The schoolyear has officially begun for Integritas Academy! We started with a 'First Day of School' photo.
Followed by prayer time and Bible lessons. L2 was so sweet as she prayed for a family friend.
Each of our students had freshly sharpened pencils and brand new folders on their desks. Their folders contained a calendar (to write their important dates), a daily schedule, and their weekly expectations (includes new chore assignments and how many lessons of each subject need to be completed each week).
I'll admit...it certainly wasn't all peaches and cream. Five students on five different levels all using brand new curriculum, and throw in a 2 year old and 11 month old...let's just say, I'm glad the first day is over.
After lunch we had our 'fun' subjects. Story of the World for History and Exploring Creation with Flying Creatures for Science. The coolest part was this fun 'air pressure' experiment. Place a straw in a glass of water. Using a second straw, blow air up and over the top of the straw in the water. This will lessen the air pressure in the straw causing the water in the straw to squirt out. Fun!
Now on to the second day of second grade...and 1st grade, and third grade, and...
How close are your kids to have them in K, 1, 2, 3 and 4? Mine are 17-19mo apart and end up being 2yrs apart in school. Now, the first two started school "early" at 4 in K, but besides that, they will all be 2 yrs apart. Crazy! I am trying to recover from a new baby last year and working on my schedule. Trying to fit in 1.5hr of sit down time with just two kids, plus taking care of three little ones is nuts! How much time do you get with each of yours in your schedule for reading instruction and grammar and such?
ReplyDeleteOur's are 14-17 months apart. Grades 2, 3, and 4 just fell that way with bday months. My Haleigh just turned 5, but she did K last year so she is moving on to grade 1 this year. I don't have one in K this year, but I am doing PreK with my 3 yr old.
ReplyDeleteI start with the youngest and work my way up to the oldest with sit down time. I've alloted 30 minutes with my PreK 3 yr old...just a little time reading picture books, bible stories, and doing a couple worksheets. Then I work back and forth with my 1st and 2nd grader for about 1.5 hours doing phonics, reading, English, and Math. Last, I work for an hour with my 3rd and 4th together for English and Reading. (They have the same texts for these subjects.) The 3rd and 4th graders are on different math levels, but are both pretty independant with that. Also, they are able to do spelling independantly as well. (We're using Phonics Zoo for spelling...they listen to CDs each day for instruction.)
We do Bible, Read-Aloud, Science, and History together as a family. We usually finish up Bible and independant studies before lunch and then have Read-Aloud, History, and Science after lunch. Fridays are library day and the only subjects we cover are art and music.
Today was hectic, but somehow we got it all done.
I've been wondering how you and your sweet family were doing?!
Wow! Sounds like you have a good plan in place. Your kids are adorable!
ReplyDeleteI left you a blog award here:
http://embracingdestiny.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-awards.html
I understand if you don't have time to do it. ;0)
Thanks for telling me about the butterfly project, too. I didn't know about that, but I'm going to see about participating.