We started Kindergarten this week. I say "we", because we made the decision to Home school, and it definitely takes all of us to pull it off. I was home schooled for all 12 grades and wanted the blessing of being the one to teach my daughter to read. Maybe a bit selfish, but experiencing the joys and frustrations of that first year is something that I wanted to do right along side of her, and missing it wasn't something I could live with.
My Mom is letting me use her Phonics curriculum, which we are loving so far, and I'm using Bob Jones for Math. I don't have a specific curriculum for History, Science or Bible since I didn't want to be tied to books for that part of it. Those subjects will involve trips to the library and lots of hands on, fun projects. Next week we start with the days of creation which will get us History, Bible and Science in one fell swoop. We'll take our time to do one day per week, so we can work on art projects and study the different aspects of each day. I'm really excited about this part of school this year!
Anyway.
The night before Kindergarten started, it really hit me. A new chapter in our lives was beginning the very next morning, and I of course felt very sentimental about it, thinking of when we brought her home from the hospital and I cried thinking of sending her to Kindergarten.
So, yeah. I had the baby blues just a little.
"Tomorrow you start school for the next 13 years!" I told Brooklynne, and Nate and I laughed because it's kind of crazy to think about. We lingered at bed time a little longer, sensing the change that was going to take place soon.
She dressed herself, cleaned her room and brushed her teeth and completed a few more simple chores, a simple routine we'll be following every day.
Joe felt very left out and wanted to be very close to either me or Brooke. He always wanted me to "help him" with his book, so I tried to make him feel included as much as I could.
Buddy needed to be very close at all times as well.
After lunch, we went to the park for a while, until it was too hot and everyone was grouchy and sweaty. Came home for naps/quiet time/cleaning/dinner prep. The day went way better than I ever thought!
In the meantime, this little man (or not so little man) is about to turn 6 months and charming us more and more each day. He is happy, content and quiet. He never demands attention, but one look at his smiley little face and I can't resist picking him up for hugs and kisses.
At this point he's not a thumb-sucker (he loves his paci) but one day I found him like this. Too cute for words!
Well, it's Friday and we made it through the first week. We celebrated today with a trip to the library ("Mommy are there trains here? Mommy, are we gonna play?" I need to take my kids to the library more often, ehem.) and a trip to the doughnut shop for $1.58 worth of celebratory doughnuts. 5 days down, 175 to go!
Happy weekend!
3 comments:
I only do phonics, handwriting, and math with my kids in kindergarten. That's all that's required. I use the library a lot, which is fun. You may want to ask if your library has a story time. Our does, and we always went once a week for it. They did a diff letter of the alphabet every week, so it was great school time! Then I let the kids play the educational games on the computer and play on the train tables. Of course we check out lots of books! :) Brylie started K5 on Monday. She is loving it. So far she has learned short i sound and short u sound. She, too, was super excited to wake up as a kindergartner!
Congratulations on your first week of school!!
13 years sounds crazy now, but, just like everyone tells you, it goes INCREDIBLY fast. Michael is in 10th grade already.
LOVE the idea of packing lunches. Why didn't anyone tell me that 10 years ago?! ;) Even though my kids make their own lunches at this point, it would be great to eliminate the gigantic messes they make. I think I may try that.
I will enjoy watching your posts on School. We have 1st grade and Kindergarten this year. What fun! Right now we have grandma living with us so we often have lunch made before me get in the kitchen ~ however, I also have read about making the lunches the night before and I thought that was a nice idea ~ I may implement that when grandma is no longer daily around. :)
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