First Week of School

The last two weeks Facebook has been overrun with photos of adorable children holding signs and going off to the first day of school.  

As a home school family we have no such photos to share, but we have had a busy first week of school.  Similar to how I remember public schools went, this first week has been a time of transitioning back into a routine and finding out where the kids are in their education and where they can go.

Here are a few photos of the first week of school at Lindsay Academy:

We did some table work our first week.  Micah needs to work on his hand writing, Sunny is still barely reading, and Amelia is doing well but needs some help with reading comprehension.

Leif seems to have decided this year he will focus on home ec/life skills, even though most schools do not do it until much later.  He wants to take up knitting and promised me a new washcloth.  It took me an hour to untangle the yarn.

And he is teaching Kimberly how to make mud pies.  This meant two kids in the tub in the middle of the day.  Personal hygiene counts as a Life Skill.

I did not purchase a curriculum for any of the kids this year.  We are using more of a Charlotte Mason approach.  I did splurge on this set from Spielgaben, which will really help with their thinking skills,  Kimberly loved it and was working on her eye/hand coordination, Amelia is working on looking at the photo and copying the blocks.  

Leif is also working on catching bugs...maybe to cook for a class?  He has a grasshopper in the jar.

Quiet time is going to be an absolutely essential part of our school day.

I am sure the kids will benefit from it too.

Leif even brought his grasshopper up for quiet time.  

Dante is home also, and when pushed he will do amazing things for me.  But I cannot do everything hand over hand with him AND home school the triplets, AND give Leif the time my little four year old needs AND help Kimber reach her full potential.  What helped me realize this was our short little walk to the Library on Thursday for story hour.  Who knew walking 50 yards with these kids could be made such a trial by Dante.

I called the school, and we have an IEP meeting scheduled for him next week.  Considering last year at this time we were 90 days without an IEP meeting, getting one 10 days away was pretty impressive...the new team chair could be good...it also helps that I found out his favorite aide has been moved back to his classroom. 

So I am looking forward to a good year at home with the kids, taking it one week at a time and always seeking God's will for us.