We began our first full day of school today. Our weekly and daily schedule has been finalized, and though our days will be busy, they are do-able and we've made sure to keep our Saturdays unincumbered in case we need them for projects (which is highly likely, given that we have many left to complete! Our wood for barn siding has arrived and we've started on that, but the heat makes the task not one we are eager to get to, as necessary as it is! Indoor stuff is even behind that.)
Our first Phonics and Math lessons went off without a hitch and because we're using all the same curriculum suppliers, the transition from kindergarten to first grade for Samuel looks like it will be a breeze. Shiphrah has sat through the majority of what she will be doing this year in kindergarten last year as Samuel worked on it, and seems to be a pro at it already. For Bible, we are doing the New Testament version of what we did last year--reading through chapters of The Child's Story Bible and answering comprehension questions out of the Veritas Scholar's program, with art projects and timeline coloring pages interspersed.
Grammar was uneventful except that it took at least an hour of preparation on my part. Seems silly since I taught grammar before, doesn't it? The preparation entailed copying a ridiculous amount of photos off the internet, printing them, and cutting them out for a classification exercise. I am going to have to plan ahead a bit better!
Art was rather a letdown. We were most excited about the Calvert Course video and projects. The project given will be a pencil drawing of the night sky this evening after the sun sets--nothing terribly glamorous. The video displayed poor acting and the actors needed water. (Dry mouth smacking sounds are a pet peeve!) Additionally, they spoke of beautiful things in nature as occurring by accident, and art as being intentional. I must disagree about this point, and Samuel and I discussed that. The beautiful things in nature do not occur by accident, but are intentional--intended by God for His glory and our enjoyment. When we make art, we are simply revealing one of the ways in which we are made in His image, imitating God in His creative act.
In the midst of school, we made sure to listen to our Suzuki CD's for piano and violin. The kids did their practice this morning after breakfast. Additionally, they watched Shiloh while I did barn chores, Shiphrah washed eggs, and they helped put away some laundry. I pulled a pan of made-ahead lasagna out of the freezer for dinner, which feels like cheating even though I did make it at some point! We need to go make some more bread before our evening art project... All in all a good day. It's amazing what we can get done when we have a plan!
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