Pleasant, Smooth, and Successful First Day! :)

Horray! I've learned to 'go with the flow' of homeschooling! :) This year's first day was amazing!

We started out LATE because Kendyl had woken up at least a half a dozen times during the night, so we all slept until 8am!! Oh well... we homeschool, no problem! :)

We all got ready and David went outside to 'feed the chickens' (get in the 'bus' and drive down the road)... The kids and I went outside (they thought we were just taking 'First Day of School' pictures :) Then, the bus drove up!! :) and again, they LOVED it!! I honestly thought they wouldn't care this year...but they were so excited! :) They called David, Mr. Bus Driver all Day! :)

After their ride around they block, they came back and walked into the 'classroom' :) We took a 'tour' of the class and talked about somethings we would be doing this year. Then we started our 'A.M. Schedule'... Music was first... we sang the Old & New Testement Books songs (aden just danced around)...

Then we did our Math Meeting. During Math Meeting, we go through calendar, counting, money, time, estimation, weather, and more! Aden 'helped' Mr. Bus Driver do a little cleaning during our math meeting.

Next on the schedule was 'Special' (which could be anything really)...but today it was a Time Capsule project. Both kids traced their hands, drew pics of their family, drew a pic of what they want to be when they grow up, wrote numbers to 20 (aden counted which we wrote them), cut out some shapes, and filled out a questionare about themselves. They placed all of these items into a 'time capsule' that will be opened in May, so they can see how much they have grown and learned! :)

Next was Art--Kendyl's FAVORITE time. Today we painted self-portraits. :)

Next was Storytime. Read Are the Apples by: Marc Harshman & Cheryl Ryan and Green Eggs and Ham by: Dr. Seuss. For each book, we found the rhymns and wrote some of them on our word wall, talking about the 'patterns' of letters and practicing their spelling. Aden then went outside to play with Daddy, while Kendyl and I read the first chapter of Junie B., First Grader (at last!) by: Barbara Park

We had some 'extra' time... so Kendyl had a free choice... she chose to play some phonics games on the computer :)

For lunch, the kids wanted to have a picnic, but it was TOOO windy... so, we laid a blanket on the living room floor and had a picnic inside! :) The kids were SO excited because I had packed them lunches in their lunch boxes (just like if they went to public school) :)

After lunch, Daddy did a Bible lesson/memory work with them.

Then of course, RECESS!!! :) David and the kids played t-ball and ran around :) Aden and Daddy stayed outside and played 'army guys' while Kendyl and I went in for Science.

I must say, Kendyl LOVES this Science book & lessons! It is one used by many schools (public and private), Science a Closer Look (macmillan/mcgraw-hill)... a friend gave us an extra copy she had... can't beat free curriculum!! :) Today we did an overview of scientific method and introduced vocabulary words: observe, compare, classify, measure, record data, model, communicate, and scientist.

After science, Mr. Bus Driver and Aden came in and we all played A to Z jr. :)

Kendyl did 2 phonics review practice sheets and read a book to her doll. She is excited to do her 'homework'--lol... she is going to write a 'fiction story'. Each week she chooses 3+ writing assignments that she does on her own (as she does them, she marks them off with stickers on her writing chart)... she can choose from things like; writing stories, writing letters to friends, making signs,etc. that you would use at a store, library, etc., making lists of things... and on and on.

After all her hard work today, she relaxed and watched a movie (and is now getting ready to write her story!).

Great first day of the year! Excited for tomorrow! Aden will be going to the Fremont Christian School Preschool with Mrs. Breuker and Mrs. Wyn! He is VERY excited! :)

So, tonight, we must all go to bed early and sleep through the night! Tomorrow will be another GREAT day! :)