9.17.2016

first grade homeschool :: the first weeks


oh we are having such fun.  SUCH fun.  we spent her kindergarten year in a definite 'unschooling' pattern - mostly playing and going about our daily business and simply taking the time to turn lots of day-to-day experiences into the learning opportunities they always are anyway.  this year though, for first grade, we've got a more dedicated school rhythm.  she seems to want and need a bit more order and rhythm to her days, and my goodness we're certainly leaps and bounds more ordered now than we were before.  what with her binder and my homeschool planning notebook I am feeling quite organized.  we start the day with some language arts (she reads aloud to me and practices some handwriting, or she works her way through her Explode the Code workbooks- I wasn't sure about the workbooks at first, but she really loves them- I think partly because they look kind of like what her buddies at art work on at homework time- and she zoomed through and finished the first one already!) and move through some math (not using a curriculum at this point, but we've done all sorts of things from skip-counting with coins, practicing < and >, place values, measuring, studying patterns and shapes, ordinal numbers, practicing reading clocks, etc) and then some science/nature studies (so far we've done lots of monarch life cycle observations, read about and drawn food chains, talked about habitats, and studied the layers of the Earth), and geography/history (we've done the world puzzle map to review the continents and oceans, talked a little about the Ice Age and are now focusing on North America- she completed the North America puzzle map and we've been reading about the crossing of the land bridge, Native Americans, and will move on to lightly discuss colonization and settlers/pioneers moving west, and then discuss each country and talk a bit about food, culture, art, native animals, climate, etc- I'm guessing we'll be studying NA for at least 6 weeks or so).  there is art as well of course, a bit of music (these days in the form of learning simple chords on her ukulele), harvest days at the farm and weekly horseback riding lessons.  and of course still plenty of room for exploring and seeing where life takes us and what we can learn from it.


threshing our little buckwheat crop (in pillow cases) ~ 
we had about 8 bundles and may grind enough for a couple batches of pancakes. 


monarch babies! how fun to watch them grow from tiny caterpillars to big fat caterpillars and then form their chrysalids!  we even got to watch one as it formed it's chrysalis- so cool



working on the North America map


we've now got four chrysalids hanging in the enclosure! they are so beautiful~


I asked her how many different ways she could make a triangle, and a hexagon.  she had so much fun with it and she came up with quite a few!


mama's little homeschool planning notebook


a handful of our favorites resources and reference books from these first weeks


we recently gave the office a makeover with a giant IKEA shelving unit to store most of our homeschool materials, a rolling cart for her most-used art supplies, and a new (and very long!) desk/sewing and craft table for papa and I- made from a 98" birch butcher block slab and some steel legs~  I am loving the way the space feels brighter, more organized, and way more open.  I still need to get the world map back up on the wall and do a little fine-tuning, but I think it will work very well for us.





we found a little roll-top desk at an antique store a couple weeks ago.  she loves, loves, loves it.  if we can't find her, chances are she is sitting right there drawing or thumbing through a book while listening to audiobooks.  it is a pretty sweet sight, and when I'm sitting at the big desk I am right in line with her and we can wave at each other and check in.   we do almost all of our homeschool work (or, at least the 'planned' stuff that I am facilitating and aware of) at the dining table, but she loves her own little workspace tucked away in her room.

I am feeling pretty great about this homeschool adventure so far, and I think she is, too.  Now I just need to get on top of things and file with the state and pick a school name!

15 comments:

  1. What a wonderful journey you are just beginning together. Your school space looks amazing conducive to a working environment.

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    1. thanks so much! I am definitely enjoying the new space, and enjoying continuing to clear things out and streamline our workspaces (and living spaces!).

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  2. that is one awesome work space area! I love organizing and tidying things just so :) She looks sweet in her little desk :)

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    1. thank you! really enjoying the clearing out process. It seems to be a never-ending process, but that's alright ;)

      oh she LOVES the desk. so much.

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  3. Amazing....this is going to be so fun following you as you go thru this. Or at least I hope you keep posting about it. If you plant parsley in your gardens, you can almost always hatch out several swallowtail butterflies each year. I am so impressed with your space and with all she is learning at such a young age. I learned more helping my kids learn than I ever did in school. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. I certainly plan to keep posting about our homeschool adventures- I think planning to do so every other week or so will actually help me remember to document things more, and it may even help me stay more motivated in general, as in a way it makes me feel more accountable.

      we usually have parsley (and fennel and dill) in the garden every year and the swallowtails do indeed love them! I've seen the caterpillars but have yet to put them in an enclosure to watch the process, but perhaps next year I will do that.

      thank you- it was such fun for me to set up our space, and I am very much enjoying having things more organized and streamlined. And yes- I am certainly learning and re-learning SO much myself!

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    2. Once you see the parsley caterpillars and they are a little bigger....if you set up the terrarium with the stick and the parsley for as long as they are eating....they usually make their chrysalis and then turn into butterflies within a couple weeks, so it is a really fast process and so interesting. My daughter always did the little notebook and drew the stages, too. Was so much fun. So glad you will be posting about it and I sure it will help you keep records and stay organized, I am sure.

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  4. Love it! As a fellow homeschooling mother, I really enjoyed reading about your days together. It sounds like mine in so many ways! Keep up the good work! You've inspired me to begin another week with a happy and patient attitude!

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    1. thank you, Maggie~ It's nice to hear such encouraging words from another homeschooling mama!

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  5. Look forward to your posts on homeschooling.

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    1. thank you~ I am looking forward to using this space to document our homeschool goings-on :)

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  6. What a great h.s. room -- airy enough to have the mental space and right supplies you need to flip between subjects and make connections. Now I just have to find a similar desk and I'm set! My almost 5-year old is still working off the Ikea toddler table. :)

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    1. thank you!

      I found a couple on craigslist that were just too far of a drive, and then was lucky to find this one at one of our local antique shops- hope you find just what you are looking for!

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  7. wow. i feel SO inspired. absolutely love this post. love your new desk/home school space, and her adorable desk space too. good job mama!!

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~