First Day Of School!

We made it! We survived our first day of homeschooling! I'm probably going to be a little more optimistic about it, because it's over and all of the little humans are in bed, but still! It was fun, and I'm hoping that's the most important part.

Here's how it went, what I loved, and what I want to change tomorrow. 

You have to have a picture of the calendar, because otherwise, it's not official. 

Little Miss Bella. She loves climbing trees and imitating animals. When she grows up, she wants to be a horse trainer.

Little Miss Evelyn spends most of her day following Bella around. When she grows up, she wants to work at the bank with Daddy, become a hairstylist like our most favorite Miss Suzanne, or be a famous ballerina. 

I loved that all we had to do was walk back inside! The first few minutes of the morning will take some getting used to. Like, whelp, I guess we should do school now. I'm sure that will change as we get used to our routine, but it felt a little weird this morning, not rushing off to school, or yelling at Bella to put her shoes on.

Henry's interpretation of Math...Henry was a complicated part of today. He didn't sleep well last night, so he was cranky all morning, his nap schedule was off, and he was pretty needy. I know Henry is just a part of homeschooling that we'll have to adjust to, but I'm still figuring it out.

Bella rocked her schoolwork today! She is definitely a first-born and a rule follower. Last night, she told Steve that she was most excited about "the work". She and I worked pretty well together...I know there will be times when we don't, but it was a good first day!

Evelyn working on one of her quiet boxes. She spent a good amount of lacing beads on pipe cleaners and making all sorts of jewelry. These kept her busy for a good chunk of the morning while Bella and I were doing Math, so I'd call them a success!

Bella and her "All About Me" paper. It was fun to do some of the traditional back-to-school things, even though we're not in a traditional classroom. 

Evelyn is working on letters and sounds this year. We're doing a Letter-of-the-Week program, starting with vowels. She did a really good job this morning and stayed focused much better than I thought she would!

Evelyn's "A" craft today - an alligator eating a's. 

Bella spent some time this morning doing independent reading. This may have been my favorite time of the day! (And not because it was quiet.) It was so cool to get to watch her curl up in Steve's chair and read a book that I had assigned her. It's a children's biography of Jackie Robinson...not a horse book, or someone she's familiar with. But she read it and she kept reading! I assigned her Chapters One and Two, and she came bouncing up to me, saying she had read through Chapter Three, because she liked it so much! It was a quintessential "this is why" moment for me. 

Things That I Liked Today:

1. The way each girl focused on their work and really tried hard. 

2. Being able to make them whatever food I wanted for lunch and snacks.

3. The freedom of the schedule! Oh my goodness! This one was amazing!

Things That Are Going To Take some Crazy Patience:

1. Henry. Most of my strategy around Henry involves holding him or praying desperately. 

Working on this...

2. The girls wanting to do "Summer" things, like binge-watch Netflix, 

or constantly asking what we were doing next.

3. Being with the kids 24/7. I know this is an obvious one when you decide to homeschool, but still...

Okay! I think that's it! 

We learned and colored and read and laughed and whined and played. 

It was a good first day!