Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Monday, August 1, 2011

First Day Of School...

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We had our first day of school today.  It went well.  We had family worship first, then we did Astronomy - the kids choice for science this year.  They asked to start with that and I was happy to.  We had to pick a mnemonic phrase to help them remember the the order of the planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  They chose - Mom Very Exactingly Marches Joyful Sarah Until Next Playtime.  I think it is pretty good.  They are keeping notebooks and taking notes of things they want to remember.  Kyle was funny - when he wasn't busy telling me things about space that he learned from Jonathan Park, when he wanted to say something he would raise his hand, when I didn't call on him quickly enough, he would come and stand in front of me with his hand raised! This cracked me up!  They raise their hand when they want to say something or ask, otherwise they would just blurt out while someone else, namely me, is trying to speak.  Sometimes I don't call on them because I am in the middle of something and I want them to learn to wait.  When this happens, I usually just say "wait until I'm done then you may talk."  
 
For history we are starting with a book by Genevive Foster called "The World of Capt. John Smith."  It is very interesting and we read two chapters dealing with Francis Drake who Queen Elizabeth the first called "her little pirate," and the political situation between King Phillip II of Spain who had been married to her sister Queen Mary.  Lots of intrigue and reasons why Phillip wanted to rule the world.  I think we are going to enjoy this book a great deal.
After we were done with school, we had lunch and then Sarah asked to get her hair cut.  I asked Emily if she wanted to do it and she was willing.  Sarah wanted her hair cut "like Emily's" because she thinks her sister is so beautiful and she likes her hair.  So Emily cut it about 6 inches shorter and layered around Sarah's face.  Emily's hair has more layers cut into it, but we didn't do that with Sarah's as she will still need it to be braided at night.  Then Rachel wanted hers done too, but all she got was a trim of dead ends.  Her hair is so thick and beautiful that I hate to cut it.  Sarah's is still rather fine and the cut really helped the manageability of her hair.  Here is Sarah getting her haircut...




Never a dull moment around here....


6 comments:

  1. Love this! Enjoy your new school year! What wonderful memories of my and my Bethany. Seems like just yesterday - and now she's got her degree, and certification, and is holding down a full time job while writing a book for a client freelance. So proud of my girl. I'll brag on my boy another time. Suffice to say - our homeschool days were the best!
    Joy!
    Kathy

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  2. Sounds like a very productive day. Glad you all enjoyed it. Can't wait to see Sarah's new do.

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  3. Life sounds fun at your house! (o:

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  4. (There was a pretty good film done of Elizabeth I and the story of the Spanish Armada. I'm not sure if it would be appropriate for school children because it was a bit intense...those torture scenes...ackkk.)

    Sounds as if you're all off to a great start!

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  5. So glad you had a great first day. That sets a tone for the year. Just curious, do you take a long winter break?

    I'm going to miss our school year. Already, I feel like something is missing....like lesson plans. We are continuing oral reading and a bit of math daily to keep those skills brushed up. I know you'll have a wonderful year! :)

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  6. I was just skimming through the lesson book we used for our 9th grade history lessons (Early American and World History for Jr. High by the Berg's at Beautiful Feet Books).

    It uses three or four of the Genevieve Foster books, John Smith being one of them. We loved those books, I even read them along with Christopher.

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