The oldest 3 girls this year are attending a local charter school instead of homeschooling. I was really nervous about it, knowing that they were behind in some areas but way ahead in others. Two of them had never attended a school at all, and Missa has only done half a year of K in school. Needless to say, my anxiety was running high this week before they started school on Thursday.
They got onto the bus at 6:45am just fine on the first day, although Kimmy was a bit grumpy because she's not a morning person anyway and wasn't too keen on the idea of going to school. The bus brought them home almost a full hour late that day, and poor Kimmy had fallen asleep on the bus so she wasn't too steady at first. Missa and Liddy loved school, and Kimmy hated it that first day. The second day I had to carry Kimmy to the bus and force her to get on it, which I did because we made the decision that if we withdraw any of the girls the decision will be made after Halloween, allowing them the opportunity to fully adjust and get a really good feel for the school. However, after school Kimmy hopped off the bus smiling and saying that she liked school a lot more.
Now I am having to listen to the 3 girls all complaining that they want to go to school and that they can't wait for the weekend to be over. They have this upcoming Friday and the following Monday off, giving them a 4 day weekend, and I just know that they aren't going to be too happy about it. I hope they can keep up the excitement at school for the rest of the year.
As far as Jojo is concerned, we start logging her attendance for OHVA tomorrow. So I'm going to spend today trying to get a fairly workable routine for lessons made out and looking over the lessons to be sure I have all the necessary supplies for the week.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
week 1 for Jojo
This week we started easing into our school routines with the kids. The older girls have to get on the bus at 6:30am, so we have been adjusting wake-up time to 5:30 so they can get dressed and eat before they get on the bus. This has gone pretty well, and yesterday we nailed the wake-up time perfectly and got them all fed and dressed like I need to in time.
Jojo, on the other hand, is having a harder time adjusting to school. We have another week still before I have to start logging attendance, so I have time to get her into it better. Now remember, she is a young K'er with her birthday being just a few weeks before the cutoff date in Ohio. She is still 4, and VERY much a 4 year old. I keep lessons short and sweet with her, breaking up the bigger stuff into little bits and adding in hands-on craft stuff to keep her going. She's working at a developmentally appropriate level for her age with the tweaking I'm doing, and I have no issues with it. This challenge we are working through right now is precisely WHY she isn't going to the charter school with her sisters. She really does need the extra time working with me before she's ready to head off to school too.
This week has been really interesting as far as trying to get a routine started with Jojo and her schoolwork. Having her sisters home all week (and half of the upcoming week as well) has made it a bit difficult to get into a routine with her; she keeps wanting to do her lessons and then getting distracted by their presence. So I'm just calling it good that we get anything at all done before they head off on Thursday to school.
Really, though, she has done a lot. We have completed the first unit in math (about 3 weeks of lessons, it was all review for her) and the first 2 units in phonics (again, review for her) on top of half the handwriting for the year (it was the same book we did with her last school year so she just sat down and did it all over the course of a few days for fun) and a few lessons in language arts and social studies. It has been a very productive week for her, even with the distraction of her sisters being here still all day.
I anticipate that next week when they head to school, it will be a completely different story for how Jojo does in her schoolwork. But, we have a picnic on Thursday and PJ has his 6 month checkup on Friday, so we'll see how much we get done those first two days of school.
Jojo, on the other hand, is having a harder time adjusting to school. We have another week still before I have to start logging attendance, so I have time to get her into it better. Now remember, she is a young K'er with her birthday being just a few weeks before the cutoff date in Ohio. She is still 4, and VERY much a 4 year old. I keep lessons short and sweet with her, breaking up the bigger stuff into little bits and adding in hands-on craft stuff to keep her going. She's working at a developmentally appropriate level for her age with the tweaking I'm doing, and I have no issues with it. This challenge we are working through right now is precisely WHY she isn't going to the charter school with her sisters. She really does need the extra time working with me before she's ready to head off to school too.
This week has been really interesting as far as trying to get a routine started with Jojo and her schoolwork. Having her sisters home all week (and half of the upcoming week as well) has made it a bit difficult to get into a routine with her; she keeps wanting to do her lessons and then getting distracted by their presence. So I'm just calling it good that we get anything at all done before they head off on Thursday to school.
Really, though, she has done a lot. We have completed the first unit in math (about 3 weeks of lessons, it was all review for her) and the first 2 units in phonics (again, review for her) on top of half the handwriting for the year (it was the same book we did with her last school year so she just sat down and did it all over the course of a few days for fun) and a few lessons in language arts and social studies. It has been a very productive week for her, even with the distraction of her sisters being here still all day.
I anticipate that next week when they head to school, it will be a completely different story for how Jojo does in her schoolwork. But, we have a picnic on Thursday and PJ has his 6 month checkup on Friday, so we'll see how much we get done those first two days of school.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
New school year has begun!
I only have a few minutes to post, so I'll try to keep it short here. Yesterday the OLS for Jojo's schooling was ready with her work, so we started lessons yesterday to get a head start on her schooling. I have to begin logging attendance on the 27th, so we're starting 2 weeks early, but OHVA can be a bit tedious at times so I wanted to be sure to ease her in to the workload properly instead of just jumping into it all with both feet on the 27th.
The older 3 girls start going to school on the 23rd, so they are helping me with this transition. I am trying to get us into a schedule of sorts for our days, and it isn't an easy transition for me to do this after 4 years of just kind of going with the flow. Missa and Liddy have been VERY helpful with this transition so that I can get into the swing of it without holding PJ constantly or wearing him in the carrier before I have to do it with him attached to me one way or another. I feel pretty good about how its going, although I can tell that this school year is going to be a real experience with Jojo as she still has the attention span of a gnat and can't sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time (which was our main reason for doing OHVA with her instead of sending her to the school her sisters will be attending).
As for the big girls, we are adjusting wakeup time so that they have adequate time to dress in their uniforms and eat before the bus comes at 6:35am to get them. None of us are doing well with the 5:30am wakeup, but we'll get there by the end of the week hopefully.
The older 3 girls start going to school on the 23rd, so they are helping me with this transition. I am trying to get us into a schedule of sorts for our days, and it isn't an easy transition for me to do this after 4 years of just kind of going with the flow. Missa and Liddy have been VERY helpful with this transition so that I can get into the swing of it without holding PJ constantly or wearing him in the carrier before I have to do it with him attached to me one way or another. I feel pretty good about how its going, although I can tell that this school year is going to be a real experience with Jojo as she still has the attention span of a gnat and can't sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time (which was our main reason for doing OHVA with her instead of sending her to the school her sisters will be attending).
As for the big girls, we are adjusting wakeup time so that they have adequate time to dress in their uniforms and eat before the bus comes at 6:35am to get them. None of us are doing well with the 5:30am wakeup, but we'll get there by the end of the week hopefully.
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Playing with friends
I sent an e-mail yesterday to a friend of mine to see if we could come play one day before the big kids start school in 15 days. We set up to do it this morning, and we had so much fun. It is very important as an at-home mom, especially a home educating mom, to get out with other moms and talk so that we don't forget how to do that stuff.
So, we showed up this morning to play and the girls were ecstatic at different playmates. And PJ got his first "play date" with a little boy just 6 weeks or so older than he is. I even got some pictures on my phone of the playing, but only 1 has made it to my computer right now. I got to spend a couple hours talking with Tristan from Our Busy Homeschool and the girls played with her 6 older children while she and I snuggled our sweet babies. I even got a chance to snuggle her little guy, he is so sweet and squishy.
And even better, it is one of those super rare pictures with me in it. I loved having both in my lap like that, but man I'm glad I was never given twins. That was just TOO heavy for me to do very long.
So, we showed up this morning to play and the girls were ecstatic at different playmates. And PJ got his first "play date" with a little boy just 6 weeks or so older than he is. I even got some pictures on my phone of the playing, but only 1 has made it to my computer right now. I got to spend a couple hours talking with Tristan from Our Busy Homeschool and the girls played with her 6 older children while she and I snuggled our sweet babies. I even got a chance to snuggle her little guy, he is so sweet and squishy.
And even better, it is one of those super rare pictures with me in it. I loved having both in my lap like that, but man I'm glad I was never given twins. That was just TOO heavy for me to do very long.
Sunday, August 05, 2012
shopping
I love having a little shopping buddy, and when the shopping buddy is THIS cute I just can't help but grin the entire time we're out doing this dreaded task (shopping is not something I enjoy doing, especially when it is food shopping trips).
Yes we were at WalMart. I had to go pick up the ingredients to make a cheesecake, as Scott's birthday is tomorrow and that is his absolute favorite dessert (I always do the birthday person's favorite meal and dessert, from scratch whenever possible). I also swung over to the baby department to get PJ a crinkle toy. This one that he got today is a teething blanket, its crinkly all over with 2 corners with chewing ends and a third with a squeaky thing.
Yup, my littlest shopping buddy makes the grocery store fun, especially since he's now sitting up well enough that he can hang out in the cart instead of me having to wear him all the time. He likes the new view too. The seatbelt in the cart provides just enough support for him to sit up for the trip.
Yes we were at WalMart. I had to go pick up the ingredients to make a cheesecake, as Scott's birthday is tomorrow and that is his absolute favorite dessert (I always do the birthday person's favorite meal and dessert, from scratch whenever possible). I also swung over to the baby department to get PJ a crinkle toy. This one that he got today is a teething blanket, its crinkly all over with 2 corners with chewing ends and a third with a squeaky thing.
Yup, my littlest shopping buddy makes the grocery store fun, especially since he's now sitting up well enough that he can hang out in the cart instead of me having to wear him all the time. He likes the new view too. The seatbelt in the cart provides just enough support for him to sit up for the trip.
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