The First Day

Did you love the first day of school when you were a kid?  I did...pristine school supplies, carefully chosen outfit, and butterflies.  The butterflies only lasted until I figured out how nice/mean/easy/hard my teacher would be, while the outfit was usually way overthought, and those school supplies only stayed pristine until we actually had to start learning something.

My kids feel the same way, except they wear uniforms.  This is everyone with their start-the-year Smarties.  It isn't a great picture because, frankly, I got so teared up that I couldn't really see through the viewfinder:

When did they get this big?!

 M is a 7th grader now and J is in 6th grade, so we now have two middle-schoolers.  P started 4th grade, while D is in 2nd grade.  And that isn't D's uniform, because she doesn't have one this year!  Wednesday was our first day as a homeschooling family.  I suppose that also means it was my first day as a teacher, too.

On our first day, we did Bible, spelling, math, and grammar.  We read the first bit of her history book, and D completed a time-line of her life.  She also started interviewing family members for a "Family History" booklet.  She ended the day with free reading time.  She was happy, and I was exhausted!

Yesterday we did science instead of history.  I've gotten a really neat science book (Real Science-4-Kids) but I think while it's nice outside we'll spend a lot of time doing nature-y things.  So we spent some time in the yard yesterday, pulling weeds and trimming flowers.  We also found two really cool animals in our yard and identified them.  Here is one of our friends:

D is loving having Mom all to herself.  At least twice she's said "I love homeschool!" just out of the blue.  But I have to say, we are a little intense together, and I think we will find our way to a routine that works for us.  We had a stressful day yesterday (involving many moving parts, including a trip to the ER) and late in the afternoon she just had a total meltdown.  So she is sleeping in today while I finally write this.

First Day flowers and an apple.  My husband is trying to get in good with the teacher.

As for me, I know I am falling prey to the worry that many homeschool moms have:  that I'm not doing enough, and that she'll fall behind and somehow not learn something critical to her getting accepted to the college of her choice.  That is something I just have to relax about.  We don't have to everything every day.  That is my new mantra, I think.  Or, maybe this:

Yes, I know, I've used it before.  But it works.  Sanity later.