First Day of Homeschool

Today was the first day of school for our neighborhood so we followed suit and began our homeschool today.  I'm going to copy someone I read from in blogworld and call this week "Homeschool Light" because we're not trying to do full days - I think it will be helpful to ease into it, plus Noah hasn't started preschool yet.

Last night felt a little like Christmas Eve in that I was trying to get the kids on to bed so that I could finish setting up the classroom (ie dining room) for school.  I wanted it to be neat and fun just like a real class would be.  I'm sure I was more excited about it than them, but it's not bad to get me excited about this too, right?!  It is my first day ever as a teacher after all.

We started out like normal with the boys watching a little tv while I read my portion of Bible in 90 Days.  I guess I was distracted because I was supposed to be reading in Nehemiah but accidentially flipped back to 2 Kings.  I kept think how familiar it all was but this part of the Bible repeats itself alot so I kept reading.  All of a sudden, I clued in (I'm guessing the caffeine from the coffee started doing its job) and flipped to where I was supposed to be.  So now I'm a day behind.  Oh well, at least I was reading God's Word, right?


After that, we had a special recipe of baked oatmeal with apples that Bennett loves and read from the ABC Bible Verse book.  Then I showed the boys the new chore chart that I think will really work for us.  It has pictures on index cards that they move from one library pocket to the other as they finish the chore.  If they clear out all of them from the "to do" pocket, they get a star.  I'll be putting cards in morning and evening.
They did all of those so we were dressed, beds made, teeth brushed and kitchen cleaned up by 8:30.  Pretty good for us.

We then went outside to take first day of school pictures.  They are getting so grown up!!

Then we filled out a little first day questionnaire, with things about their favorite things, what they liked about summer and what they're looking forward to at school this year.  That took a little while because Noah would only use baby talk and Bennett didn't much want to write, but we got those done.

Bennett wanted to draw a picture of himself just like he did last year on the first day of school.  This is him on top of a rocket.  So Bennett!!

After that we worked on some crafts for our neighbors that we'd seen online.  We delivered them after lunch so that the kids would get them when they get home from school.  The best part of the day by far was when we were walking around delivering them, Bennett said "Hey, we're giving and that's better than taking because giving brings us joy."  Ding, Ding, Ding, great answer!!  So we got to talk about that some and how we're going to look for ways to give during school this year.  After we finished delivering, the boys both told me that the had lots of joy in their hearts and Bennett said it made him feel like giving some more.  What more could I ask for?!

After our crafts, we did a language lesson and the boys got to build with the blocks that came with our math curriculum.  After that, we went for a treat of fried fruit pies from Golden Rule Barbecue (something my mom showed the kids) and some playground time at Fresh Air Farm.  We came home for lunch and rest and we're anxiously awaiting the neighbors getting home from school so we can hear about their days and have some fun play!
 

It was not the most academically intensive day, but neither was the first day at regular school, I'm sure.  I needed a confidence builder day, so that was accomplished.  And it was overall a fun day with the kids!