You now have your first few weeks of first grade tucked safely into your (theoretical) belt. And I had my first day of failing to prepare you what the first day of school would be like tucked safely into my (also theoretical) belt. I completely forgot to warn you prior to the first day that the first week or two of school is always spent in review. I distinctly remember this when I was in school, and I totally forgot to relay that information to you ... until you had your first meltdown. But by then it was too late.
Most of your first day was you spent in tears because you couldn't remember ANYthing (not true), that you'd NEVER remember what you learned in kindergarten (also not true), and that you'd NEVER be able to learn ANYthing new EVER AGAIN (I admire the dramatics, but again, still not true). It was an ugly day for sure. I toyed with the idea of putting you in public school for Day #2 because CLEARLY I am not cut out to be a homeschool mom if I can't even BOTHER to warn my child that the first week or two is going to a lot of frustrating review and all I did was make it WORSE when you were so upset.
It's no wonder where your flair for the dramatic comes from.
I stuck it out and thankfully Day #2 (and most other subsequent days) went great. You start out every day by writing your weekly memory verse. In addition to memorization, this helps you work on your handwriting (I think pretty handwriting - particularly cursive - is such a lost art, so I'm probably more of a weirdo about handwriting than most people) and learn new vocabulary words. I also just think it's a great way to start our day. Then you work on your math - sometimes there's an activity to go along with what you're working on, other times it's just a page or two in your workbook. The math is still a review at this point so you usually finish your work pretty quickly. I've looked ahead in your book and you're coming up on things you haven't learned yet, so I'm already preparing for teeth gnashing.
After math, we read about pilgrims and pioneers. Your curriculum does a great job at lining up the stories we read with the weekly memory verse, so you're able to connect the two really well. There are usually one or two science experiments each week that also go along with what we've read about pilgrims and pioneers. (SEE, Karen??? We do science!)
We usually finish school by curling up on the couch and reading. This curriculum introduces nine different genres, providing a book or two for each genre. We just finished up reading biographies of Helen Keller and Louis Braille (did you know that Helen Keller was at Louis Braille's funeral? I didn't, until a few days ago.) You were fascinated by those stories ... after we read them multiple times. Alas, you seem to have inherited your poor reading comprehension from your dear mother. So I'm learning to stop every paragraph or two and ask you questions about what I just read. Sometimes you give the right answer. Other times you were zoning out, and try your hardest to come up with a good answer.
Me: *finishing up a paragraph* So what was Helen Keller just do?
You: *clearly caught daydreaming* Oh! Um ... She was ... yes, she was praying to God to help her be kind to the people around her and follow His plan for her life.
Me: *trying not to snort* Well, I'm sure she did pray to God to help her be kind to the people around her and follow His plan for her life. However, what I just read talked about how she learned to swim.
You: *still trying to convince me you were paying attention* Well that's what I mean! I mean, she was praying to God to help her be kind to her swimming teacher and follow the swimming path He wants her to follow.
Me: Ah yes. Makes total sense.
As fun as the first few weeks (minus the first day) has been, I've also seen how hard you are on yourself and how defeated you feel when something doesn't come easily to you. Oh my precious girl, how I wish you could see yourself as I do. If you could, you'd see yourself as someone who's sharp as a tack, immensely creative, wildly imaginative, totally capable. But I worry your mirror is foggy. Because you see yourself as only smart SOMEtimes, only SORT OF creative with a MEDIOCRE imagination, and very incapable of learning hard stuff. I see so much of me in you. All the negative feelings you have about your abilities, I had when I was your age (and still struggle with today). All your insecurities about looking dumb when you don't understand something, I had when I was your age (and again, still struggle with today).
It's a humbling thing to become a momma. Particularly because sometimes the very things you don't like about yourself or things you struggle with are mirrored in a pint-sized be-pigtailed beauty. So we'll learn together, you and me. We'll grow together, too. We'll also cry, fuss, stomp our feet, and scream into pillows. And by God's grace, it will all be okay. But at least we can do all that screamin' and fussin' in our jammies. Because homeschooling is rad.
Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy
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Headlines for September 1, 2015:
- State Department IT staff among those in the dark about Clinton's private email address
- Next Stop for Google's Self-Driving Cars: Austin
- Georgia Cop Critical, Dog Dead as Police Go to Wrong Home
- Carson Surging in Iowa, Tied with Trump at Top of New Poll
- Iranian Guard Chief Says US 'Still the Great Satan'
- Obama to Chat with Bear (Grylls, That Is) in Alaska
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