1st Day of School

 

I’ve been “unofficially” homeschooling Leah since she was 3 and now we’re at her kindergarten year. It feels so much more real now and I’m a little nervous now that it actually “counts.” Leah is a very bright little girl and very eager to learn. She loves to go to school and was so excited about the new routine chart I posted on our first day today. My goals for her this year include beginning reading, a little more advanced math (including addition, subtraction, telling time & counting money), learning to write letters uppercase & lowercase, and getting a good grasp on beginning geography (our state, country & continent).

 

Andrew, on the other hand, was devastated he could not watch TV after breakfast like he’s always done. He’s going to be a little tougher to teach but I’m excited about doing the same program with him as I did with Leah when she was 3. My goals for him include learning to recognize all the letters of the alphabet (and their sounds) as well as the numbers 1-20, along with a few other basic math skills (sorting, beginning graphing, counting, patterns & matching).

 

We are also excited to be starting a Homeschool group program this year called Classical Conversations. Monday mornings for 4 hours, we will be meeting at a local church with many other homeschool families-- there are 8 4-and 5-year-olds in Leah’s class. Each class has a “tutor,” although I’ll be able to sit in on the class so I know what she’s learning and can expand on it throughout the rest of the week. They’ll focus on memory work (memorizing one sentence each week) in several different subjects: history, geography, science, art or music, English, Latin, math & Bible. They also get to do a science experiment, a “show & tell” type presentation, and learn the tin whistle or drawing. These are things that are much easier in a group setting and doing them at CC allows me to focus on just the basics (reading, writing & math) at home. It also gives us the “socialization” aspect that many people worry about when it comes to homeschooling. We’ll have lunch there every Monday so I have a chance to talk to other moms who are experiencing similar situations. This starts September 9th and lasts 24 weeks.

 

We’re taking this homeschool journey one year at a time. I hope our excitement never wanes as we continue along this adventure of learning!