Harrison - 7 years old
Jackson - 4 years old
am i blessed or what??? i get to spend EVERY day with these cuties! :)
TODAY was our FIRST day of home school! to say i haven't fretted, worried, or stressed about this day would be an understatement. i did, however, spend MUCH of the summer in denial. it's how i cope. when people would ask me if i was ready or planning or thinking about the upcoming home school adventure i would just say NO. i truly did try to keep from thinking about it. there would be times i would catch myself and then i would just have to STOP. i had all of my curriculum ordered and ready and there just wasn't any use in thinking about something i couldn't start for months. too much stress for this brain! :)
well, finally...the summer had come to the end for us and August 24th was the 'day' i had set aside to begin. the Lord allowed me to come down with a stomach bug over the weekend which kept me from worrying about today. i'm trying to think of that as a blessing. :) especially after today...THE DAY...where i realized there was nothing to be worried about!
it was GREAT!!! Harrison LOVED it which was surprising to me. i thought it may take him a while to warm up to it. i wondered if he would miss the big classroom environment. he may still, i guess. it's early. but today was wonderful! he was excited, i was excited, and it was just what i needed...to see that spark in his eye again about learning. he had lost it last year. i saw excitement in his eyes today and an eagerness to learn and do his best. what a blessing! he kept saying how FUN it was and how much he LOVED it. (i'm writing this all down so i can remind him when he decides he'd rather NOT do school) :) and the best part of all you may want to know???? do you want to know??? huh??? :)
we started at 9am and we were finished at 10:45!!! he kept saying, "we're done? we're really done"? i had saved his reading for after lunch but he and i decided that since we were ALREADY done we would go ahead and do it then. he was playing by 11:15am and we were out the door at 12pm so i could run at the YMCA. in the future it may take a little longer and we'll probably save his reading, awana memorization, and a novel that i will read to him until after lunch. STILL...a GREAT start i think! and it felt like we had our whole day left...to do whatever. so strange. tonight we celebrated our big day with a yummy Jason's Deli dinner!
in case you are interested, here is what we'll be working on this year. most of our curriculum is based on suggestions from The Well Trained Mind with a few variations:
Bible: Proverbs, Character Training, Bible Stories, AWANA memorization
Math: Right Start Math
Spelling Workout
Handwriting: Cursive - Zaner Bloser
Copy Work/Dictation
Phonics: The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading
Grammar: First Language Lessons
History: Story of the World - The Middle Ages (includes projects and map work)
Science: Fall - Exploring Creation through Astronomy (includes projects); Spring - Earth Science; Mudpies to Magnets - Science for Young Children (experiments)
Writing: Just Write, letters to Family & Friends
Reading: read aloud 20 minutes per day - chapter books; i will read aloud each day a couple chapters from classic novels we choose for the year; additional reading from library books about History and Science topics we are studying for the week.
Music: Music Ace & Piano Lessons
Arts and Crafts
Generations/Legacy Co-Op
Field Trips
Jackson will be working on your typical preschool things...letters, numbers, learning to write, starting phonics, learning to read and whatever else he's willing to participate in between play times! :)
we won't do all of this every day. some of it yes, and some of it is only 2x a week or less. it's divided out based on how many lessons are in the book. i'm thrilled with what we're going to be learning and very excited about the year ahead! thank you ALL for your support and prayers! i had some sweet notes waiting for me in my inbox this morning and phone calls today that meant so much to me...to know my sweet friends are thinking of us and praying for us is such a blessing! i'll try to update you on some of the fun stuff we do this year!
well, finally...the summer had come to the end for us and August 24th was the 'day' i had set aside to begin. the Lord allowed me to come down with a stomach bug over the weekend which kept me from worrying about today. i'm trying to think of that as a blessing. :) especially after today...THE DAY...where i realized there was nothing to be worried about!
it was GREAT!!! Harrison LOVED it which was surprising to me. i thought it may take him a while to warm up to it. i wondered if he would miss the big classroom environment. he may still, i guess. it's early. but today was wonderful! he was excited, i was excited, and it was just what i needed...to see that spark in his eye again about learning. he had lost it last year. i saw excitement in his eyes today and an eagerness to learn and do his best. what a blessing! he kept saying how FUN it was and how much he LOVED it. (i'm writing this all down so i can remind him when he decides he'd rather NOT do school) :) and the best part of all you may want to know???? do you want to know??? huh??? :)
we started at 9am and we were finished at 10:45!!! he kept saying, "we're done? we're really done"? i had saved his reading for after lunch but he and i decided that since we were ALREADY done we would go ahead and do it then. he was playing by 11:15am and we were out the door at 12pm so i could run at the YMCA. in the future it may take a little longer and we'll probably save his reading, awana memorization, and a novel that i will read to him until after lunch. STILL...a GREAT start i think! and it felt like we had our whole day left...to do whatever. so strange. tonight we celebrated our big day with a yummy Jason's Deli dinner!
in case you are interested, here is what we'll be working on this year. most of our curriculum is based on suggestions from The Well Trained Mind with a few variations:
Bible: Proverbs, Character Training, Bible Stories, AWANA memorization
Math: Right Start Math
Spelling Workout
Handwriting: Cursive - Zaner Bloser
Copy Work/Dictation
Phonics: The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading
Grammar: First Language Lessons
History: Story of the World - The Middle Ages (includes projects and map work)
Science: Fall - Exploring Creation through Astronomy (includes projects); Spring - Earth Science; Mudpies to Magnets - Science for Young Children (experiments)
Writing: Just Write, letters to Family & Friends
Reading: read aloud 20 minutes per day - chapter books; i will read aloud each day a couple chapters from classic novels we choose for the year; additional reading from library books about History and Science topics we are studying for the week.
Music: Music Ace & Piano Lessons
Arts and Crafts
Generations/Legacy Co-Op
Field Trips
Jackson will be working on your typical preschool things...letters, numbers, learning to write, starting phonics, learning to read and whatever else he's willing to participate in between play times! :)
we won't do all of this every day. some of it yes, and some of it is only 2x a week or less. it's divided out based on how many lessons are in the book. i'm thrilled with what we're going to be learning and very excited about the year ahead! thank you ALL for your support and prayers! i had some sweet notes waiting for me in my inbox this morning and phone calls today that meant so much to me...to know my sweet friends are thinking of us and praying for us is such a blessing! i'll try to update you on some of the fun stuff we do this year!
12 comments:
Congrats on a wonderful day! I know you will have such a wonderful year.
Wow! I am sooooooooo pleased to hear how successful your first day of homeschool was! Your class room is a perfect setting for learning, you're a very capable teacher and I am glad Harrison is excited. I anticipate he will continue to be happy with his "New School", especially if he gets his work done quickly and gets to do alot of other fun things instead of coming home frustrated late in the day with tons of homework. I am happy for ALL of you! Continue to keep us posted about all your boys learn this year!!!!!
Love, Mom
That is wonderful Beth! We will keep you in our prayers!
That is so awesome Beth!!! I'm glad it went so well for you guys!!!! I think that's the biggest "shocker" of homeschooling - how quickly you can accomplish the work! When I went to public school after being homeschooled the first thing I said when I came home was how much time we wasted in the classroom! It drove me nuts for awhile. :) You're going to do great and so is Harrison!
that sounds so perfect! so glad it went well!!! yes, keep us all updated!
i was SO excited to hear the good report yesterday!! i kept meaning to ask if you took a "first day of school picture" - i'm SO glad you did! now i just want a picture of harrison and his teacher! :)
Yea Beth! So thankful your 1st day of homeschooling went so well! I know Harrison will love having his Mama as his teacher! Beth, you're gonna do a great job! You're such an inspiration to me girl! Miss y'all already!
What a fabulous report! I'm praising God with you!! It's going to be a great year and I'm glad it got off to such a great start!
So happy for you all!! Harrison was just so excited, tonight, telling me about school and the novel you are reading to him. Love the sweet pictures too!
Looks like you are off to a great start and sounds like you are a wonderful teacher! Congrats and may this school year be a huge blessing for you and the boys!
So happy it is going so well, we'll pray he keeps the enthusiasm and it continues to be a wonderful experience for all of you!
And speaking of answered prayer.....So thankful that all went well. I am praying especially that the boys will really enjoy the learning process and will become such little leaders. I know it is in both of them and I feel so confident that you will be able to unlock their potential and we will see great things coming from those precious lives!
Love,
Mimi
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