Back to school!

We started our school year on Tuesday, after returning from our "field trip" weekend to Boston. More on that later.

We had an interesting start to school. I learned that my kids retained a LOT from last year. Jimmy dove right in, and Caleb's counting actually improved! Since this was our first summer with virtually no school, I was a little anxious about how it would go. On the other hand, Jimmy definitely proved that he is out of practice sitting still through aaaaalllllllllll of school time. Caleb is somewhat squirmy as well, but he's great as long as he had work to do. I think Jimmy is just going to have to get used to it - I already have the workload down to bare bones.

I designed my own lesson planner based on a few great ideas I got from June's homeschool conference plus several googled websites. I highly recommend every homeschooler to design one themselves, since we are all so individual & unique. (That's one of the best things about homeschooling, after all!) Even those of us who aren't very technological can do it; I found a bunch of websites with forms ready to customize & print.

Anyhoo, my planner has a section for our family schedule, our "together" school work (Bible & our main curriculum - varies from Five in a Row, Story of the World history, and Physics), Jimmy's work (math, spelling, journal, reading, & memory work), Caleb's work (math, handwriting, journal, reading, & Catechism), my to-do list, and dinner menu planning. Best part - when that no longer works for us, I can create & print new forms!

About our field trip - we met Daddy in Boston (in between two of his business trips) to spend the weekend with generous friends - the Stanleys - who bravely faced a long day of walking with two potentially cranky boys. Turns out the boys were too busy flirting with Mrs. Stanley & trying to impress Mr. Stanley to be very cranky. lol We limited the sights to see based on what the boys already learned & what we thought they could appreciate. So we saw the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed, part of the road Paul Revere (and the British) traveled, the U.S.S. Constitution, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and the Boston Public Gardens. We read Paul Revere's ride over the summer, which covered Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and the minuteman trail. The Public Garden is the setting for Make Way for Ducklings (we re-read the book next to the statues of the duck family from the story). We had stayed in the town where Johnny Appleseed was born, so it was a great opportunity to introduce the story to the boys as well as give Randy & I an opportunity to learn the true story behind the legend. And the U.S.S. Constitution... well, old boats like that are just plain cool! Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures from the trip because my camera had a full memory card & an empty battery. Sigh.

I think we're off to a fabulous start. Here's to a great school year!