Friday, September 14, 2012

First Two Weeks of School


It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but now that we're homeschooling full-time, I wanted to post some pictures of what we're doing and give an idea of what we're doing all day long. However, I think I need to offer a disclaimer: Unless you're actually related to Henry and Elizabeth, this post (and in fact, this entire blog) may be a little too detailed. So, consider yourself warned! 

It's been great first two weeks of kindergarten homeschool. We've gotten into a pleasant flow to the days, spending about 2 or so hours a day on what might be considered "official" school. 

One of the highlights of the day is definitely the half hour or so Henry and I spend on math each afternoon while Elizabeth naps. (Math, of course, is the one subject I insist we do uninterrupted.) It's such a joy to have a student who enjoys math as much as his teacher. I love the curriculum we're using (RightStart, for anyone who cares) and it's so fun to see Henry just absorb the information like a sponge. 

Our other highlight has been the Five in a Row curriculum. Each week, I choose a book from the guide and we reread the book each day of the week, paying attention to a different aspect of the book each day. So, this week, we read Night of the Moonjellies, a gorgeous book about a boy who helps his grandmother at her hot dog stand on the New England coast and then goes to see bioluminescent jellyfish later that night. 

So, in conjunction with the book, we watched video of jellyfish, read about sea creatures, experimented with pastels, found New England on a map, and created our own hot dog stand for dinner. It's a little haphazard for a logical, sequential person like myself, but I love the novelty and spark that it injects into our days.


Experimenting with pastels
Henry's Pastel Creations



The menu for the hot dog stand. All the items are from the book, but Henry chose the prices (and used his toy cash register to ring up Greg's "purchase.") Onion rings were kind of pricy!
Enjoying our greasy feast.


Elizabeth enjoying her milkshake. 
We also went on our first field trip with our homeschool field-trip co-op.  Today, we had a tour of PetSmart and then had a picnic with a bunch of homeschool families afterward. I'm so grateful to get to be part of this co-op, thanks to my dear friend Sammy who's a few years ahead of me in homeschooling and decided to organize some families to have fun together this year. The pet store was a hoot--since we don't have pets, Henry didn't really understand everything pets need. Elizabeth was just delighted, especially by the dogs at the doggie day care. 
Lastly, a few pictures of the past few weeks that were too cute not to share.

Elizabeth displaying all the loot that her doting big brother bought her at our neighbor's garage sale.
Elizabeth has discovered that she can do Duplos now, and was very pleased with herself for building such tall towers.
How I found Henry after out field trip today.
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