Yes, you read that right! We're done with school for the week. We completed the bulk of our lessons on Monday and Tuesday (the days I'm home from work), Dan worked with them some today so tomorrow and Friday are open for play! Nathan still has one math lesson left, but that should take no time at all. This is definitely going to take some getting used to.
This has been a wonderful few days! I suppose when the honeymoon period wears off, I'll be singing a different tune, but for today, life is really good!
Here are some pictures of our first week....
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| Supply Caddies |
On Sunday night, after everybody was in bed, I pulled out all of our brand new supplies and filled their supply caddies. These little turn table caddies were on the dollar aisle at Target! I liked the idea of the kids being able to take their stuff with them when they moved from place to place around the house to do their schoolwork. Everybody got the SAME STUFF, so there is no fighting! I did add a compass for Nathan as he will need it later on in the year.
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| Daddy's Treat |
Daddy left us a treat for breakfast since he had to leave early for work! Does it get any better than Dunkin' Donuts on the first day of school? I don't think so!
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| Olivia |
Here is our youngest student enjoying her breakfast of champions!
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| Assignment #1 |
After our morning prayers and the Pledge, we had our first assignment....Vital Statistics! Everybody was weighed, measured and hand printed. We'll do this again at the end of the year to see how much we've all grown. Incidentally, mommy did NOT participate in the weigh in portion!
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| Hard at work! |
Everybody started out the day at the dining room table together, but as the day progressed, we spread out to different areas so we had our own space. Earlier, when I sent everybody to go get dressed so we could start, Amelia and Olivia both came back to me dressed in their school uniforms from last year! Isn't that hysterically funny! Even on Tuesday, they both insisted on wearing their school uniforms! And here I thought I was going to get out of having to wash school clothes as often! Silly me!
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Dining room
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I've included a few more pictures of our schooling/storage areas. I think I mentioned before that I'm probably not using the space that I have available in the most efficient way, but so far, it's working for us.
I've had the above pictured plastic bins for several years. I like it because it's on rollers and I can put it where I need it with relative ease. Previously I had been using this to store their homework and other materials that accumulate during the school year.
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| Supplies and Alphabet Tracing stamps....love these! |
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Extra miscellaneous supplies
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| Flash cards |
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Stamps, stickers, extra erasers and math manipulative's
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| More math manipulative's and my GLUE GUN!! I love my glue gun! |
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| Calendar |
I think this is my very favorite new item that I purchased for our homeschool! I bought all of the parts separately, had them laminated, cut them out and then placed Velcro on the backs of the numbers and on the calendar itself! Each month, we just rip off the numbers, change the month and start all over again!
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| Liturgical Wheel |
This has been a wonderful help for our family in celebrating the Liturgical Year! I recommend getting one of these if you don't have one. Now is the time to do it as the new year starts in Advent!
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| work station |
This was a piece of furniture that we brought in from the garage. It's an end table that I've had for at least 20 years! This came with me from California. In previous years, we've used it as a place to put our Christmas tree (to aid us in keeping toddler fingers and CATS from trying topple it over). It makes a perfect work station for a 1st Grader to do her school work.
We also brought in the matching coffee table. Dan and I really prefer the open space in the middle of the living room, but this has proved to be another work station for a certain Pre-Schooler to color and for a certain big sister to join her!
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| My workstation |
This is MY workstation located in our bedroom. It's really just a folding table but it works just fine for times when I need to be away from everybody else to get some things done. My printer is here and this is also the place that I will store their completed non workbook stuff until evaluation time next June!
This wire rack was on sale at Staples and had just the right amount of slots!
And finally, yesterday I wanted to take a few minutes to take a shower as I didn't get one in the morning. I wanted to keep them busy so they wouldn't fight or get into something...so I improvised. I gave them a short scavenger hunt. I was
almost out of the shower by the time the first one was finished! Perhaps I should have mentioned that it WASN'T a race!
As I said, we survived our first week of homeschooling! We're all still alive, still functioning and still speaking to each other! This is good. Check back in with me, say around....January and I'll let you know if I still have hair!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
9 comments:
clever shower technique!!!! ;)
sounds like a great first week Nancy. I hope the rest of the school year goes well for you.
Excellent week!
I love the cadies and the donuts for breakfast! :)
Congratulations on finishing your first week! Yum, donuts, too :) I have a daughter that LOVES donuts.
Great "Day in the Life"! Homeschoolers have so much fun and are so creative :)
Thanks for sharing and have a very enjoyable 2010-2011 school year!
~Tamara
www.BranchOfWisdom.com
Bravo! Love the shower technique.
What a sweet Daddy to bring donuts on the first day! I love those supply caddies - I just discovered the dollar department at Target and am always surprised at the great stuff in there.
Have a great year!
Great post and photos! We always give the kids some surprises the first day of school too. I am going to do the donut thing this year though (we haven't started yet). I am your newest blog follower and I look forward to reading more in the future.
Thanks Denise!
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