Yee-haw!  We're back in the saddle again!  And, as families go, some kids do things the more traditional way...

and then there are those who do things a bit differently...

Nonetheless, we started back up with our homeschool on Tuesday and are slowly getting back into the swing of things.  And, for the child who does things a bit differently, I do mean s-l-o-w-l-y.

This is our 7th year of homeschooling and it seems that we have always started out on the wrong foot.  Things just wouldn't go right.  My well-made plans were always met with much resistance.

So, as our "back-to-school" day was quickly approaching and the familiar feeling of dread was making its appearance once more, I decided to re-examine my whole approach.  Instead of starting full force on the first day of school and then backing off a little to find the right fit, I decided to reverse my strategy.  This time, I started out with the bare necessities and am slowly adding in subjects.  Plus, I tried to make this week a really fun one.

This is how our first day looked:

Bible:

Read creation story from The Children's Bible

Memorize the 7 Days of Creation

Memorize Gen. 1:1 (as a review)

Read from Polite Moments (character study)

Math:

Play Math Bingo (addition/subtraction)

Writing:

Write out capital letters (as a review)

Literature:

Read adaptation of "Romeo & Juliet" (for 10-year-old)

Read poetry (for 8-year-old)

That's it!!!  That's all we did for our first day of school and we all HAD FUN!!!  No tears!  No griping and complaining!  I had also bought special prizes to give to our boys when they won the Math Bingo, so that was even more special.

Well, Day Two was very similar.  We played the multiplication/division version of Math Bingo, read more literature pieces, and I had our oldest son write out his lower case letters (as a review).  On Day Three, I added in Easy Grammar 56 (reading through the list of prepositions) for our 10-year-old.  Today, I added in Explode the Code 8 for him.  I was met with a little resistance on this since there was some writing involved, so I allowed him to do just half the page.

Next week, for our 10-year-old, I will slowly be adding in the rest of his subjects:

Math-U-See (Epsilon)

Maps, Charts, Graphs: Eastern Hemisphere

Step By Step (Pathway reader) & spelling

Vocabulary Cartoons

Modern Handwriting -- Cursive Practice

Later on in the year, I will be adding Iowa History, Science, Art, and Music.

You might have noticed that this new plan was made primarily with our 10-year-old in mind.  He is the one who bucks the system. 

Our youngest son, however, does things the more traditional way.  All of his new books are kept in his file tub.  He knows that my goal is to have them all done by the end of the school year.  His goal is to have them done in 3 months!  On our first day of school, he was pulling out all of his books, eager to get them started... and out of the way.  And, believe me, I didn't stop him.  J  He's the type that if I assign him 1 page in a workbook, he will do 3.

So, it does take time to figure out what works best for everyone.  As our school year progresses, our slow trot will turn into a gallop.  We might step in a few holes or get bucked off once in awhile, but I know that God is holding the reins.  All we can do is take it one step at a time.

~Connie~