If I had to sum up our first day of school here at the Ward house in one word, it would be “hectic.” But hey, that is just my life right now.
Because of some changes in our business, I have to go into town and close the donut shops every day around noon. So I decided to pick up my teenage nieces Stormie and Rachael from their house while I’m in town every day and start our school time at 1:00pm every day, saving their mom a trip out to my house. The plan was that their mornings would be spent doing their independent work, and then we could do more fun “together” work in the afternoon.
Well, it didn’t work that way on our first day. I had to add some other errands to my to-do list, and by the time 1:00pm rolled around, I was already tired. To top it off, we had a house showing at 1:15pm. So I had to keep all the kids at the table quietly doing their schoolwork while I showed the house.
After that, the kids finished their independent work that we didn’t have time to do in the morning, and we called it a day. It wasn’t the most inspiring first day of homeschool, but I’m planning to get through this week getting into a workable school routine and making next Monday our “Inspiration 2014-2015” pep rally day.
I did come up with a word for the school year: D.I.D. — which stands for Discipleship, Independence, and Diligence. These are three principles we are going to focus on this year. I shared this with the kids on our first day, and next Monday we will talk more about that. I also plan to unveil our History Unit Studies for the year, talk about our goals, and discuss field trips and rewards. (Here’s how I planned our 1800s America unit studies for this year.)
So while this wasn’t my ideal first day or first week back to school, I have have learned over the years to be a flexible homeschooler and re-plan on the fly. We don’t always have a picture perfect start to the new school year (as my sister-in-law Renée shared last week), but the beauty of homeschooling is that you can make adjustments when life happens. This year, we definitely appreciate the flexibility!
Have you started back to school in your homeschool yet? If so, how did your first day back to school go? What are you most looking forward to in your homeschool plans for this year?
We are easing slowly into our school year. ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
Easing in seems like a great plan, Phyllis! It’s easy to feel disappointed when we plan to hit the ground running and then things don’t go as planned. Slow but steady is working for us right now while I heal from a broken foot. Thanks for sharing, may you have a blessed new school year!
My family is about to dive into the 1800’s. I was wondering if you have specific lesson plans from your 1800’s study. Would you be willing to share them? Thank you, Heather