FULLY INTO HOME SCHOOLING...

...and life is crazy! I just wanted to reflect after a week into this new year of tackling the books. So far, for the most part, I have stuck with my schedule like I had hoped. We do morning jars first thing to get our day going, and then we sit down for Five in a Row. I haven't incorporated all the calendar stuff into it yet, but Myah has a pretty good handle on that stuff, and Joel just isn't interested so I just haven't felt the pressure to do that.

"The Story About Ping" was our first FIAR book we used. It's a great story about a little duck who lives on the Yangtze River in China. It's a great lesson about how sometimes it's just better to suffer the consequences for our actions than to run away from them. We had a really good discussion on discernment, and how usually tempting situations aren't always what they seem. We've had great lessons in art on reflection and drawing water. We talked about the terms classic, repetition, fiction, illustrator and author. We made a vocabulary box, where she draws pictures to help her remember the words. We had a geography lesson and talked a little about the traditions and culture of China, and what it might be like to live on a house boat. We counted all 60-some members of Ping's family using tally marks and rocks. We made egg rolls, fried rice and egg drop soup for dinner tonight. I think her favorite part was rolling the egg rolls and eating the rice. Tomorrow we will finish up with a science lesson on buoyancy. It's been a fun week with Ping.

We do Phonics and Math with our Lifepacs in the afternoon. I must confess I'm a little disappointed at this stage with this curriculum. Hopefully things get better as time goes on. Right now, it just doesn't seem to be challenging her at all. Kind of makes me miss Horizons! (Did I just say that???) Also, I'm not sure I would recommend the Bible set at all, at least not for a first grader. I would use it more at the Pre-school/Kindergarten level.

Just my reflections after a busy week of getting back into a routine.