The First 3 Days of Homeschooling

It wasn’t all rainbows and puppies, but it wasn’t tear inducing either. It feels like we are slipping into a routine. Mal is learning to hover around the girls and play with all the books they read and the tools they use.

Yes, that is a paintbrush in his mouth.

For the entire recap, Day 1 was met with excitement from Elly and Brooke. They were thrilled to see the stack of books and magnet letters I laid out the night before.

Thanks to our local Pottstown Regional Public Library, the books were all new to us. After an hour of homeschooling, we jumped in the car and traveled to Weavers Orchard for their storytime and fruit picking.

We listened to them read Blueberry Shoes.

Then armed with pint containers, we were directed to rows and rows of blueberry bushes.

We all had fun picking blueberries, even Malcolm who ate a mix of blueberries, mulch, hay and dirt.

The funny thing is that we read books everyday and we pick fruit at Weaver’s Orchard on a fairy regular basis, so it felt weird to call it homeschooling. May all school days be so easy.

Day 2 was met with some griping and whining, even though I started school off with a Froot Loop sort and count activity. I even let them eat the Fruit Loops and they still complained! I truly believe Elly thought that if she complained enough, then I would forget this whole homeschooling business and she could go back to riding her bike from sunrise to sunset. Thankfully, Elly hates being sent to her room more than she hates school, so she gritted her teeth and trudged through. Brooke tried a more passive approach of just not paying attention, so I took that into account when planning for future days.

Do you believe Elly griped the loudest over making an octopus craft? It involved pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes and glue, all fun stuff.

Day 3 went smoother than the previous day. I pulled out a sand art craft and dangled it over their heads for half of the school time.

Though they were excited about practicing their handwriting in the sand and then making their sand craft, they were content to continue school even after the craft was over. We ended the day with a water color painting.

All in all, I am cautiously optimistic about Week 2.

Sunday Snapshots (of Elly in her Sandbox)

It was the first warm day. Spring hadn’t even officially started.

Yet, Elly didn’t let that stop her.

She’s been begging to play in her sandbox, but I have been telling her that it was too cold.

I think she was half surprised and half thrilled when I answered the same question she has been asking for the past month with a Yes.

Oh, the joy of sand.

Knitting on the Beach

I take my knitting almost everywhere with me, allowing me to squeeze in a few minutes of knitting here and there. So, it only seemed right to take it on a beach trip.

Watching the kids happily wile away their time in the sand and listening to the ocean lap along the shore was beautiful. It was so relaxing to knit in such a place.

Sand has a way of getting into everything so naturally it got on the yarn as well as the rug. A quick shake got rid of the lion’s share. The rug will need to washed and blocked when I am done knitting it up and the rest of the sand should come off then.

The amazing part was how much knitting I was able to accomplish. All of the orange yarn has been knit up. All of the blue yarn that I brought with me was knit up. I might have even finished the rug if I had brought more yarn with me!

Thanks go to Michelle Haigh for the photos.