A Last First

And just like that, this kid is a Senior.

First day of school--driving himself. No seminary for day 1, luckily--it's nice for them to have a couple days to get back in the swing of things.

And while he was at school, Peanut and I went to a museum with friends for our "first" day.

It was kind of a random assortment of exhibits.

A bunch of classic cars in one room,

Asian art in another.

The staircase going down to the natural history section was pretty cool.

This area really blew me away. It would be worth getting a membership to be able to come back once a month to study the different habitats and animals represented here.

They really did a great job!

And the other two first day of school pictures--which were actually both taken on Tuesday. Bean's classes were all online the first day because they had concerns about the hurricane (which ended up being completely unfounded, but they had to plan ahead).

And Peanut and I just didn't get a picture between field tripping and lessons and errands. But here he is--start of 7th grade! 

First Day of School

While one kid started his junior year and all the craziness that is going to entail (two IB classes, one AP, year-round sports, seminary, practicing for his driving test, church service and activities--he's a busy boy!),

the other one spent 5 hours in the pool getting his PE requirements for the week taken care of ;)

The first day of school for our district always falls on a Tuesday, which happens to be our homeschool Park Day, so this year, we decided to have a pool party just because we can.

The kids all had so much fun. I couldn't believe how long most of them stayed in the water. It was the perfect way to celebrate the flexibility of homeschooling.

And just like that, we're jumping into another year! This summer has felt like both the longest and fastest summer we've had in a long time. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that it's over, but ready or not, we're back at it.

First Day of School, 2021 Edition

First day of school.

Senior year for this girl. The morning started with the Senior Sunrise--everyone goes out to the top of the hill at Del Valle to watch the sunrise--only this year was way to smoky to see anything, Bummer, but Bean and her friends had fun anyway, and then they came back to our house for cinnamon rolls and eggs before they had to head off to school.

Bug got his first first day on campus. Last year, starting virtually kind of took away some of the fun of starting high school, but maybe Sophomore year will feel a little more like the HS experience is supposed to feel.

And this 5th-grade Peanut is the last man standing in our homeschool. This is technically my second year of only having this kiddo at home, but since everyone else was home last year, too, it didn't really feel like it. We've got a lot of plans for this year and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Back to School!

These two got to go to classes, in person, for the first time in over a year! For Bug, it was actually his first day at the high school, and first time in a school since the beginning of 5th grade.

They were both pretty excited to be in classes, even if it's only for a couple hours, and only a small part of the class (Bean has one class that only has 4 people in it!) But they get to see people, and do something besides stare at a screen. Let's just hope those masks work!

(Bonus for Bean--getting to DRIVE to school. Exciting stuff!)

First Day of 2020-2021

"Twas the night before Christmas. . . oh, wait. . . it wasn't Christmas, just the first day of school. But from the piles of presents, you couldn't really tell, haha! I don't usually do anything crazy like this for the first day of school, but with school being online this year, and all of us needing a little boost, I decided to set out new school supplies, snacks, and surprises for everyone.

Peanut's pile was the curriculum and some fun add-on's that we'll be using this year.

I stayed up way too late the night before because for some reason, I decided everything for the first day needed to be surprises. I think, in the future, a couple surprises will be enough, and cinnamon rolls can just be a treat that everyone knows I'm making so I won't be up an hour after everyone else, still making food.

But they were all appropriately appreciative the next morning, which made it worth it. We got to start the day in a positive way with everyone happy and excited.

Bean, in her new school room.

And Bug, ready to begin his high school journey.

While Bean and Bug met all their teachers, Peanut got sorted into his Hogwarts house (he's a Hufflepuff which kind of seems perfect for him--and the kids agreed that we need to be nicer about Hufflepuffs because there were some pretty awesome ones, and being inclusive isn't a bad trait at all.)

This boy has been so excited about this curriculum ever since he and I reviewed in last spring. He's been on me weekly, asking when his student workbook was coming, and making sure I'd ordered my robes (which, speaking of, he needs new ones now that he has his official house.)

The Waldock's Wizards and Wands, the Harry Potter curriculum we found, uses the 7 books for language arts, and then classes like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle studies for science and social studies. Since Peanut just finished reading the books a couple months ago, and has re-read the 1st book at least 3 times this summer, I decided we'll listen to the audiobooks for this study, so we started with the first chapter and then he did his first "Charms" class, which is copywork--handwriting and spelling practice--using quotes from the book. Using a quill makes copywork a lot more fun.

Then, we got out a Little Passports kit on England to go along with our English accents we'd been talking in all morning (I don't know how long I can keep this up--my accent is pretty terrible, but maybe it will improve if I keep practicing?) He built the Elizabeth Tower (where Big Ben is housed), did a crossword puzzle on British words for things, and found Britain on the map.

I think we're going to have a lot of fun this year if I can just keep up with his enthusiasm. He wasn't wanting to quit "school" and kept asking what was next. 

First day of school pictures didn't happen until lunchtime. It is nice getting to check in and hear about their day as they go. Overall, it was a pretty good day, with some hiccups (Bug got marked absent in Spanish class because the teacher didn't see him waving when she called his name), and some happy surprises (Bean has a lot more people she knows in her classes than she first thought.)

First day of Junior Year.

First day of Freshman Year.

First Day of 4th grade.

First Day, 2019-2020

First day of school for this girl--10th grade.

She was excited for school, as always. She has art this trimester, which gives her an hour of creativity to look forward to every day, along with Chemistry, Spanish 2, World History, and Biotech. She's looking forward to a fun start to the year.

And even though it's a little arbitrary, we're counting it as the first day for everyone (even though our charter technically started last week, and we aren't really planning to start full-force until after Labor Day--it's definitely a soft start today!). Bug is in 8th grade--last year of middle school, which is a little shocking, and sad, for me.

And this little Peanut is in 3rd! I'm so glad that he decided to stay home with us this year. Getting woken up about an hour after he would have been up if he was going to school made his day.

I'm excited to have both of them around. We've got a lot of really fun stuff planned for this year, which I'm sure I'll get into in the next few weeks.

But for this first day of school, we went to Brentwood and picked peaches.

I'd been wanting to do this all summer, but just didn't get to it, so it was time to seize the day. For once, procrastination paid off. The orchard we stopped at was selling all the u-pick peaches for $1/pound because it was their last week they'd be open and they needed them gone. We got 50 pounds of peaches to dehydrate, bake with, and eat! And they are delicious!

We stopped at a couple different farms, for pluots and Asian pears as well, and the boys made friends with a cat at the first one. Spending a couple hours outside, and listening to science podcasts on the drive, just felt like the perfect start to our year of alternative learning.

First Day Photos

So crazy that this girl is in high school now! She had a great first day--she likes her classes, found out she had a friend from church in almost all her classes, so Bean was able to have lunch with that girl and her friends, and then water polo practice after school as always (which she loves!)

And this little guy was so brave going off to school, where he had all new faces in his class, and really hasn't done the school thing for so long, he doesn't remember any of the "normal" school things, like lines and desks and recess. 

(I just love the tooth gaps!) 

Daddy-o went into work late so he could come with us for the first day.

 

Having a new box of supplies on his desk was pretty exciting.

And that just leaves this boy home with me. I get the feeling we will be easing into the school routine. Homeschool first days don't mean a lot.

First Day, 2016

 

Here we go again! 7th grade for this one means it's old hat--she has most of the same teachers, a lot of the same kids in her classes, and while the upstairs of the school is new, it's the same campus she was at last year, so not a lot of change for this one. As always, she may not be ready to say goodbye to summer, but she was ready to see her friends!

 

Then, there's Bug, who has everything new this year. Last spring, with the support of the school, we decided he should move up to 5th grade instead of 4th this year. We're all pretty excited about the change and think it will be really good for him, but it did mean moving from the elementary campus, so he got a new school, new teachers, and all new classmates this year. Luckily, he already knew 3 or 4 of the kids from other things, and even though he may not relish change, he makes friends easily, so the new class won't be new for long. 

 

And finally, my little Peanut, who still seems way too little to be heading off to school all day. He's excited for school, so we're going to roll with it. Today is just a drop in with his parent, so he can see the classroom and learn a little about what his day is like. His main teacher was Bug's first grade teacher, so we're familiar with her and she's a great fit for our little guy.

 

Wish I thought every morning would go this smoothly. Everyone was packed up and ready to go with a few minutes to spare!

 

At the middle school--Go Cardinals!

 

And the last of my elementary students. It's weird that he's the only one at this campus, and I'm sure he would have loved having his big brother around, but I do like the one-on-one time I'll get to walk with him to and from the school and hear about his day before we pick up the jabberwokies.