For those of you who don't know, we've chosen to home school the kids this year. We don't really have anything against the school system in general. There were actually a lot of factors that went into making this decision. We decided that for this time in our life, it is what's best for our family. Of course, there are many out there that are critical...mainly because they are uneducated about it. (I can say that because I, myself, was once one of those uneducated, critical people ;)) I'm not saying I'm fully educated on the whole issue or that I am by any means an expert, I am just more open-minded now.
Today was our first day of school. The original plan wasn't to start until after Labor Day, but the kids have been begging to start for the past few weeks. So we decided to start early. This way we can schedule days "off" for fun play dates (yes, they will still get to socialize with other kids), field trips or the occasional lazy day.
Jacob is 9 years old and in 4th grade this year. He is so smart and can memorize the most random facts in no time. He is most excited about science this year. We will be doing a lot of hands on activities- which is perfect because that's right up his alley. Here is a pic of him on his first day. He's super excited, can't you tell? His favorite thing about his first day: digging in the dirt to make a bug trap.
Evelyn is 6 and in 1st grade. She is also very smart and told me her first day was too easy. She was upset b/c Jacob has more subjects than her. I may have to add more work for her. We'll see, it's only the first week so hopefully it will become a little more challenging for her. Here's Ev's picture- she's trying hard not to act too excited. Her favorite thing about her first day: writing cursive "e's".
And if I'm not already taking on enough by homeschooling 2 kids, I thought I would try and do an informal preschool with Aiden. He's only 3, but I didn't want him to feel left out. Today did not go as I had planned for him...started out good (puzzles are always fun), but when it came to coloring and story time he had a meltdown. I'm not forcing anything on him. I'll keep trying, when he's ready he'll let me know. He wanted a pic too on the first day. Here's a pic of him and Claire (23 mos) working on their puzzles this morning.
And another pic of Aiden, he wanted to say cheese again.
Here's a rundown of our daily schedule. I get the kids up at 7:30. They get dressed, brush their teeth and I do the girls' hair. We then eat breakfast. At 8:00 we start chores: make bed, clean room, and whatever the daily chores are (today was tearing sheets off their beds and running them downstairs for me to wash- so obviously they didn't make their beds today since that would have been pointless.) Then once chores are done, they have free time until school starts at 9. On a typical day, I have to prod them to do their chores- not today! They were done (chores done correctly, too) in 15 minutes. They were sitting at their desks at 8:15..."We're ready, Mom!" I told them that Mom had chores too so they would have to wait til 9. You would have thought I told them there would be no Christmas this year. Thank goodness a good friend gave me a poster for each of them to fill out...it was called "All About me." Perfect! I told them they could work on that while I finished up my stuff. They were elated. Fast forward to 9- school's in session. They got to share their poster with "the class". Aiden didn't want to do his, so I will attempt that with him tomorrow. We took an hour lunch break at 11:30-12:30 and were done with school for the day at 2. Here's a pic of their "desk" waiting for them on the first day.
Where do we do school?
(See the paper chain along the wall? That's counting down to our Christmas trip to Tennessee. It goes halfway around the room.)
Here's the preschool table.
And I will leave you with the picture they saw when they walked into the school room this morning. They thought it was hilarious!
