Saturday, August 27, 2011

Back to School!



As I said before, ready or not, it was time to start school this week. And let me tell you, I was NOT ready. Not one little bit. So we just did the basics this week -- the stuff that didn't require any advance preparation. You've probably seen many pictures around the blogoshpere of pristine school rooms, ready to inspire a new year of learning. Uh, not here.

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Lovely, eh?

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Don't worry, I'm working on it. Sometimes it just has to get more chaotic before it gets organized, and this is the more chaotic stage. These pictures are actually the sign of great progress. ; )
So here's the run-down of our week:
Anna started away-school on Monday (8th grade!), and Ryne and Grace started our new homeschool year. I took the kids to IHOP for a welcome-back-to-school dinner Monday night (Marc was out of town).
GRACE
Grammar, spelling, phonics, math, math drill, map skills, oral reading, Sunday School lesson, ballet (1 night), swim (2 nights).
RYNE
Spelling, grammar, math, math drill, oral reading, swim (2 nights).
TOGETHER
Daily reading from The Child's Story Bible (Vos), Latin, reviewed geography vocabulary from last year, and finished the Brahms composer study from last spring.
THOUGHTS
I'm embarrassed to say we didn't do ANY school work over the summer. So I was worried how much they would retain after a long break. Thankfully, I saw very little regression! In fact, math went quite smoothly. It is becoming clear that Ryne is starting to struggle with grammar though. We'll keep plugging away for now, but it's looking more like we will have to change programs. He did so well with First Language Lessons, and they are adding the first book in the middle school series this January, so we'll see.
For those of you who have started the school year -- Happy Homeschooling! If you're still squeezing out the last drops of summer - Enjoy! And for those of you on the east coast -- I'm praying for you!

5 comments:

  1. I love your pictures - because they made me feel right at home, lol! We've been officially back at it since early August, but we've also had lots of oddities to deal with so we're still not fully into the swing of things. It's been driving me nuts because I'm usually very organized...but we're muddling through and sooner or later all the little "pretties" will catch up to the academics. :^)

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  2. Love the truth in blogging. It's so comforting to know I'm not alone. ;)

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  3. LOVE the schoolroom pics. Mine looked like that before "back-to-school" but thankfully we've gotten it cleaned up since then. :)

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  4. I am such a fan of Keeping.It.Real... thank you, Kellie, for doing that very thing!

    So glad you had a productive week-- here's 3 cheers for one more ahead (and then lots more after that... but let's just take one little week at a time :)

    And thank you for your East Coast prayers-- Irene came and went... and praise almighty God for rain w/o the bluster! Praying others experienced the very same thing!

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  5. Thank you for your encouragement, ladies! When Marc saw this post in his email he said, "I can't believe you posted these pictures on the internet!" : )

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