I guess technically we started yesterday.  We always begin our first day by looking through our curriculum (this year we have lots of new stuff!) and then going to brunch at Waffle House.  This year was no exception.  So yesterday that's what we did.  I got out all of the main books we will be using (which I'll list here in a minute), had brunch at Waffle House, and then met some friends for an afternoon of bowling. 

There is a local bowling alley that has $1 day on Mondays during the summer.  This was Ben's first time to bowl and he did quite well, scoring an 80 his first game!  I hadn't bowled in many years, probably 15, and scored a 148, so I was pretty proud of both of us.

Then today, we had our actual first day of school.  We are beginning slowly.  I won't begin a few things for a couple of weeks.  Things like vocabulary, spelling, and Spanish.  For the first few weeks, I think we need to concentrate on handwriting (that's never been a favorite), math, and of course, getting used to our new curriculum.

All in all, today went quite well.  I think Ben was happy to get back to a bit of structure in our day and he very much enjoyed our first day.

Now for a quick rundown on what we'll be using this year. 

We have switched to My Father's World.  The program we are using is called Exploring Countries and Cultures.  For MFW, this is the first year of their 5-year history cycle.  They begin with a year of geography, really getting to know the continents and countries on them, before beginning the in-depth study of all the history.  ECC includes, of course, geography and also science in the form of learning the habitats of different countries.  There is a strong foundation in the Bible, particularly the book of Matthew, as well as missionary stories, and art and music around the world.    I think we'll have a wonderful year learning about our world and it's cultures.

The countries we'll be studying in depth are:

North America:  USA, Mexico, Canada

South America:  Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador/Galapagos Islands

Europe:  Norway, Germany, France

Africa:  Kenya

Asia:  China, India, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia

Australia and Antarctica

For language arts, we will be using some different items as well.  For English, it's Language Lessons for the Very Young and Lessons in Manners for Copywork by Queen Homeschool.  We'll add in Worldy Wise 3000, book 2, Sequential Spelling, and Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting to round things out.  For math, we are switching to Singapore math,  and also using Calculadders for drill and Right Start's Math Card Games.

We'll also be adding in Spanish this year with The Easy Spanish, Jr. and The Fun Spanish.  If you are looking for a Charlotte Masonish way to do foreign langauge, you'll want to check out both of these.

Of course, I can never just do a curriculum exactly as it is designed, so I'm adding in a few things to go along with our world culture studies.  The main thing we'll be adding is study of the Animal Kingdom.  I've ordered the God's Design for Life: The Animal Kingdom book from Answers in Genesis.  Since we'll be looking at habitats it seemed natural to focus some on animal classification and maybe even some units on specific animals.  Homeschool Share has several wonderful units on animals, so Ben and I looked through those and chose 2-3 animals (or classes of animals) to study for each continent.  We create a lapbook/notebook for our animal studies as well.  The animals we've chosen are:

North America:  desert animals, ants, salmon

South America:  butterflies, dragonflies, sea turtles

Europe:  birds of prey, pigs, frogs

Africa:  zebras, meerkats

Asia:  pandas, camels, tigers

Australia:  marsupials, coral reef

Antarctica: polar animals

Ben will also be attending an enrichment program  once a week, taking 4 classes:  General Music, Choir/Drama, Science:  Rocks and Minerals, and Art.  We are also planning to get together with another family or 2 once a week to work through Exploring Creation with Astronomy.  Add in scouting, fall soccer, spring basketball, and swimming lessons and we're going to have another full and fun-filled year!