First Day of School

Many of you know I have a really hard time reading homeschooling blogs, because the kids, crafts, lessons, etc, seem so much more perfect and peaceful than my own home.  I know that those moms put the best of the best on their blogs.  And it's only natural to do so.  But here is a glimpse into our first day of school: Handwriting without Tears resulted in tears, Ann got stung by a bee, Bridget grabbed markers and caused general mayhem and messes, and most of my alphabet cards fell down from the wall by the afternoon.  I ended up letting the kids watch TV, which I had vowed not to do on school days, and I think sometimes they learn more from Sid and Elmo than from me, as evidenced by Jane walking into the kitchen while I was doing dishes and mentioning, "Mom, I know what transportation is."  She learned it from Elmo this morning.

In case my mom is reading, Cate did her reading and grammar lessons nicely, and both girls did their math very well.  We read from our history book, and in general I feel more confident and excited about my curriculum choices than in previous years.  Of course, I always get a little melancholic on the first day of homeschool.  The first day of school in a regular school is SUCH an exciting day, and I have so many memories of looking forward to it so much.  We can't re-create that excitement, and I should not expect to be replicating everything they would get in school, at home.  I hope the trade-off is that my girls enjoy learning around the clock, through books as well as through lots of time outside, and unique experiences with friends and family.  

Our school wall, in the sunroom at Nona's house.   For those who homeschool, I found the calendar numbers and the days of the week in the Target dollar bins, just a few weeks ago.  Posterboard was purchased there, too!

First day woes aside, it's going to be another great year.