274 days to go.

Today was our official first day of school. We have 274 more days until our official last day of school this year. What can I say...I've never really been a 'glass-half-full' type of girl.

I've been trying to decide if I consider this day a success. I'm pretty sure I do. We completed all of the lessons I had planned. We had some fun. There was actual, real learning taking place.

On the flip side, we started homeschooling this morning at 8:30 am and I wasn't closing the last textbook until 6pm. Plus, I had to stop at least every 30 minutes to discipline H3 who was definitely testing boundaries today (more than usual). I'm not exaggerating on the 30 minute thing. I think the child spent more waking hours in time out today than out of it.

Here's how our day went...

The alarm clock went off at 7am. I, of course, was already awake nursing Baby L.

By 8am, I had changed from pajama bottoms to blue jeans, read a chapter of Psalms and a short devotion, and all of the kids were awake and seated at the table eating a breakfast of champions...two honeybuns and a tall glass of milk.

We gathered for our Circle Time, reading and discussing our first Bible Lesson. We are memorizing John 1:2-3 this week and the first verse and chorus of 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus'.

Then, we headed downstairs to the schoolroom. First, 30 minutes of Pre-K with H3.



This week we are learning the letter A, the number 1, and the square is our shape of the week. We reviewed these and then read How to Grow an Apple Pie Tree. She also worked on a page from her Heavenly Helper Workbook. I actually bought these for $1.00 each at the Dollar Store and they are perfect for teaching letters, numbers, shapes, and colors simply.



Next, I worked with E4 for an hour. We started by learning the first three letter strokes-the clock stroke, the short line, and the tall line.



Studies have shown that using a multi-sensory approach is helpful when trying to set things to memory. We have always used a Memory Board with our Kindergarten students when learning their phonograms for the first time. I draw a clock (our kids learn to write letters using the Rigg's Institute's clock method)on a rough surface, such as the back of a Dollar Store kid's chalkboard. E4 listens to instructions on how to write the letter, and repeats them back as he is looking at and 'writing' it with his finger (touch) several times. Once he has done this, then he writes it on his penmanship paper.



E4 also completed one page of his Ready Writer. He was very excited by this as he has been waiting for the day to have his own after seeing G7 and A6 work through theirs in their Kindergarten years.


Another hour...this time with A6. Here she is working on the first lesson in Learning Language Arts Through Literature-The Blue Book. This was a simple 'pre-reading' activity sorting circular patterns from lined patterns. She also completed her first lesson in Saxon Math 1.

Finally we took a much needed break for lunch. It was supposed to only be an hour break...it lasted an hour and twenty.



My next hour was spent with G7. His first lesson with Learning Language Arts Through Literature-The Red Book went well. Here he is sorting Short Vowel Sound Words. We also read a poem, talked about 'naming words' (nouns), and did some dictation. He completed his first lesson of Saxon Math 2.

We moved back upstairs for History. We discussed the Principle of Individuality and copied a poem into our History Notebooks.



If you're curious about the bloody fingerprints, don't worry, the kids are okay. We were supposed to decorate the page with our thumbprints, and our red stamp pad was the only one that wasn't dried up. We also began reading Leif the Lucky, beginning our study on Early American History.

We spent our 'recess' outside riding bikes as the school bus drove by dropping kids off. Then the kids rested inside as I read a chapter of Teddy's Button to them.



Lastly, G7 and I read a few pages of Jeannie Fulbright's Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day. This is in preparation for a co-op class that G7 will be taking on this text beginning next week.

By this time Hubby was calling to tell me he was on his way home. Hallelujah! We survived! Pin It Now!