I decided to use Labor Day as our first day of school, mostly because we're going on the homeschooling cruise all next week, and I thought it would be a good idea to get a week of routine in beforehand.
We're in the middle of the morning, and all has gone swimmingly. The girls were excited to start school; Madison didn't even want to take a shower and do breakfast first. But the fact of the checklist routines that I've printed out really motivated her to get it done and checked off. I like crossing things off lists, myself.
The thing that has excited them most, to my surprise, has been the fact that I gave them each their own little journals. They even want to bring them on the cruise next week. "I'm going to write in it every single day!" said Ella. They've finished karate practice, decorating their folders, and handwriting so far (it's 10:30), and they were so wild to write in their journals that I'm letting them do it now. Madison just came up to me.
"Mom, can I write crazy nonsense words in my journal and spell them any way I want?"
"Yes, of course. You can do anything you want in a journal. No one is even going to look at it."
"OK, good. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any Journal Rules."
Despite how pleased she was to get the journal and adamant that no one should ever look in it, Madison just read to me the first part of her first entry.
Update: Those journals were the best 50-cents-apiece that I've ever spent. (Yay Michael's Crafts!) We went to the last Red Wings game of the season this afternoon as a celebration of a successful first day, and both girls brought their journals. We got back at 5pm and Madison has been outside the whole time, writing her story in her journal and stopping to play on her own to "get inspired."
Ella did some writing as well, but after cooking with me for a while is now exploring the model of the human body I got this summer. She can't wait until tomorrow, so I let her do it on her own. It has a stethoscope that you can really use.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sounds like a great first day! Do you have a link to the human body model? That seems like something my son would be interested in.
Have fun on the homeschooling cruise. That sounds cool, too.
Here's a link to the human torso model/game:
http://www.toysrus.com/sm-edu-science-human-body-learning-game-with-bonus-stethoscope--pi-2333467.html
Post a Comment