Last week, we found our way back to the books.  I can honestly say it was a great start of the year.  As the days progressed, I knew I wanted to start back sharing weekly updates here.  I am optimistic that we will have a good school year, and I want to be able to look back on the different things we will accomplish this year after this season has passed plus have been told that sharing some of the things that we do in our home school actually help other families who have taken on the call to home educate.

These weekly updates will be primarily the highlights of our week, and if I have a tip that I picked up during the week from teaching my daughters I will definitely share. :)  As of now, I believe I will be writing the reflections on Sunday evening since Saturdays are a time of rest around here, and Sundays are slow and easy.  I know that I can't write the updates on Fridays because we are usually busy or I am trying to plan for the upcoming week so Sunday it is.

Now on to the this week's reflection. :) 

I think this may have been our most memorable first day of school in our home educating career.  Vic took a vacation day to help us kick off our first day of school.  Some highlights from day one are:  exercising together with Fitivities,  playing at the school playground with dad, and enjoying lunch together as a family. We also went as a family to register with our school district versus going through an umbrella school which was freeing for me

Day two consisted of taking a good look at our curriculum for the year.  The girls have input when it comes to the curriculum we use.  Now with that being said,  I do not tend to change core curriculum in the middle of the year unless it is absolutely not working instead we adjust and make it through until we finish the year.  We took a peak at the Jenny Phillips' language arts since it is one of the few choices that is completely new to us.  We did our first lessons in Apologia Astronomy and Notgrass' Uncle Sam and You (both of these programs received to review) .  The girls seem very interested in both of these programs which makes me happy.

Day three and four helped us to better gauge our schedule.  We pretty much school from 9 until 3.  Some days we finish a little earlier and some days we may start a little bit later, but for the most part we were finished by three each day our first week of school without pushing something onto the next day.  They also were digging their weekly printed scheduled from Myschoolyear.com.  I am so glad I was introduced to this program because I see it as a way to keep us focused and diligent.

On Friday, we had our first field trip of the year!  We visited WAY FM in Franklin, TN which is the station that broadcasts the Wally Show.  If we are out in the morning, we usually listen to the Wally Show so it was a good experience for the girls to get to see the people behind the voices in person.

That was our week in a nutshell. :) 

Home School Tip of the Week:

My tip for the week is when introducing new curriculum make sure to provide clear expectations if you desire for your kiddos to use any given program a particular way.  They can probably read the directions themselves, but new programs often come with learning curves.  Our start with language arts was false since they only focused on the components that I stood out to them.  Next week we will have to give it another try with the student workbook. : )  This leads to an additional tip: be proactive early in the school year when it comes to grading if you have to check all of your children's work yourself. For example, you aren't using an online program therefore you actually have to check the math problems completed in the workbook. 

Have you started your the new school year in your home school?  Have your kids returned back to public school?  How did it go?

Be Blessed!