Our "Do-Over" 1st Day of School

We can't have a "Do-Over" 1st Day of School without cinnamon rolls, right? And since the rolls last Monday didn't rise (obviously foreshadowing our frustrating 1st day), I was determined to make this batch fresh & get them to rise!

They did! Hooray!

What a difference planned out HOD curriculum makes for all of us!

Today was D's 1st Day of School with the Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory guide (BLHFHG). The box came yesterday afternoon with his guides & other resources in it. I will tell you I've learned my lesson: once you find curriculum that works, stick with it! Don't think the grass is greener somewhere else...it isn't. ;o)

What a handsome guy, right?! He was so happy the guide is BLUE just like Mario! Ha!

New glasses are on the way but for now he's having to wear his current ones that are duct-taped together on the right side as they fell completely apart last week!

He really enjoyed picking the boxes to do this morning. He chose to start with music first! He's going to be listening to Steve Green's Hide'em in Your Heart vol 2 this year. It corresponds to his memory verse for most units. His first memory verse for Unit 1 is Psalm 4:8, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." We talked about the meaning of it following a few suggested questions in the guide. To practice his verse we batted a balloon (leftover from last week) back and forth and repeated one word with each hit. We did it a few times and Drew enjoyed it.

D then chose to work on his math. We're using the Bigger Hearts for His Glory guide for the math plans each day. He will use the rest of the guide for his work next year in 2nd grade. D is using Singapore's 2A & 2B workbooks this year. His activity this morning was to use playing cards and ones/tens paper to make number sentences several ways. 3 10s in the 10s column = 30 A 4 in the ones column = 4 so 30+4 = 34 OR 4 more than 30 = 34. He wrote his number sentences on the small markerboard. I like the way Singapore math works (once you get used to it) because it trains the kids to think in a variety of ways, not just memorize numbers. The author of the guides has done a great job coming up with activities to go with the day's workbook pages using everyday objects we have around the house.



D's Language Arts include grammar, spelling & copywork this year. I read his poem for Unit 1 titled, The Storm. There were a few words in there he wasn't sure of...including one I didn't know...anon. Do you know what it means? Thank goodness we have a super-old hardcover dictionary (25 cent garage sale find this summer)! We looked it up and found out it means immediately/soon. In the poem it refers to the flood after the rain is "dashing" down. Drew chose two lines to copy for his copywork today. I'd prefer for him to copy 4, but I wasn't going to push it today. He did a great job printing neatly and took his time. Copywork is something done in the early grades so the kids can have practice copying correct grammer & usage from various sentences & poems that are written correctly. He will be writing on his own in the later grades.

The spelling words suggested in the guide are easy for him, so he doesn't have to spend much time memorizing the spelling. He has more time to concentrate on other things, including his writing. :o)

D read the first few pages of the book Daniel's Duck aloud. We probably could have begun the literature program (Drawn into the Heart of Reading) but it requires writing, so I'm holding off for a year. We'll most likely do it next year as it's suggested to begin in grade 2 with the Bigger guide. For now, each day he'll read aloud to me with various chapter books we find at the library or on our shelves here at home. Eventually he may read to himself...we'll see how the year progresses.

For the storytime box this year, D will be listening to a variety of genres read aloud. The first is Biography so to kick-off the genre, he was sent with a blue basket to go collect 5 things that describe him. He came back with things he likes...

Smiling with all the objects on the table...The ball (he likes to throw things), Mario (he likes the wii game), cupcake (he likes sweets), spoon (he likes to make noise), Lego men (he loves to build with his Legos)...what an assortment. :o)

This year for history he'll be studying more in-depth US History beginning in the 1500's. He'll also be making a timeline again. Today we read about the sailing ships people traveled on to cross the Atlantic to get to Florida. We review the continents, too. We didn't do the activity because I didn't have masking tape...we'll do it later in the week after I run to the store. :o)

K had begun her LHTH with the older Bible resources & LHFHG math/fine motor skills last Thursday since I had those on our shelf. She is really excited she has a "math book" just like D!

Today she had to count the objects (blocks) I set in front of her and then write the number in a bag of gel (hair gel). She loves to draw but hasn't done much writing, so I wrote the numbers in marker on separate pieces of paper. Once she counted the blocks she found the right number and slide it under the bag to "trace" the number correctly.
She also completed Lesson 5 in 100 Easy Lessons. She is doing a great job listening & repeating the words/sounds. She identifies them on the lines and is excited to begin reading more words...not just random sounds.

And here's the littlest thinker who thinks she's big like D&K...I love the shorter tables for D&K to sit at, but it means everything is on C's level now.