HS: Week 1a

 Since Trey is heading back to school a week before his student's arrive, I figured it would be a great time to officially launch our homeschooling curriculum, as well.  I'd spent the last few weeks fine-tuning what I thought I wanted our homeschooling days/weeks to look like, but I knew not to get too attached to my schedule.

When the alarm clock went off at 5AM, I actually felt relieved.  This summer, we've had the luxury of sleeping in, and my alarm clock has been my 12 month old daughter.  When she starts crying, I jump out of bed and start my day.  Somehow, waking up to the sound of something other than crying felt... well... good. 

 The boys woke up around 7 which gave me two good hours to accomplish the tasks I would normally be doing during the day (the hours that would now be dedicated to homeschooling).  This was a good thing.  Owen Ray had been looking forward to his first day of "Kindergarten," and he expected to get started immediately.  Chandler was, likewise, excited -- he thought putting on his brother's old backpack (albeit upside down) meant that he was ready for preschool. 

During Elinor's first nap, I had planned to do the activities that were geared for Chandler.  Over the summer we've been working through the "Before Five in a Row" booklist, and I had hoped to find something similar to that for this school year.  If you're not familiar with Five in a Row (FIAR), it's a literature based program that uses the best picture books written as a basis to explore broader learning topics.  For example, you might read a book like "Blueberries for Sal" and then plan activities to teach your preschooler about how plants like blueberries grow, information about the state of Maine, or the habits and behaviors of bears -- all things related to the book.  Since we've read every book on that list, I was hopeful to come across a similar program, but with a different booklist.  I was super blessed to score Picture Book Activities by Trish Kuffner for less than $10 on Amazon.  It had a dozen or so activities for each of the 50 stellar picture books she'd chosen.  I created a lesson plan template, and then just plugged in the activities I wanted to do each day of the week.  So easy.

This first week we're reading through If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and completing 2 or 3 activities related to it per day.  On Monday we did melted crayon drawings that we posted on our fridge with Scotch tape because the little mouse wanted paper and crayons to draw a picture and display it. 

  On Tuesday we acted out all the parts of the story using props.  As I read each page, the boys raced around the house to find what they needed (including a box with a pillow and a blanket to take a nap) and baking chocolate cookies to enjoy with their milk mustaches.

 

I really hope to get outside each and every day with the kids.  They need to be able to get outside, soak up sunshine, and just breathe deeply.  We are so blessed to have a neighborhood playground and a small walking trail which my children affectionately call "The Enchanted Forest" (not to be confused with "The 100 Acre Woods" which boring people simply refer to as the frisbee golf course at Bicentennial Park).  On our walk through "The Enchanted Forest the boys spotted a rather weird looking fruit that they wanted to bring home.  When we got home we cut it in half and then did some research to discover that it was the fruit of an Osage Orange tree.  Because its inedible fruit repels insects, savvy folks used to place one under their bed to keep out the spiders.  Owen Ray was fascinated by this and couldn't wait to share his discovery with his dad as soon as he got home. 

Our Neighborhood Playground

This is how Elinor feels about homeschooling.