements. Last year, she would've been in tears at this kind of work but she's growing up. Another reminder to me that waiting until they're ready is o.k.

So that's reading, writing and math. Posting about science, history and any other classes we decide to add will be seen later. For now, we're getting the basics down.

After our first successful day of school, the kids decided an activity was appropriate. Risk has become the new favorite game around here and what better way to study geography, practice some math, etc. (Well it's Andrew's favorite game anyway. He's figured out how to play on his own when nobody wants to sit down and play with him. I figured after our first 3 1/2 hour game they would've had enough. Nope! Everyday if I don't hear the question "Will you play Risk with me?" then something must be wrong.=) So I let the kids play while I took a much needed nap. They played 2 games for probably 4 hours total. Crazy kids but how can I complain? They're playing and learning together. I love homeschooling!!!