first week of first grade

we started a new school year last week, which brought a new weekday schedule. 2 things I learned last year were that it's near impossible to focus on any traditional schooling with Mayden when Cam is around. impossible. the second thing I learned is that I really like weekends off. when I first envisioned our homeschool lives I didn't really see a difference between education and life. and really truly & honestly (especially at this age)  it's true. however, Mayden and I seem to thrive in a routine and she (so far) likes the idea of school so we've created a weekday schedule for schooling this year. time makes me feel 10,000X better about slacking off on the weekends!

so M-F, 9-11am May and I are left alone to do all things "school". we read (mostly she reads to me), do math worksheets ("I love math because it's like a game to me" she said last week -- surely she is NOT my child!) and I've started having her look up one word in the Children's Dictionary that I pick out and she writes out the first sentence of the definition. so far we've done an A, B & C word... and next week we'll continue. 2 days a week we take our show on the road to the library.

 here she was first in line on the first day last week

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after our 2 hours of reading/writing/talking/math ect in the morning we collect Cameron and do some sort of planned activity in the afternoon. pirate map making, cookie baking, playground time, hiking, swimming, soccer ect

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we were lucky enough to find two other families in our area with homeschooled kids who are about the same age as ours.

 after a summer of fun we recently decided to try implementing a 'science club' and meet each week to "do science". the kids seem to love it .... 

although sometimes it's just more fun to play in mud together!