Home is where you start from: First day back, homeschool 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

First day back, homeschool 2010

Not-back-to-school 2010 was a success :)

I entered into the new home-school year with some trepidation, I did not get all the organizing done as I had wished to. But, it worked out, the little I did do was enough and we had a really great 1st day.

I did get my homeschool bookcase cleaned and organized. This is where I keep our Sonlight books and also where I keep big magazine type boxes to hold books/notebooks for each child- this is the spot to find books we use on a daily basis. I also bought new 3-ring binders for each student and filled them with a week's worth of work.

I set up my chalk-board wall of power with a list of the short day I had planned, and then I added a drawing of a big hand, with each finger labeled with a task from The Daily 5, which I will be implementing into our day this year. I heart this concept and I heart this book!

We started 1st with a Bible/Character story for the 3 littles from School Days with the Millers.
I still haven't figured out curriculum for Bible..so for now, I will be doing character lessons.

After Bible time, I have scheduled our Daily 5 time-block. Today, I explained to the kids what the Daily 5 is, what it will look like- and then we only tackled 2 of the 5. First, we worked on "write" by having creative journal time. The kids wrote about what they did during the Summer. Next, we did "read out loud to someone" - that someone was me.

I used this time to introduce them to this
Fiction Reading Comprehension program-cards in a box by Teacher Created Resources. I explained how to use them and then worked through one card with each child- doing the comprehension questions on the back together. I love this program, it's going to be great for the kids to use independently during "read to self time".

We then all worked on Math. We are using Math-U-See. After that came handwriting. I had the 3 kids sometimes working on a different subject while I had a reading session with one.

Meg and Josie were working totally independently, but sitting at the table with us. Today, they tackled Math, History and Literature, Grammar and Writing.

After cursive handwriting, we moved onto the all important snack time and play break. Once break was over (about 15 minutes- during which I corrected Math) I had the 3 kids each work in their Explode the Code (phonics) workbooks. Then, we were done!

A bit of a short day, but I wanted to ease into things. I felt really successful in starting the day early- I was aiming for an 8:30 start time, actually starting at 8:45. This was much, much better than the 9-ish or later time (usually later) we were managing at the end of our last school year. Sky helped me get up and out to exercise early this morning. By the start of homeschool, I had walked/exercised, showered & dressed and had breakfast. For the Bridget Jones Homeschool mom- this was a huge feat. It felt really, really good to be ready to take on the day.

Once we were done with our school work, we headed over to Rubio's for a celebratory lunch, and then over to the bookstore for some R & R.

Really a great start, I am actually looking forward to tomorrow! :)

So, to my homeschool friends- have you started back up yet? How was it?

Moms of schooled kids, are yours back yet? How was it? Great, I hope!

Labels: homeschool, homeschool planning, Jen's world

posted at 10:07 PM
13 comments

13 Comments:

At 4:24 AM, LJS said...: Our first official day is 9/7 but my girls have been doing projects all summer long. One has spent the summer doing an independent study of weather, my other daughter has immersed herself in a study of insects.
At 10:16 AM, Unknown said...: hi! i'm here from the HHH. sounds like you had a great day yesterday. hope today goes as well. this is our second week back. so far, so good :)
btw, i'm your newest follower.
At 1:41 PM, Aimee said...: What a great day! We were suppose to start Aug. 2 but we bought a new house and were moving that weekend. I had the kids each start some independent work on their own for a couple of weeks. Then, we started in our new schoolroom on Aug. 16. Its going well. Since we moved I started them out light. After labor day we'll begin the rest of our subjects.
At 2:45 PM, Stefanie said...: Glad to hear your year started off so well. We're on our third week and it's been going great. We've only been schooling 4 days per week so far, still enjoying some summer fun.
At 5:27 PM, Anna said...: Hi Jenny! I LOVE reading your blog. You are inspiring me to do homeschooling. Our girls are only 3 and 4, but I am starting this year with My Father's World for Rachel who is 4 (will be 5 in December).

Thank you for your posts. Love them!
At 9:11 PM, Elaine said...: I love that you had a great first day! I am checking out the Daily 5 thing. Sounds like something I would love!!!!
At 9:47 AM, Lori said...: Sounds like an awesome start to a great school year. We started on the 16th and had a few tech issues with the computer, and that's when being flexible is a great quality to have. We moved on to art, made a mess, a great landscape picture, and had a whole lot of fun.
At 11:21 AM, Karen Sue said...: Kids here go to school Sept 2. #2 left for her first year of college on Sunday and #1 goes for his 4th college year this Sunday. It is different with her gone...she was a homebody sometimes, and a whirlwind in and out at other times... But hey, have you seen my brush?? last time I saw it, it was on her bed?!?!?
At 1:55 PM, Unknown said...: So glad you had a great first day. I think easing into it was the way to go. My kids go to a private school and they start after Labor Day Weekend. Bought the books today. Keep up the good work.

Anne @ http://lessonsthrulife.com
At 9:01 PM, Ariana Rose said...: Yay for such a great start. Those fiction cards sound interesting!

We've been schooling all summer since we're stuck inside here in AZ but we're still going to have an official first day sometime this fall. Usually at the end of September but all this not back to school blog hopping is making me want to join in! lol

Good luck with your new schedule. I've been thinking about getting up that early to get some things done in preparation for the day but it's sooo hard! I admire that you're going to keep up with it!
At 9:10 PM, Hen Jen said...: Anna,

how exciting! I didn't know you guys were thinking about homeschooling! I have a few friends who use My Father's world and really enjoyed it!

thank you for the kind comments!!
At 2:06 PM, Sarah at SmallWorld said...: Sounds like a great first day! Now if only we can all keep up the momentum, eh?
At 9:05 AM, Anonymous said...: Looks like you're off to an amazing year! Following you now from the Hop!

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