S/o of who is starting school Tom.? What is our plan for tomorrow?

[Halcyon]

Okay I want to hear people's specific plans for tomorrow!

 

Here is ours:

8:00 to 9:00 eat breakfast, read books

9:00-10:00 oak meadow history and la

10:00 science and math

11:15 read aloud

12:15 lunch

1:00 latin if they are up for it

Then get an ice cream cone to celebrate first day, go help out a friend who just had her 4th and has mastitis and watch her kids. Pool, dinner, dr. Who, bed by 830.

 

That's our plan....I don't know how close we will get to it.

[regentrude]

I will get up at 6:20am, shower, fix breakfast.

Breakfast at 7am.

DS and I leave for campus at 7:20

DS will sit in on my first class 8-9am

DS will do independent school work in my office from 9 to noon (math, history, English)

while I go teach another class from 11 to 12

Lunch 12-1

Go home, work with DS until 2:30 or 3pm (we need to do Italian together)

 

DD will drive to campus in the morning, just not as early, work in the library on her school work, join us for lunch, go to her 2-3pm class, come home, ride her horse, work on her college app essays in the evening

[texasmama]

Both of those days sound lovely. :)

 

My kids start their independent work while I am at work tomorrow. I am paranoid I've forgotten something, but I have planned like crazy and prepped them thoroughly and can't see how it can go astray. Famous last words. :)

[Halcyon]

Good luck with the independent work! My kids are pretty good with it, thankfully, as I work 18 hours a week and need them to work alone sometimes.

[Halcyon]

Both of those days sound lovely. :)

 

My kids start their independent work while I am at work tomorrow. I am paranoid I've forgotten something, but I have planned like crazy and prepped them thoroughly and can't see how it can go astray. Famous last words. :)

Are you leaving your 8 yr old home with your 10 and 12 yo? I can't decide at what age I can leave m kids home alone while I work!

[texasmama]

Are you leaving your 8 yr old home with your 10 and 12 yo? I can't decide at what age I can leave m kids home alone while I work!

no, dh works at home so they are either with him or at my dad's house. I could leave the almost 13 year old with the almost 8 year old for a few hours, but the 10 year old would make that unwieldy. Lol

[marbel]

I'll get my kids up about 8.  We'll sit down together at about 8:30 when everyone's semi-coherent and catch up on some Bible study we've been neglecting. 

 

Then we'll do some history reading together.  I'll assign the kids some history work to be done by Friday.

 

We'll watch the first lesson of Economics for Everybody and talk about the workbooks that go with it.

 

Son and I will go to his doc appointment while daughter either comes along to be dropped off at  the library, or stays home to practice piano or read history.

 

After lunch each child will work on math and science, independently. 

 

A little Latin review.

 

Intro to The Inferno, probably just me reading the bit about it in Invitation to the Classics.   If there's time, we'll start reading the book.

 

That will probably do it for us.  It depends on how long the doctor appointment is.

 

If things go really fast, we have some history lectures to listen to.  But nothing goes fast around here.

[PachiSusan]

We start tomorrow as well. I don't have a set schedule of times, but of subjects and things we want to cover. Most of them is just acquainting ourselves with the books and expectations of the year, but I'm seeing that I might just have planned too much. I usually fill in the week but I only filled in the day with pencil so that I can erase!! LOL

 

In Art, Cursive, Music, PE, Reading, and Science, we're simply browsing the books and the scope of work for the year. 

 

English we are doing a review page to see where she is at.

 

History is the biggie - we have a Bill Nye Archaeology DVD, text book, fossils and What is History along with a book "Motel of the Mysteries" that we will be reading at night. 

 

Latin: Introduction

 

Math - 1 lesson to see where she is

 

Phonics - 1 page

 

Religion lots

 

Spelling - introduction of the lists

 

Vocabulary - First 5 words for the week. 

 

=====

 

We plan on starting at 9:30 and want to be finished by 2 pm each day. 

 

 

[EmilyGF]

Halcyon, thanks for this thread!

 

I think we'll start:

 

7 get up

7:20 breakfast

8: family sing

8:30 school - math, writing, etc

11 read alouds

12 German read alouds

12:30 lunch

 

then friend over for board game

 

and I love the ice cream idea!

 

Emily

[Ameena]

We don't start until next week {though I am toying with the idea of a soft start on Wednesday}, but here is our loose schedule.

 

7-8am I get up, do a bit of me time stuff, shuffle laundry & dishes, think about breakfast

8-9am dd gets up, we discuss breakfast, she normally eats breakfast while watching PBS kids {but we'll see how well that works with school - might have to do a rule of no TV until school is done}

9-10am start school, math or handwriting first, then SL Core B, then SL science B. Maybe a few english lessons in there too - need to see where dd is on English.

 

Not sure how long that will take us, but I'm hoping to be done by noon -1pm so we can have the afternoons free to run errands.

[...................]

These sound like good days here's ours:

 

We will have breakfast together (tomorrow is oatmeal).  THen we will take our pictures with their number grade and then we will start school.  They each have a test in Saxon math which they will each ace, (since we actually started at the beginning of the books for once!) and then they each are on Lesson 14 in their Calvert Lessons.  We will take one good recess at some point and then wrap it up at 3:00 no matter whether everything is finished.  

 

I am going to make them Home Made Hot CHocolate in the morning as a back to school treat if it's cool enough to enjoy that sort of thing in the morning. :o)

 

That's it!  I just hope I am more excited in the morning than I am now.  Right now I have about zero excitement.  

[kwg]

We are starting tomorrow also!  My children are less than excited.  They told me this so I am jsut hoping to get through it  :lol:   In the afternoon we are going to go play with friends  :hurray:

[swellmomma]

Ours tomorrow is not typical tomorrow but here it is

 

545am get up, get dressed, eat breakfast.

630am pick up babysitting girl and hit the road-have to drive to the city 2 hours away

840am ENT appt at the children's hospital for ds14

Once appt over head the 2 hours home.

1-3pm dd14 and babysitting girl have a birthday party to attend if we are back in time

330pm babysitting girl goes home

During the 1-330 time the boys will do math, writing and reading, and ds14 will work on his online class he didn't finish last term

At 330 The teens will do science, and dd will do her math, writing and reading

Then all 3 can get out of my hair to do the housework

Because we have babysitting girl all day everyday until ps starts and she is still under dd14s care it affects her school time, but this week from Tues-Friday will be a more typical schedule not like this chaotic Monday morning plan

[Joyofsixreboot]

We started last week but generally it shakes out like this:

Me up at 5:00, coffee, run, home by 7:00

Kids up at 7:00, veg, eat, chores

 

8:30-12 and 9 yo  do math independently while I do RS with 5yo

9:30-they do assigned history or science reading, I read to 5yo

10:00-snack

10:15-writing or spelling or pen to paper somehow

11:00-history project or science experiment

11:30-11:45-lunch

1:00-finish whatever we didn't get to, listen to Song School Latin, educational apps, educational games, something educational until 2:30 then they are FREE

 

[Kelly1730]

Great thread, Halcyon!

 

I'm up at 5:15 to fit in bible study, start laundry and some time on here:)

Shower, dress, make bed, unload dw

8:00-1st day of school breakfast, cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate and strawberries

boys have until 9am to do their own quiet time, dress, make beds, brush teeth and hair

9:00-Morning Meeting- new this year. Bible/prayer, memory work, poetry, music and math drill

also discuss day/week schedules, anything they need to know about week.

9:30-Classic Composition

10:00- Spelling/Grammar

10:30-Math-just review this week

11:00- Snack/Read Aloud

11:15-History

11:45-Famous Men of Rome

12:15-Piano/Bookbasket

12:45-Lunch

 

1st day of school surprise, Monsters University in 3D at the cheapie theater:) They will do another 15 minutes of piano in the evening and read for 30 minutes before bed.

My goal this week is to get back into our routine without too much gnashing of teeth (mine or theirs!). Next week we will add in Latin, Art and Science. PE will be swimming until DH closes the pool. 

[duckens]

We start today (Monday morning).

 

Our plans for today:

 

1) Piano

2) Math (13 lessons left in Saxon Math 2!)

3) Xtra Math

4) Typing (DanceMat)

5) Discussion of plans, hopes, and expectations this year

6) Swimming (Our neighborhood pool doesn't close for another two weeks or so.)

 

Let's have the best day we can!!!!

 

[2_girls_mommy]

We are still easing in here.  But today the general plan is:

 

9:00 First Form Latin unit 5 video lesson and wkbk pages for 11 yr old, handwriting sheet for dd9.  Play for dn4

 

10:00 math for both

 

11:00 early lunch

11:30 leave for gymnastics

1:30 dr. apt

whenever we get home: Memorywork review: presidents, states, books of the Bible,  read alouds: Trumpet of the Swan and SOTW chp. 32=33

 

Read to preschooler from Dr. Seuss, then she naps.

 

English w/dd9, English on her own for dd11

 

Play outside,

Piano practice

Reading on their own

[Seeking Squirrels]

We're starting next week but here's the plan:

 

8:00 wake up, grab a yogurt or something to tide over (the girls and I need something right away)

8:30 - DH takes the baby to get ready and play, 5yo and I start with calendar, phonics, and math

9:15 - DD and I get ready for the day while DH makes breakfast. Eat

10:00 - DH takes baby again. DD and I do handwriting and a once-weekly subject (science, geography, art, or languages)

10:45 - done for the morning and ready to leave for any 11 am play dates.

 

Sometime later we'll do about 30 minutes of read-alouds. But I can do that with baby so it will often be after DH goes to work. If we find we're not doing it then we'll schedule it in.

[Ali in OR]

Math and history only this week. They just got going on math at 9:30. When I get my disabled dd fed and settled in her routine, we'll do CNN student news and history. Then off to the library (we need to get Red Badge of Courage for history, plus return a bunch of stuff), and then maybe we'll all head to the pool. Supposed to be pretty hot the next few days and we want to still do some summer stuff while the schedule is light.

[Halcyon]

It is 1 and we are done for the day. We completed language arts, history, math, science and reading and read a bit out loud of the witch of blackbird pond, Skipping Latin and Spanish and Caesars English today--don't want the first day to be too long.

 

Overall, it went well! No meltdowns by either mom or kids, so that's good.

[warneral]

My plan didn't exactly work out like I thought it would.

 

Everything took extra time.  They aren't real focused so I explained that it is understandable but as we continue, I will expect more focus in the future.  Oy!  I keep telling myself (in a calm voice) that we are going "light" and that things don't have to go perfectly.  They are enjoying their day and I believe there is general enthusiasm for this year's curriculum which is really all I can ask for!

 

We did:

Spelling (Rod and Staff 6... which is significantly more challenging than year 5.... I wasn't planning on it taking much time, but I think it is more deliberate in the word study which will be useful)

Bible (should have been doing this devotional through the summer but I was lazy) - finishing up Long Story Short (taught at church, devotionals and bible reading is done daily at home)

History - did MOH2 lesson 1 and a HITW New Testament lapbook page.  This took a LONG time.  Oy!

Science- just a Unit 1 Chp 1 overview.  It will interesting to see how BJU5 plays out this year

Math Mammoth

Writing With Ease

 

We also made Trader Joes coffee cake for breakfast and mini refrig biscuit pizzas which they built for lunch.

Plan on cracking open their grammar after lunch and that will be all.

 

We won't do latin, art, art/music appreciation, logic puzzles or Caesar's English until after Labor Day.  Trying to keep the school days short so they can still have time to play with friends who are still on summer break.  Mama wishes she knew if she is planning too much!  I will have to be patient.

 

[marbel]

We did most everything I wanted to do.  The late-morning doctor appointment took forever.  I should have expected that.  So our time was shortened a bit.   My sick kid didn't have a lot of energy but he worked hard. 

 

Our biggest problem as usual is math.  My 14-year-old daughter just hates it and doesn't respond to any curriculum we try.  But she didn't argue about anything else, and was happy to have some time for art.  She worked hard on copying the cover art from a Bon Jovi album she and her brother just bought.  

 

Oh, and we found a dead cicada on the sidewalk on the same day our new microscope arrived!  So there'll be some big fun tomorrow! 

[daffodil]

Our first day was two weeks ago. I gave them their new school supplies when they first woke up. Then we all went out to breakfast (a back to school tradition). We did math and reading, then headed out to swimming lessons and dinner with grandparents.

 

Today was a more typical day:

 

Listened to a few chapters of Harry Potter on audio book while we got ready and did morning chores.

Memory work over breakfast.

Worked on Beast Academy with my second grader while the two little ones played.

Sent her off to read while I worked with my kindergartner on math and reading.

At this point we were derailed by a screaming toddler.

After lunch I turned on a Spanish video for the girls while I got the little one down for a nap.

Wizard of Oz read-aloud.

Wrote thank you notes to grandma.

Read picture books about Ancient China.

Lastly, spelling for my second grader.

We usually have gymnastics on Mondays, but not today.

The rest of the day will be spent playing outside and running  a few errands.

[swellmomma]

well it is not going as well as hoped but we did get through our trip to the city, and the birthday party.  Hoping to get some course work done shortly.  Need to create a better schedule to follow next week (this week ds still has a job to go to nearly daily)

[kwg]

:svengo: Well you could knock me over! The day went very well :-)  I got them a few back to school treats (new book, drawing pad, chocolate bar for when they finish their work today) and that seemed to help their mood.  Mostly it is my 6th grader.  Then I cheerfully reminded him that it is a law to do school but thankfully we have some flexibility in how school is done.  SOme people go to a building for school.....some people stay home for school.......He got it right away :patriot:  and finished everything much earlier than I expected.  Then we went and played.  SO.....yay!!!!!

 

Now to do it all over again tomorrow  :tongue_smilie:

[Kelly1730]

Everything that I planned for today got accomplished, yay!! A little attitude from one son but I choose to ignore and encourage and it actually went pretty well. We worked a solid 4 hours and then broke for lunch. We took the boys to see Monsters University in 3D at the cheapie theatre ( $20 for 4 tickets and snacks for all of us) which was really cute if you haven't seen it yet. Dinner is in the crockpot, the boys are out playing with the neighbor kids and, all in all, I'd call it a successful first day!

[momma2three]

Today was our first day, and it went swimmingly!  Which surprised me, because the younger two don't start preschool until after Labor Day.  So I was totally playing it by ear, figuring we'd fit in one thing at a time, as the younger kids let us.  But we did everything I planned, plus a little more.  And so far I like all of my curriculum choices... too early to tell for real, of course, but there was nothing that I opened up and sat with her and thought "yeah, this is NOT going to work..." which is a good sign.

 

We did:

- Winning with Writing and Growing with Grammar (which we actually started last week)

- Spelling

- Did 1 lesson of Math Mammoth, and then 1 of MEP for good measure because even though I know I need to give it up because we have too much on our plate, I just couldn't bear to skip over it when we had some time.

- DD read 2 chapters of Frog & Toad, and we talked about them, and learned about the differences between frogs and toads and made a Venn diagram

- We did more of our History Pocket (started History Odyssey yesterday, and did the reading and a few activities then)

- Read a "Let's Read and Find Out" book about what "alive" means, and did the first R.E.A.L. Science for Kids lab about what's alive.

- DD did 20 minutes of sustained silent reading, and practiced the piano for 18 minutes.

 

We also went to the gym and the grocery store, and all of the kids played outside for quite a while.  I'm still sort of surprised at how little time all the schoolin' took.  I feel like we took our time, and DD spent ages laboriously coloring various things, but we probably did all of the above (including the piano and the reading) in under 3 hours.  Just spread out over the day.

[PachiSusan]

It's 4pm and we're still not done yet. To be fair, we started at 11:30 instead of 9:30 am. 

[Critterfixer]

 

It's 4pm and we're still not done yet. To be fair, we started at 11:30 instead of 9:30 am.

 

Eh. It's Monday. Tuesday will be better.

 

Man, do I ever feel left out. Schooling year round sort of makes for no real "start" day. Still, enjoying reading about everyone who has a real starting school day.

[PachiSusan]

It is 5:25 and the last page is done, and I'm tired.  We finished all we planned on accomplishing! 

[stefaniegray]

.

Start school ~9. Special first day stuff: Schultute,

 

Hello whitehawk,

I'm curious if you have found a store that sells Schultuten or if you are making your own. I am German and I love the tradition of giving a Schultute for the first day of school. I haven't heard of a place selling Schultuten here in BC so I made my son a nicely decorated First Day of School treasure chest with all his materials. He loved it but I still thought it would have been nice to bring the German tradition into it as well.

Thanks!

Stefanie

 

[stefaniegray]

I made one out of poster paper and covered it with stickers in a theme he likes (space/astronauts). I have never seen them sold in person, but it's such a charming custom that I wanted to do it for him. (American parents typically give a lunchbox, which I guess is the equivalent from my own childhood--but I am not going to do packed lunches at home, at least on a regular basis.)

 

I think it's smaller than a "real" one. It has a treat, some special pencils and a pencil sharpener in his favorite color, pencil grips, etc.

 

That sounds great!

Yes, the "real" thing is very large (almost as tall as the child). And if the child has siblings they each get a small one. I love that! I have one brother who is a lot younger than myself and the older brother. We were 19 and 22 when the youngest had his first day of school. But our mom got us each a small Schultute nevertheless. There is a wonderful photo of the three of us with our Schultuten cradled in our arms.

[MommyOwl]

I made one out of poster paper and covered it with stickers in a theme he likes (space/astronauts). I have never seen them sold in person, but it's such a charming custom that I wanted to do it for him. (American parents typically give a lunchbox, which I guess is the equivalent from my own childhood--but I am not going to do packed lunches at home, at least on a regular basis.)

 

I think it's smaller than a "real" one. It has a treat, some special pencils and a pencil sharpener in his favorite color, pencil grips, etc.

Thanks for the idea - it will be great to do for my kids to recognize the German side of their heritage. Found this one here... http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/make-a-schultute-for-your-childs-first-school-year/. Obviously we're past first grade but who doesn't like surprise gifts on the first day of school?!?

[Jilly]

We had a great day yesterday. Finally, after homeschooling for ten years, I seem to have the hang of this.  :lol: