And the year begins...

Today was our first day of the 2011-2012 school year! I can't believe I have a 5th grader, 1st grader, and a "K-4er". This is our 5th year in this homeschooling journey so you would think by now I would have it all figured out! The problem is that each year the kids get a year older and enter a whole new grade--imagine that. So, each year is all new! Of course, I have taught Paul the grades that Zach and Molly are now in--BUT, my kids definitely prove that every child learns differently! This means that nothing that I used with Paul works with Zach or Molly and nothing that I used with Zach works with Molly. With all that said, this was a great first day of school! Everything went smoothly and the kids were so excited about the new year and their new books! There's nothing like a brand new book to get some excitement going around here!

A few pics of our first day..
Zach decorating his notebook. He is my "symmetrical child". Every thing he creates is perfectly symmetric. And if it's not he just about loses it!


Molly decorating her notebook. Symmetry definitely doesn't appeal to her. Her philosophy is "the more the better".


And Paul...he is not as "into" decorating his notebooks as the other too. He goes for simple and "cool"


The kiddos were so excited about this new book I just bought to go along with our review of "Before Five in a Row". They love the song but never knew there was a book. With all the excitement I knew this would make a great book to start off the year.


And look, it's a cool pop-up book. Even Paul loved this book!


The little guys made grass to go along with the book. We are going to do mud tomorrow (that should be really fun!)





Paul was really excited about his new Math curriculum, Teaching Textbooks. It is all on the computer!


Molly worked diligently on number recognition and counting.


Zachary continues to amaze me with how smart he is and how well he does. He is working on Abeka math here and didn't want to stop. He has matured so much in the last 6-8 months and adores school. He had a hard time going to sleep last night he was so excited about school starting and then he wanted to get started before breakfast this morning.



Outside time turned in to a science lesson. The kids found a very unique caterpillar in the yard and we tried to figure out what kind it is but haven't been able to find it online yet.



It's black and "spiky" with red dots. Very interesting! We currently have it in a cup with some leaves and dirt so we can figure out what it is. We will release it tomorrow.



Molly worked really hard on her fine motor skills and sorting using these cool kids chopsticks I found this weekend at The School Box. Her little hands get tired very easily and her "little thumb" is a little out of place and very short so it's a challeng for her, but she is ALWAYS up for a challenge. She used her other hand some too, which I wish I had gotten a picture of because her hand specialist would have been extremely impressed.



Zach loved this activity but it did try his patience. I have seen this activity in several places online and knew he would love it. It's so simple. You push golf tees in to styrofoam and put the marbles on top. It's wonderful for fine motor skills as well as patience to get all the marbles to stay on.




I just realized I don't have near as many pictures of Paul as I do the other two. He worked so hard today. We are really stepping it up a notch for him this year so he was busy reading and doing what he calls "real" school. It really was a great day. I am totally and completely exhausted but it's all worth it.

I am so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to teach my own kids! I am amazed at how God has provided and how He has lead us down this path. I could NOT do it without Him. I am also truly thankful for a husband that totally and completely supports and believes in home educating. He doesn't care that we have baskets of school material all over our home and the kids workboxes have taken over our breakfast nook. He doesn't even care that we have maps taped to the bay window. He whole-heartedly believes that this is how God intended for us to raise our kids. It truly is a blessing!


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