Today was our first day of "official" school. We have done "tiny" school this past summer, which consists of alternate days of reading and math. I do this so I don't have to spend as much time reviewing what they learned last year, to help ensure they don't forget as much. Our first day went relatively well, I can't complain.
My son stayed on track, which was not easy for him. He was used to running around a good part of the day last year, playing ninja, while I helped my middle son and my daughter. He still didn't have a whole day of school, he is only in 1st grade. We started the day with an Easy Peasy Bible lesson, I did this with both him and my 4th grader. I have decided we need to start the day with a bible lesson. Funny thing about that is, we don't attend church regularly, I would like to, but we haven't found a church we really feel comfortable at, and some weekends we are just plain lazy. I want them to know about God and help give them some kind of education until we can find a church we both feel comfortable at.
Our second thing was reading, A Picture Book of John Hancock. We are trying a different history curriculum this year, called U Read Thru History, it uses literature instead of the dry, boring history textbooks. You can use it with all levels thru 8th grade, it has different books and activities based on levels, I think we are going to like it. We are learning all about the Revolutionary War the first half of the year.
My son stayed on track, which was not easy for him. He was used to running around a good part of the day last year, playing ninja, while I helped my middle son and my daughter. He still didn't have a whole day of school, he is only in 1st grade. We started the day with an Easy Peasy Bible lesson, I did this with both him and my 4th grader. I have decided we need to start the day with a bible lesson. Funny thing about that is, we don't attend church regularly, I would like to, but we haven't found a church we really feel comfortable at, and some weekends we are just plain lazy. I want them to know about God and help give them some kind of education until we can find a church we both feel comfortable at.
Our second thing was reading, A Picture Book of John Hancock. We are trying a different history curriculum this year, called U Read Thru History, it uses literature instead of the dry, boring history textbooks. You can use it with all levels thru 8th grade, it has different books and activities based on levels, I think we are going to like it. We are learning all about the Revolutionary War the first half of the year.
For math we are using a living math curriculum, it is story based. He does really well with math, so the 1st grade level may be too easy for him. I will write more about the math program after we use it for some time. This was the first day, and it was just writing the number 0-9 and drawing pictures to go with each number, he is way beyond this but we are easing in to a routine so I am going with it for now.
The rest of our day consisted of reading a BOB book, listening to a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Easy Peasy Science and learning his spelling words. Of course, there were the trampoline brain breaks, he was done right after lunch. I also had to bribe him with chocolate chips a few times. Sometimes you do whatever works, with my sons I a resort to bribery frequently. I am hoping my 4th grader is beyond that this year. Every lesson he completed without complaining he received a few chocolate chips as a reward. Chocolate is like fairy dust for kids! Below is the link to his poem for the day, it is from the book A Child's Garden of Verses (Free in Kindle Store).
The rest of our day consisted of reading a BOB book, listening to a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Easy Peasy Science and learning his spelling words. Of course, there were the trampoline brain breaks, he was done right after lunch. I also had to bribe him with chocolate chips a few times. Sometimes you do whatever works, with my sons I a resort to bribery frequently. I am hoping my 4th grader is beyond that this year. Every lesson he completed without complaining he received a few chocolate chips as a reward. Chocolate is like fairy dust for kids! Below is the link to his poem for the day, it is from the book A Child's Garden of Verses (Free in Kindle Store).
I am crossing my fingers the rest of the week goes this well. I will be praying every night for wisdom and patience. I really feel like this year is going to be awesome! Now off to making a grocery list. Ugh.
** This post may contain some affiliate links, they will be below this disclaimer. All opinions are my own. **