Sunday, September 25, 2011

Surviving the First Month!

The first month has felt like hanging on to the back of a speeding train. We started before I was fully prepared, but it has been just go, go, go ever since we began that I haven't had a chance to catch my breath (or catch up!) Here are our first day of school photos...


New supplies always generates big smiles!

Our 1st grader, 4th grader, and Preschooler!

So far the big challenges are dealing with two children who are each supposed to be doing a full day of school, as opposed to last year when Ron was in kindergarten and we kept things light. Adding to the complexity is the fact that Dobby is now in preschool for 3 days per week, so that means we have to incorporate a number of interruptions to get him to and from school. Let's just say we are doing more car schooling than last year!

But it's been a fun year already thus far as well. Here is the curriculum list:

Harry--4th Grade
--My Father's World, Creation to Greeks and Story of the World, Ancient Times
--Singapore Math, 2B/3A
--New American Cursive, Book 3
--Writing Strands 3 and Classical Writing Aesop
--Spelling Power
--First Language Lessons 4
--Latin for Children

Ron--1st Grade
--My Father's World, 1st Grade
--Singapore Math, 1A
--Copybook, Memoria Press
--Writing With Ease 1
--Spelling Workout A
--First Language Lessons 1
--Song School Latin

I try to combine Harry and Ron when possible for history and science, but still they do more separate than together, and that is causing most of the challenge for the year. As for Dobby, well, I have tons of write-and-wipe books, and we also do Ordinary Parents' Guide to Reading when we can fit it in! And he has started cello lessons, which is another added complication this year--albeit a fun one as he follows the steps of his big brothers in music-making! Here is Dobby sitting for the first time with his cello, and his first day of preschool!




We've been having fun enjoying our emphasis on Ancient/Old Testament history, which has included celebrating Old Testament feasts and rituals. We celebrated our first shabbat ("Sabbath") in the company of good friends for Dobby's 4th birthday, which included homemade challah bread with special coverings created by Harry and Ron.






Other highlights include...


Becoming amateur archaeologists...


Studying pyramid and cube structures...

Creating a model of the Nile River...
 
Even Dobby can help flood the Nile!

Studying trees by doing bark rubbings...

Building a step pyramid out of sugar cubes...

Creating our sukkah for the Feast of Tabernacles...

Reading from Deuteronomy 16 in the sukkah!
There is more to say, but to finally get this up and posted I'll stop here! Let's see if I can get the next post up before November! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

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