"Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12



“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”- William Butler Yeats





Monday, August 23, 2010

AMAZING!!!

Nothing short of that. Just AMAZING!

That's how our first day of homeschool went.

The day started off bright and early. I was up at 5:30 and the little ones soon followed by 7:00 a.m. They were beyond excited. I was nervous. I wasn't sure how I was going to keep everyone focused, working hard and having fun all at the same time.

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We began our day with a morning prayer asking God to anoint Mama's Homeschool and to help us all be good listeners and respectful of each other.

I then went to the chart where each child was assigned two jobs for the week. I loved watching their eyes light up when their name was called and I explained what their job was and how important it was. Everyone took their job ultra-serious! They were so cute!

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The proud Pledge leader.

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Saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

Kai was the Pledge leader, so he got to hold up our flag while we saluted with hands over our hearts. We discussed a bit about what the flag means and why we need to honor it. That totally changed their attitude and you could almost see a twinkle in their eye as they recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

We then did some bible study and talked about Jesus and his love for his children, followed by a very fun rendition of the Hokey Pokey but instead of singing "You put your (insert body part) in and you turn yourself around" you say, "You give your heart to Jesus and He turns your life around.....that's what it's all about!" They loved it! We laughed and played twice to appease the chants for "More!"

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Turning themselves around during the Hokey Pokey dance.

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After that, we had Reading/Spelling. This is the only area where I had to sort of split myself in three. Anna Grace is not at the level I expected her to be and AJ is a bit more advanced that PK level, so I'm gonna bump him up and I will be able to teach them both the same levels. Kai was doing great and is definitely at a beginning first grade level.

Then our line leader, Anna Grace, led the line downstairs for snack time. They sat for a few minutes drinking juice and eating grapes while talking about how much they enjoyed Mama's Homeschool. Our snack time was scheduled for 15 minutes, but after 10 minutes, they were chomping at the bit to get back upstairs. We did this right after the "Zookeeper", AJ, did his job of feeding the dog.

We then had Spanish, which Kai claimed to be his favorite part of the day. They were so funny and cute. I'm assigning 3 words a week for them to use at all times. Each time I hear the word during the day/night, they will receive a point which will be accumulated towards a prize towards the end of the week. So, I've now heard "Abre la Puerta" (open the door) many times in addition to them telling me they live in a "casa" (house).

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At the end of the day, drawing a picture of what their favorite part of the first day of school was.

Math was fun. We rolled dice in a game I made up. 1 die for AJ, 2 for Anna Grace and 3 for Kai. Once the dice were rolled, they had to add up the total and then I'd assign a certain task for them to do. For instance, Anna Grace rolled a 2 and a 3, after she'd tell me the total of 5, I'd ask her to take 5 bunny hops to the other side of the room. There were pretty creative making elephant noises, crawling like inchworms and even stomping like Megatron.

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So cute! Here they are making "bubble faces" when I flicker the lights. That's there sign that it needs to be quiet.

Recess outside was rained out so I let them play with their toys for a little while, but they were anxious to get back to school. We came back upstairs spent a few minutes doing the "wiggle the wiggles out of us dance" and had story time, followed by lunch.

After lunch was science. I was very impressed with how much their little brains could take in. I planned on speaking about our planet. Instead, they were filled with questions about the sun, the stars and Kai even brought up the "solar system". Our time allotted for Science went well over double of what was planned.

We ended the day with music and singing two silly Mama versions of "Joy in my Heart" and "B-I-N-G-O" and then a final thanksgiving prayer.

We could not have asked for a more perfect first day of school, especially after hearing them repeatedly say, "Mama's Homeschool is the best!" ::insert swollen heart:: and for all of it, to God be the glory!



15 comments :

Tracy said...

Glad you had a great first day! Looks like it was fun.

Cheri said...

Sounds like it was a great first day. Now, keep it up all school year! That is the hardest part!

Melanie said...

wow It looks like they had so much fun =) and I guess you too!

Patricia said...

LOVE IT!! Congrats on a successful first day!! Looks like it was lots of fun!

Holly said...

Smiling big here. You are so cute! Did you ever teach public school? :)
Josiah would like to attend Miss O's homeschool too...this Mommy is not nearly as organized :)

sara said...

I am so impressed and so glad your first day went great!!!

Angie in TX said...

Awwww, so cool and sweet! I hope you have many more awesome days like today.

Angie

He & Me + 3 said...

That is just awesome. I am so glad to hear that the day went so well. I wish I had it in me to homeschool. Praying

Aus said...

Humm - who had the better first day - the students or the teacher? ;)

Happy for you guys - great stuff -

hugs - aus and co.

The Ferrill's said...

Yay for a GREAT first day! Oh how I loved reading every detail of the fun! Your three students are VERY BLESSED! They seem like such eager learners!
Hope the rest of the week is even more fun!
Love yall,
Laine

The Byrd's Nest said...

Oh what a fabulous day!! I am totally stealing the Hokey Pokey word change:)

What a wonderful day my friend....I am so happy for you AND your babies in Mama's homeschool!!!

P.S. We are going to incorporate Spanish too:)

Keisha said...

Hope you have a GREAT Year! May they continue to LOVE Momma's homeschool, grow in knowledge & in Jesus!!!

Kuddos to you Momma!

Sara said...

Oh what fun!!! You're awesome!

Last night I was talking to a 23yr.old and she said that she was homeschooled and LOVED every second of it. Her parents started when she was entering 4th grade. They are now HS'ing all her younger siblings (4 of them). She was telling me about all the field trips (museums,zoo,nature walks..etc..) they did. She said, "It was so much fun and I'm so glad the Lord led my mom to do it."

Love your 1st day of O's School pictures. I'm doing the Hokey Pokey , Ohilda style, with the kids.

*don't know if you read the blog "Like a fish out of water", but she just started HS'ing and it looks like they are also having a blast. Sweet family. Check it out.

*so neat that you are doing Spanish :-)

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

It sounds like PURE FUN! What a wonderful, wonderful day Ohilda. The photos are great and I think I would like to attend too!!!!!

Kristy said...

You are just the greatest mom!!!

I love you, Kristy

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