First Day

We had our first "official" day of school today. Over the last week Norah has begged to do some school, so we did lots of extra projects. She couldn't wait for today - which cracks me up because we have really done stuff all summer. I just felt like we needed a day to say was our first day of school. I think the day after Labor Day is perfect - I think we will try to stick with that at least fora couple of years.

We started our day by having breakfast with Kevin at a local bakery.

Healthy, I know!

The girls pulled a chore from the chore bucket. Norah wiped off the art table and Lucy put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Norah asked, "Do we only get to do one?" Funny!

Our morning went very smoothly. The girls were excited to follow a schedule and to know what was coming next. Homeschooling a pre-k/kindergarten child really only takes an hour to an hour and a half. When Norah finished everything I had planned, she said, "Mom, I thought school would take a lot longer than this!" She was actually a little disappointed. I tried to explain to her that at her age most of our "schooling" happens while we play together. I'm not so sure she was satisfied with that answer.

Lucy kept herself busy with her toddler box for about 20 minutes. In her box was The Big Red Barn, an animal matching strip, and a color matching game. She also colored a picture of a sheep while Norah was working on her handwriting.

This is the color matching game that Lucy used. I colored each lamb a different color, glued them to cardstock and laminated it. Then I colored the end of the clothespin with the same colors as the lambs. Lucy really got a kick out of opening and closing the clothespins. It was great for her fine motor skills.

All in all, it was a successful first day (minus the part of the day when neither of the girls napped).