First Day Jitters

[WigglesMom]

Our official first day was today. I think it went well. We were done by 11:45 and on the road to the library for books to read. I was a little flustered without a set "schedule" of when to do what with which child. The kids didn't notice that I was stressing a little and trying to make sure we had done all the boxes. I'll admit I was getting a little confused going back and forth between the guides and trying to remember who had finished what. I hadn't gotten our reading books from the library yet so we technically finished in the afternoon after the library trip.
My oldest dd seems to be the most set in the ps way of doing things. I was ready to throttle her the 3rd time she asked could she color while she was finished. Apparently she does a lot of coloring and drawing at school b/c she finishes ahead of all the other kids. Which is fine, when there isn't more school to be done and the teacher knows what they are doing . I'll admit that I wasn't as smooth in our transition to home school today as I had hoped and planned. I wanted to be smoothly flowing with what we should do next and seem like I knew what I was doing at least. I didn't pull that off with my oldest. The others either didn't notice I had no clue or they just thought oldest dd was doing a great job letting me know it all by herself .
My oldest dd informed me lots that they didn't do things this way or that way at "school". So doubting myself a plenty, I trudged onward through the morning. Math was probably my oldest dd's biggest issue. Singapore is different and she wanted to just jump into the workbook without going through the textbook first or just racing through the textbook instead. I silently (for now I feared what would come out of my mouth) trudged on through the textbook and I am glad that we did. She wasn't thinking problems through and would have missed several in her rush to finish first. Other than that my oldest dd did great. She did her independent history reading first and some cursive practice (haven't gotten the independent science book in yet). Bible was hard b/c she has never really studied it in a school setting. We used a KJV (that is what we have at home). I think I may buy a NIV or NIrV for use with the kids. At least, she couldn't tell me they didn't do it that way at school. I feel as though I am waging war on the "school" mentality that she has developed.
My middle dd was really enthusiastic and loved LHFHG with her little brother. I am having to beef it up for her with Learn at Home Language Arts, Spelling, and Reading as well as we are doing Singapore 2a/2b from BHFHG. She aced the spelling pretest we did today so I am thinking about trying dictation the rest of the week. She had a really unorthodox teacher last year (whom I loved) and she doesn't seem to be stuck in the it must be done this way mentality as big sis.
My ds who has been afterschooling with LHFHG enjoyed adding in the Bible and Rhymes in Motion. We hadn't been doing those afterschool. We also started the reading lesson today. He reads better than the school led me to believe. I had wrote the Bible verse on the board for the kids to read while they were passing "Isaac" back and forth saying a word each of the verse. He really didn't falter.
I did not do LHTH with Wiggles today. I probably could have this afternoon, but decided to pick it up Wednesday. We do M,W,F LHTH with him. I didn't start DITHOR today either. I may have to get my feet wet more before adding DITHOR into our schedule.
I feel today went well, yet I also feel a little lost myself. I searched for a scheduling thread and took Carrie's schedule for BHFHG and LHFHG she had posted and tweaked it. I'm hoping having a schedule that I can look at as well as the girls can look at will make me feel and seem more together.
Here's hoping for a more "together' day tomorrow.
Val

[mskogen]

Praying today is AWESOME!
Congratulations on homeschooling your kiddo's! What an wonderful mom you are to do this.

Have a super blessed day

[lmercon]

Don't worry! You'll hit your groove. I takes a little while to find which way works the best. It will also take a while for your daughter to realize that this is homeschooling, NOT school at home. There is a big difference. When she realizes that, I think she will start to enjoy the hsing more. Confess to your kids that this is new to you and that hsing is an exciting adventure that you are nervous about, but that together you will make it work. I promise, it will get better, with a few lousy days thrown in there every once in a while to keep us humble.
Smiles,
Laura

[Jen in Va]

Another alternative to NIV is the ESV. I bought one within the last year and really, really like it (have had and used NIV since it first came out in the late 70s/early 80s and now prefer ESV, ymmv).

Also, do not get down on yourself if your daughter hangs on to those ps ways for quite a while. I've heard that it can take as long as a year for the transition to be made and things settle in to YOUR routine. Don't rush them........or yourself. Enjoy them. Enjoy Carrie's fantastic curriculum. Rest in the fact that you are doing something great for and with your kids! You will find your way...the way that works for you and your kids. Give yourself time!

[spidermansmum]

Oh wow - You did so well.It takes time to find your grove and your managing multiple children and guides.Well done.
As far as your eldest - dont take it personally.It can take a long time for them to adapt to being home after school.For ages Nathan asked me if it was toy day[ he was allowed to take a toy in on Tuesdays and Fridays at his school] and for along time he would say things like - When I go to school I will do x,y or z.Or he would sometimes say he wanted to go to school for Lunch ...Each time he did - I felt like he was missing school-or I had made a mistake in home schooling him.The reality was not that he was happy at school or even that he missed it-It was just he missed the certainty of what was going to happen.He is quite vocal now that he never wants to go to school-
Well Done on your first day.

[Mom2Monkeys]

I agree that you have done an excellent job! Your dd may feel a little out of sorts being at home and doing school...of all things! You don't do that at home! LOL So, I'm sure her nagging you about not doing things like they do at school is maybe a bit of coping on her part. It's a big change and you are doing great but keepin' on keepin' on. You'll reap the benefit before you know you and things will settle into a nice routine.

Some practical advice...If you aren't a to-the-minute scheduler, I have some pictures of the schedule I made. I need a list or a schedule or I feel lost and I"m jumping around trying to figure out what we've done and what we have left. BUT, if I make a schedule of times...like, math 9-9:20 and grammar 9:20-9:40...I go crazy if I get just 2 minutes off! Then I'm all stressed out. So, I made a chart with sentence strips, wrote each subject/box to be done, labled it as I,S,or M (Independent, Semi-Ind., Mom) and if it's daily or certain days of the unit (If it's only on certain days, it's only on the chart those days). When dd finishes one, she removes it from the chart and places it in a "done box". I can see at a glance what we have done and what we have left and it provides me that schedule I need without stressing me out. I tell her go do some "I" work for 30 min. and she'll set the timer and work on it. If it sounds interesting to you, you can see pictures of it on my blog...the link is in my siggy-- the blog post is titled "School Schedule System" under June 2009.

Keep up the good work! You're doing fantastic!

[my3sons]

Well, congrats! You did a good job on your first day! No first day goes perfectly, and even when I used to teach ps, on the first day of school the dc would often say "my teacher last year didn't do it that way". Just think, next year, YOU will be LAST YEAR's teacher, so she won't be able to say that anymore! Don't take it personally - though I know it's hard not to. If she says that again, just laugh and say - "Well of course this is different - I am NOT last year's teacher!" You may firmly need to let her know she may not say that anymore. Point out that whether it was you or a new ps teacher, things would have been different this year either way. Just make sure your dd knows you are the teacher, and you are going to be making the decisions this year. Just expect her to give you the same level of respect you'd expect her to give a ps teacher. If a ps teacher told you at conferences your dd kept telling her she should teach like last year's teacher, or she wanted to constantly color, think what you might say to your dd after that conference, and do likewise with her now. This is normal, and she'll adjust to being home over time!

You may also want to add in a coloring time for her if she enjoys that. Just schedule it in for maybe 20-30 minutes - depending how much she loves it. You can wait to start DITHOR and LHTH for awhile, like maybe a month or more if need be. Tamara had a good idea to generally block out your schedule times too. Don't worry- it will keep going more and more smoothly. You're doing great, just keep on persevering!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

WigglesMom,

I just wanted to encourage you too! I am not one of those moms who has a great first day, and yours sounds like it went better than most of my first days! Typically, I have a great fourth day. Schooling multiple kiddos and transitioning them all at once to a new way of doing school will definitely take time. Find joy in the little sucesses and know that one small step forward at a time will lead you toward a great overall day eventually.

Blessings,
Carrie

[WigglesMom]

We did have a good 4th day today. I have adjusted some things for the kiddos. The girls do independent work first, then they do dictation together when needed. This gets that out of the way for me and them. I also went to 1/2 speed with BHFHG. It is a big adjustment for my oldest dd and she is not used to so much writing (and in cursive). She has completed cursive with Zaner-Bloser and has very pretty penmanship. She just wasn't required to use it but for spelling tests and the actual handwriting book. Going 1/2 speed the last 2 days has made a marked improvement in her attitude and compliance. I think it may just have been too much all at once for her to adapt to the change.
She does a lot of her work independent or semi-independent following her guide. This is working for us and frees up some of my time for my ds who needs a lot of one on one to stay on task and focused. DD7 is learning cursive and has handwriting issues with manuscript so I am not sure how cursive will go in the long run. She is kind of in both guides. She does LHFHG with ds6 for the left side and storytime, then she has her own english, handwriting, and reading. Plus we are doing dictation and Singapore Math 2a/2b with BHFHG. The only thing she does with dd8 is dictation. She is not fond of dictation though b/c of the handwriting issues. She gets very discouraged, but she aced the spelling words so I moved on to dictation. Maybe time will make dictation feel differently for her. She is very good at memorizing spelling words, but not good at using them in writing spelled correctly.
On the plus side, both girls are really good at narrating. They have had a lot of practice at school.
So all in all a very good fourth day!
Val

[Carrie]

Hurrah, Val! You're moving in the right direction. I think it's an excellent idea to stay at half-speed while training your kiddos to use each part of the guide. It is good to ease into the skills, so each child feels like he/she can do what you are asking. And... it gives you time to tweak your schedule in the beginning to find a good fit. Once you hit a pretty good schedule though, just stay with it and work the schedule, so your kiddos know what to expect and can gain even more independence. After the opening weeks in a program, we settle in and just keep the schedule the same. Freedom comes in the moment when the kiddos can move on knowing the order for their day. The time is not not nearly as important as the sequence remaining the same.

Blessings,
Carrie