Tuesday, August 21, 2012

First Day of School

 Isaac's first day of 1st Grade!
 Claire's first day of preschool!
Just another day of awesome for Evie! (but with a backpack like everyone else :)

Today was the first day of school for us.  We've joined a Classical Conversations group here, and after their orientation last week, the kids could not WAIT to get to school.  They jumped out of bed, barely ate their special breakfast, obsessed over the packing of lunches and backpacks, and bundled into the car in record time. 

Eve had a bit of a rough start in the nursery class (due to some other unsettling screamers), but she settled down, and I spent my morning in Claire's class.  Classical Conversations is a homeschool program from a Christian, classical perspective.  There is a lot of memory work, but the tutors work so hard to make it fun, hands-on, and engaging.  I was really impressed with Claire's teacher.  It can be hard to bring some of the concepts they're learning down to a 4 year old level, but she really did it.  Claire has memorized the continents effortlessly today, and we learned other things like skip counting by 2s, the first 5 of the 10 Commandments, prepositions, geography of the Fertile Crescent, and Latin cases. Isaac is learning the same information in his class, which makes reviewing it at home really streamlined and fun.  I so appreciate that they set the memory work to music, because that helps all of us (but especially Claire). 

This is our first year of homeschooling, so there's going to be a lot of trial and error I'm sure.  So far though, I'm excited to have a group we're plugged in with that is making learning so engaging and fruitful for my kids, and I like the safety net it provides for me.  I hope it works out in the long run.

The kids were super excited for today.  We still have more fun "First Day" things, like mac n cheese, ice cream, and a movie night.  It's been a great first day.  But tomorrow is really my first day...I hope it goes well! Wish me luck :)
Musical Chairs memory activities


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