Today (on the first day of my fifth second trimester!) we started school. Normally, I like to start earlier in August, but this year (due to being in my fifth first trimester) I just was not ready any earlier. Thankfully, flexibility is the name of the game in homeschooling. We roll with life’s seasons.
This year, we have a third grader, a second grader, and two preschoolers… with the new addition arriving in February to give us a little something to look forward to mid-year.
The day started with Bible and singing (our modern hymn, Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery) where I had the two older kids help read the Bible passage. It is exciting to have them in this reading stage! There has been so much growth in that area over the last year; it has been exhilerating to witness it.
After the “First Day of School Photos” we all sat down on the couch and I read the first chapter of Winnie the Pooh as our preschool readaloud. The older kids were not required to be a part of this, but they were drawn by the tale and so we enjoyed some time together. Princess K was seriously anxious to start school, but the pregnant mommy needed 10 minutes to doze on the couch while all the kids played with blocks and legos on the floor.
When I woke up, Princess K eagerly ran to the schoolroom and I followed her in, letting X-man continue his fun with his little brothers. K took inventory of her new school supplies and found a letter in her little mailbox. This letter was written by mommy last night because the Princess could not stop talking about how excited she was to get a letter in her mailbox again, after such a long time of not getting one. She got the idea that she would get a letter on the first day of school because she got one last year and she is just like her mommy: one single occurence of an activity that is liked is enough to make a tradition.
Anyway, then she and I worked on her math and when X-man wandered in to figure out what we were doing, I sat him down and started him on math as well. The preschool boys were happily building large constructions out of blocks.
After math, it was snack time. While their mouths were happily occupied, I read their history lesson (out of Story of the Romans) and we had a truly excellent conversation about plebians and patricians. They completed a notebooking page and gave wonderful narrations and then it was time for phonics.
We had a great time with phonics- we discovered a pattern with the sounds of the letter C. It is always a delightful part of my day when the kids discover a pattern or idea on their own. They cried all the way through 7 minutes of cursive handwriting practice since it has been 2 months since their last practice.
During lunch, I read Mystery of the Roman Ransom, our current literature selection and they loved it. They begged and begged me to read another chapter. I resisted and so they will be very motivated for handwriting tomorrow!
After quiet time (and another nap for the pregnant woman), we pulled out our chalk pastels and Hodgepodge’s A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels and had a wonderful time exploring the chalk pastel medium. Princess K had specifically requested “more crafts” when asked what she wanted out of her second grade year (X-man specifically requested “no school”) and I’m so glad I went to effort to make sure we did something craft/artsy on our first day of school. It was relaxing and fun, a time to be together while working independently. It was a perfect homeschool moment.
Our Masterpieces
And this was a few weeks ago, when we told the kids the gender of the new baby (blood test to determine gender- among other things- at 11 weeks? Wow!)- X-man was so incredibly happy for his sister getting herself her first and very longed for sister. And I love the love.
True Sibling Love- shared joy over K finding out she will finally get the sister she’s been wanting
Following Footprints 