Twas the night before school and, all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Mama bustling about . . .
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| Children's work table ready |
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| Children's daily work boxes organized and filled |
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Mama's desk and computer ready for me to rotate children on an off of it:
busy work to occupy one while I work with the other! |
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| Curriculum designed and stored in a pretty binder to help me feel cheerful |
The morning did not start as well as I'd envisioned. I was going on three-and-a-half hours of sleep. The morning routine was just plain
off. I didn't cook the fun and fancy family breakfast I'd planned to make. And as soon as I got everyone seated and ready to go, a certain toddler needed to visit the potty, which really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was so frustrating to weak little me in that moment!
Nonetheless, I got the children gathered, Daddy led us in prayer for our first day of school, and we were off to the races.
Because Joseph is off nap routine due to our vacation, he was actually awake during most of school time. I rotated him through various entertainments in the room.
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| At six-and-a-half months, Joseph is starting to wriggle and fling himself in efforts to achieve some locomotion. |
I rotated Margaret around also. If she were happy playing by herself, I left her alone but, if she showed that she was going to start being disruptive, I'd give her some attention. We read a couple of her favorite books during the beginning Circle Time.
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| We built blocks. |
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We matched colors
--and actually John asked me, "Mama, could I please teach her colors instead of you?" so I accepted his offer. (Margaret is wearing her regular dress, an angel costume over that, with the outfit completed by a camouflage soldier's jacket.) |
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| She colored in a special coloring book from the collection which will only come out during school time. |
School must have made an impression on Margaret (2) because, as I listened to her in the dark at bedtime, she was pretending to read, holding up the bed sheets as if they had letters on them. "H-I-J, that spells 'fan'! J-K-L, that spells 'ceiling'! H-I-J, that spells 'door'! Yes, I answered the question! I am reading!"
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| In our homeschool, uniforms are not required, thus one may wear one's lion costume, if one wants. |
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| Taking turns having computer time (Starfall today) was popular. |
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| Mary and I read the Treasure Box series over the summer as catechism doubling as special mother-daughter time. Now she is starting her first official catechism and she was shrieking with delight at being such a Big Girl. |
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| The most popular novelty of the day: having snacks packed in their little snack drawers and being allowed to eat them at the work table. |
The morning felt very intense and focused to me, but looking back I should consider it quite successful: From 9:00 to 11:15, we covered Circle Time (prayer, Bible story, read-aloud), five subjects for John and five for Mary, snack time, potty breaks, a diaper change, and my having to step away to nurse the baby down to nap. Pretty good! (I need to remember this on days I can't see the forest for the trees and I'm knocking on Chris' office door to cry to him about what a failure I am.)
Hafsa:
ReplyDeleteYour children are appreciably younger than mine, but maybe some of these ideas would work anyway:
I bet your kids are too young to manipulate the computer, but I would consider using TV for that time, or a little portable DVD player with a saint video.
I've printed out and laminated many FREE preschool work boxes from Confessions of a Homeschooler. But, again, most would require your involvement with the children.
http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/my-printables
I have figured out some good toys that are engaging and one could make them more engaging by having them come out only during therapy time each week. If you're trying to keep the children out of the way, they should be noiseless toys. :)
Play-doh keeps my children really quiet, especially if I give them plastic forks and knives to cut it up.
Audio book on CD with headphones on? Or favorite audio CD of music? (Suggestion good probably only for your 3-year-old.)
Cutting up old catalogs is always popular.
Wonderful first day! Glad you're back- I've missed your posts. I love Margaret's attire! Also, I think you covered an amazing amount in just over two hours.
ReplyDeleteI've been easing back into blogging, and I have my second grade plans up if you're interested: http://thisordinarytime.blogspot.com/
Yay for the first day of school and for you making a blog post. I'm pushing it back again until next week. I'm having such a hard time getting ready because I am totally done at the end of the day I have not energy to work at night, which is tragic because I need focused computer time. And now I've been feeling well during the day but at night I get sick. No outings for us this week as I get ready for school!
ReplyDelete