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Easing into our Homeschool Year

6 September, 2013; Filed Under: homeschool

This week, we celebrated our official First Day of School!

For the first time in my eight years of homeschooling, I actually remembered to do a First Day photo, complete with our homeschool mascot! (Who didn’t pose exactly where I wanted, but whatever. It’s still cute!)

first day of homeschool collage

Easing into the Homeschool year:

Even though this was our first week of the school year, we’ve spent recent weeks easing into our routine. Kathryn has been doing online Hebrew lessons, and started LEGO class and Choi Kwang Do a few weeks ago. We’ve been doing “morning time” with the kids already, too. Most of the time, Kathryn leads the kids in this; she enjoys playing teacher!

{Read more about our Morning Board and Calendar Time.}
morning board calendar time
It amazes me how much just one year in public school ingrained certain ideas in Scout’s mind. We’re working on overcoming that. It’s hard to get across the idea that so much of what we do is “school” even if we aren’t sitting at a table doing workbook pages! However, she has deemed first grade as fun. “Fantastic,” in fact!

homeschool tablework

As I expected, Jem wanted to sit at the table to do schoolwork like his big sisters. When I was done working with Scout, I let him do a couple of pages a day in his preschool workbooks. It only takes about 10 minutes but it makes him feel like BIG stuff! He grinned the whole time. 😉

preschool workbook

Brain breaks are necessary!

We are making sure to take brain breaks and burn off some little kid energy periodically throughout the day. Crab walking, somersaults down the hallway, running around in the yard, or enthusiastic frog jumps all do the job; they get us laughing and get the wiggles out.

frog jump

Read-alouds are fun!

Sometimes I’m the one to read to the littles; sometimes Kathryn does, especially when it’s a fun book like Sheep in a Jeep! Jem always wants to listen in on Scout’s readings, and she always wants to listen in on his. Which actually works out great because she can practice reading on easier books like the ones I choose for him, and he can practice listening without interrupting 100ish times!

homeschool read alouds

As for Kathryn’s literature, she is currently immersed in The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, and loving it. I’ll be on the lookout all year for any historical fiction related to Georgia since that’s our history/geography focus. She enjoyed Remember My Name by Sara Banks, about the Trail of Tears; a good story even though it’s below her reading level. I have Only the Names Remain by Alex Bealer in her to-read stack, too. All three were available at our local library, which is always a good thing in regards to budget. Due to our book addiction, however, we often end up purchasing the books we really love so we have them at our fingertips anytime!

Overall, our first week went really well.

This is a whole new experience for all of us. I’ve never had more than one young child or such different levels. Kathryn is really enjoying helping in teaching her little siblings but they can be challenging. Scout is learning that homeschooling isn’t just like school at home. We’re all still getting used to each other in general; the kids have been with us six months now, and…

…our adoption finalization is on the calendar for THIS month!

In the coming weeks, we’ll gradually add in “extras” like poetry, art, and more nature study. I’m working on planning a few fun field trips, too!

I’ll be joining these link-ups:
– Collage Friday at Home Grown Learners
– Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
– Homeschool Journal at So You Call Yourself a Homeschooler?

Jamie

Wife, mama, homeschooler, dog-wrangler. Introvert who finds joy in good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Fitness enthusiast and strength coach. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand.

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Whitney
Whitney
6 September, 2013 2:00 pm

What great milestones! I’m so excited for your finalization! Praying for you all!

Reply
Jonnia
Jonnia
6 September, 2013 2:02 pm

Sounds like a terrific start! I absolutely love the photos!!!

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Michelle C.
Michelle C.
6 September, 2013 4:50 pm

Looks like a great start! Love the photos too.

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Mary
Mary
6 September, 2013 4:52 pm

Uh oh! Jeep won’t go! — I adore Sheep in a Jeep! When I see this book I can just hear each of my children reading it along with me when they were little. Sniff. 🙂

It looks like you are adjusting nicely, Jamie – I keep thinking how blessed all three of these children are this year!

Reply
Kara
Kara
6 September, 2013 5:04 pm

looks like a great first week!! Congrats on getting your date on the calendar!!

Reply
Christy
Christy
6 September, 2013 5:26 pm

Kathryn looks like she is adjusting well to being a big sister. I love the pictures of all three of them working together, and it is an adorable first day of school picture – even if Lacy didn’t pose perfectly. How exciting about the adoption finalization!

Reply
Jessy at A Great Balancing Act
Jessy at A Great Balancing Act
6 September, 2013 6:18 pm

:giggle: Love the jumping photo of the 3! Fun! And Kathryn – what a super school helper to the younger kids!

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May
May
6 September, 2013 7:50 pm

How exciting about the adoption finalisation! It is amazing how much all your children look like each other. It’s not an important thing in the scheme of things but it is pretty cute! Those little toes on the sofa are adorable. Have a great school year 🙂

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Deb
Deb
6 September, 2013 8:12 pm

Adoption Finalization! WooHoo!

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Zephyr Hill
Zephyr Hill
6 September, 2013 11:02 pm

I’m so glad the finalization is on the horizon! It looks like your year is off to a great start. Your schoolroom looks so cheerful and inviting, no wonder the kids love learning there.

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Rebecca
Rebecca
6 September, 2013 11:54 pm

Congratulations on the upcoming finalization! Also, thank you for listing some of the Cherokee books that you guys are reading. Firecracker and Rose are interested in Indians right now, but we don’t have any Cherokee books yet, and we live here in Georgia. 🙂

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Tricia @ Hodgepodge
Tricia @ Hodgepodge
7 September, 2013 7:05 am

I absolutely love all the fun photos – from the jumping and reading and workbooks to the 1st day of school photo with the school mascot! Congratulations on a first official week!

Reply
Jessica
Jessica
7 September, 2013 7:13 am

I adore the picture of the kids jumping! Congratulations on your transition to homeschooling three children. I wish you all the best for this new year.

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Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
7 September, 2013 2:54 pm

I’m so excited for you all that the adoption finalization is coming up so soon! Love the “brain break” picture. So cute. I’m glad the first week went so well. Give the school mascot a pat on the head for me. 🙂

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Ruth
Ruth
7 September, 2013 3:03 pm

Love the sheep books. Congratulations on the finalization. It’s a good feeling to have things permanent. Interesting things happen. Mine, a former runner, told me a few weeks later that he had decided not to run anymore. This at 4 1/2 years old.

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Tonia
Tonia
7 September, 2013 7:12 pm

Love the first day pic! You have such a beautiful family – congrats on the adoption finalization (I’m an adopted child – well all grown up now! – so adoption is very close to my heart).

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Mary
Mary
8 September, 2013 2:16 am

Love the picture of them all in the air – priceless! Congrats on your upcoming finalization, I am praying all goes perfectly!

Reply
Nicole @ Journey to Excellence
Nicole @ Journey to Excellence
8 September, 2013 11:57 pm

So excited for you about the upcoming adoption! 🙂

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