Monday, January 07, 2008

First day back to school

I was very generous to the kids and myself with a very long school break for winter. I figured I better get back to it if I'd like them all to graduate before they are 30. It's been a pretty great and smooth transition back. Since we are not ones to stick to a schedule (tried it many times and none of us like it) we woke up late, had warm chocolate chip waffle sticks for breakfast and took our time getting started. Finally we made our way to the "school room" (also known as a dining room table). We started off as we used to as we talked about all the things we would like to pray about and then prayed together. After that we have a time of devotions and today I cracked open a new cool devotion book for kids that the boys enjoyed. That was followed by a short Creole lesson that left me wanting to bang my head against the wall. We could teach the kids the same creole lessons over and over and over again but then when I give them a phrase they say "What does that mean?". I think they are just messing with me because I heard that Johnny gives his Sunday School teacher Creole lessons and it sounds like he's doing a great job. Hmmm....

One thing I decided to include this year was more exercise for all of us. So when I couldn't take another "What does that mean?" I surprised the boys by requesting something new from them. We went to the living room for some stretching and exercising and they really got into it. Then I asked them to get dressed warmly and they got all excited. They knew something was up because we often do school in PJ's if we are not leaving the house. Once everyone was ready to go we took off and found a cool trail we drive by often and Kyle has asked many times if we could explore it someday. That someday was today. We had such a great time together as the trail led to a track we ran around and a spot to do standing up push ups. We walked, ran, skipped, laughed, and just totally enjoyed each other. No one complained of getting tired and we were gone a long time. I enjoyed their company so much! We came back all recharged and ready to focus on school. The first day of school MVP award goes to LUKE! I thought it might take him a while to relearn some of the reading and spelling we had worked on since it was such a long break. I was wrong. He picked up on his Hooked on Phonics and started reading away, spelled a bunch of words, and wanted to keep going and going. I finally had to firmly tell him "No more for now" or Luke's lesson time may have never ended. He's a really eager learner!

So back in school and it's going well. It seems a lot of schools are starting up today also. Here is a link to a Back to School coloring and activity page I printed out for the boys today:
http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/back-to-school-coloring-page/

For all our friends that are also back to school today: We hope your day was as FUNtastic as ours!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the morning, we school at the table... and in our PJ's sometimes too. Then Marissa bathes and I blog, Marissa blogs and I bathe and we finish the day in the living room. The sun is beating down hard on the dining table and Marissa has always said sun hurts her. So, we follow the shade.

We have not started back yet... wait, Art ~ made thank you cards; English ~ wrote thank you cards; Family and Consumer Science ~ wrote, printed, folded and mailed Christmas letters (YES, after Christmas).

Oh, and Consumer Math ~ learned if you put a single brad on your thank you card, it has to be hand stamped at the post office and costs 14 more cents to mail.

I guess we did a little school after all... just nothing formal.

Anonymous said...

Hi Angela! I'm so glad to read that Luke is enjoying Hooked on Phonics. We would love to offer you a 40% off discount to get more products for your expanding family. If you are interested, please email me at success@hop.com (this address goes directly to my email account) and I’ll provide you with a special coupon code.
Best!
Adrienne Vincent Sutton
Marketing Coordinator
Hooked on Phonics