First Day Of School

Annabelle eagerly began her school career this morning at home, with A Beka's K4 program. She is ready to learn. I'm so excited to begin this journey with her, as her teacher. The curriculum covers the basics: reading and writing; basic math skills; and Bible. In addition to that, we will have a rotating curriculum, beginning with science. When we are finished with the science unit, I hope to go over units on telling time, famous artists, dinosaurs, and whatever she wants to learn about.
Today was a fairly easy day, as the information I presented to her was review (and it will be for the first few weeks).
We began the day with the calendar, weather, and a preview of what we would be learning. Then we headed to the dining room for table work. I found a fun activity for her to do on the first day of school, to be repeated again at the end of the school year. I'm excited to see how her progress changes over the next several months.
We then took a short break for a snack, and a quick walk around the neighborhood before digging into our Bible curriculum. Annabelle learned about the first three days of Creation in Genesis 1:1-13.
She also learned about how the Bible was written, and how it is laid out.
Before long, the school day was over, and it was time for lunch!

Obligatory 1st day of school picture, complete with signs

1st Day of K-4

I'm just here for the stickers!

Our daily board. More on that in a later post

Hard at work

Reference board. More on that in a later post

Practicing scissor skills

Our Homeschooling Corner

All of our school supplies are neatly organized!

This year, Annabelle and I will go through A Beka's K4 program. At first, I was skeptical. I thought I was expecting too much from her, and that I should just keep doing what I'm doing, and take advantage of the teachable moments. But she has been asking about spelling, reading, and adding. She wants to know how to "make" numbers. She is beginning to sound out simple words with help. And once she learns a word in print, she commits it to memory. She recently opened a menu, found the word "pizza" in an unfamiliar font, and decided that's what she was going to eat for lunch that day. Annabelle has a thirst for knowledge, and craves teaching. To just take advantage of the teachable moments, in her case, would be to hold her back.

With just 9 days remaining until we officially begin our homeschooling journey, I finally got to work organizing a corner of the dining room for all of our homeschooling and art materials for the year. Even though I purchased the material in May, I never made the time to organize it until this weekend. Now that the curriculum guides are in labeled binders, books are stacked neatly, pencils are sharpened and nestled in bins, I feel ready.
But I may be buying a few baskets to replace the shoe boxes. I don't think I'll ever actually be done organizing. I'm just going to keep changing it up little by little until the end of the school year.
Enjoy these pictures, and I'd love to see everyone else's school/homework/craft areas!
Later this week (or maybe next week), I hope to share with you Annabelle's learning boards.
Be sure to check back, as I plan on posting updates on our homeschooling experience!
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Extra crayons and some lite reading for myself
I bought the crayons back when Walmart was selling them for $.50!

Coloring supplies for free coloring:
New crayons and markers;
Melty crayons;
Colored pencils

Pencil box, workbooks, NIrV  Bible, game dice, music CD

Readers
(They are not used in the curriculum
for several more weeks)

Flash Cards and Small Visuals

Binders with all of our curriculum guides and larger visuals.
To the right, I have a notebook and daily planner for mysel

Bulletin board pieces
A Beka uses a lot of visuals,
which comes with a LOT of
tiny pieces!

Coloring books and construction paper

Art supplies. By labeling the drawers,
I know I am more likely to keep everything organized!