it's friday...we made it

This was our first official week of school. Second grade for my big girl and kindergarten for my baby...sheesh, time sure does fly! I made lesson plans, gathered manipulatives, prepared activites, formulated a daily schedule, researched craft ideas, and checked out books. Now that it's Friday and I look back over the week to see how much I accomplished, well, I didn't get it all done. However, I think we accomplished a lot. There are always a few kinks that need to get worked out, but for the most part I am pleased...and not as overwhelmed as I thought I would be. The girls adjusted well to the more structured schedule, there was still plenty of time for playing each day, and I even managed to squeeze in some pilates. (no pun intended:o) I do have to fight for my mat though because the girls like to join in and they try to steal my mat. Hmmm, I feel a sewing project formulating in my brain. I digress. So we started off the first day of school by giving the girls a schultute (school cone) filled with new school supplies and treats. I read about this German tradition and it sounded like a great way to foster excitement for the start of a new school year. It's a tradition that I'd like to continue each year because it was just as fun for me as it as it was for them. The school cones that I made were not as big as the German ones, but they were just as great. Also, the original schultutes were actual cone shapes. I was using recycled materials so I decided to make mine like a triangular pyramid. It worked out great. More on that in another post. So these are the school cones...um, pyramids, covered in fabric, lined with fabric and trimmed with eyelet. Yes, more stash busting.
And here are my bright eyed girls first thing in the morning on the first day of school. What a surprise to get a present for school!

New hair bows, butterfly tattoos (for science), ginormous smartees, some tiny notebooks, and a few little trinkets. Fun stuff, I tell you.

So as the week played out we accomplished our daily Bible lessons, math, and language arts. Then the plan was to do two days of science and two days of history/geography but that didn't quite work. We did three days of science and one day of history. So it seems that we may just alternate weeks so we can really focus on each subject. Anyway this week was the life cycle of a butterfly. Oh sure, a lot of that process is common knowledge and potentially boring. Fortunately I was prepared for that and made sure I had some great books that would expand their knowledge of caterpillars and butterflies. They learned so much and had such fun. What a great way to start! Here's a picture of a few books we used along with some information and crafting that we did.

Today, we did a few little things to wrap up the week then we went to our weekly co-op day. It was a fun way to round out the week. Happy weekend to you! xo ANG