School Starts

Today was our "official" starting day for homeschooling. We never really stopped learning over the summer, but I had to give my son a beginning date so he would stop bugging me about when we were starting. I've made up a general schedule and some basic curriculum plans for the next week or so, but am otherwise gingerly stepping into the waters of homeschooling. We started with a bit of math from the workbooks Gabriel brought home from first grade. We'll review in those until I figure out if we'll use a curriculum and which one. Then we worked on some chemistry experiments. Gabriel really wants to learn chemistry, so I looked up a few simple exercises in our science books. We did some oil and water plus soap and salt experiments, and I had him write down in a new science notebook what happened. He's a tricky kid, because he wants to do real science, but doesn't like me pushing him to do things he doesn't want to do. I'm sure this is just the beginning of our struggles to find the balance between me being mom and teacher.

I also had Annika do some simple sorting activities; she loved that she was "doing math". She wants to be right up there with us while we do things. I'll have to make sure I'm planning stuff for her to do, too. The kids also listened to two books on CD and played a lot together. We worked in the yard this afternoon, enjoying the autumn sunshine.

Last Friday we joined some friends downtown at the sculpture park. What a beautiful day it was, with the warm sun and the clear air, the views of the water and the city skyline, and the freshness. It kind of surprises me that the kids were so excited about the park, since there aren't really traditional kid activities there, like a playground. But there is something about the art and the surroundings that captures their interest.

I have to share a photo of my kids at an event we went to recently. Gabriel chose his outfit, including the top hat from the costume box. He got several comments about how well he was dressed!

I'm off now to do more homeschool planning. I really feel like I don't know what I'm doing, but I am trying not to panic. At least tomorrow is a new day!