We're starting our second week of school today, which means that we survived our first week last week! I'd like to think that we didn't only survive, but thrived! :) Since the lessons in kindergarten aren't terribly long or take up half the day, I decided to do our school in the afternoon when Brigham was napping for the first week. This way, I wouldn't have the extra distraction or frustration from wanting to focus on the older two but having to deal with a new-two-year-old's demands. While this worked out well, I found myself wishing some afternoons that I had already completed school in the morning getting right into a routine, instead of looking forward to it all day and not being able to start until early afternoon. I figured I'd do school in the morning this week then, and compare the pros and cons of morning vs. afternoon school. This will truly test my multi-tasking and patience, though, having to keep Brigham happy (and quiet!) for school time. Afterall, I won't always have the luxury of only having a mostly quiet four and six-year-old around for each day of school!
Wanting to make the first day of school special for the kids, we headed to IHOP for breakfast on Monday morning followed by them picking out a new outfit for the day and fall. We enjoyed our morning, strolling around the shops and making our stops, preparing for the big afternoon! When we were ready to start, I still of course had to take the "first day of school" pictures in front of the house! :) There were the initial moans and groans coupled with very sunny skies, but in the end, we found a shady spot and got a couple of good ones...
Once inside it was all smiles and even though I was a bit nervous on how to "start", we were rolling in no time. Each day the lesson took just a bit over an hour, as I served them a "creation snack" along with the lesson. These were easy, fun ideas that I mostly got from the My Father's World message boards. (A huge wealth of information!) We waited until the near-end of the lesson before our last coloring project and song to have snack, as to not disturb the "core" of the lesson.
Day 1: Oreos & milk {God divided the light from darkness}
Day 5: Goldfish crackers {God made living creatures in the sea & birds}
{I will also not confirm or deny that anticipating what the creation snack would be ended up being the kids' favorite time of school...}
Illustrating the Creation Book
Day 3: Pudding, crushed oreos, & strawberry {God made sea, dry land, & plants}
Day 4: Nachos & lemonade {God made the sun, moon, & stars}
Day 5: Goldfish crackers {God made living creatures in the sea & birds}
{I will also not confirm or deny that anticipating what the creation snack would be ended up being the kids' favorite time of school...}
Bella did a great job with her letters (and numbers) each day, as she already knows them all with their sounds. These first two weeks are definitely review for her, but I came up with a couple of speed games with the alphabet cards to challenge her a bit. This helped her along with not becoming bored during the lesson. As the year goes on, I expect things will pick up for her with more letter blending and reading. She also loved the "This is My Father's World" hymn that we learned, and loves singing along to the laptop music many, many times as we close each lesson. As expected, Lincoln drifted in and out for parts of the lesson. Some days, he was quite interested in the letters and numbers and others not. He did enjoy the crafts, though, coloring and pasting. With him being in preschool still this year and a newer four-year-old, my focus with him will be review of his colors and shapes, while teaching numbers and introducing letters. Of course we will all do a lot of quality reading too, as that's a huge focus of the My Father's World curriculum! :)
Illustrating the Creation Book 
Ready to start! {I love this picture, as many of you who know Lincoln knows that he does NOT smile or cooperate for pictues...}
We're really looking forward to this week, the second week of Creation, and even more so to the themed weeks that follow! Of course the kids are already counting down and asking for when their favorite themes are coming up. I feel great that we have our first week done and confident to move on, finding our rhythm and the schedule that fits best for us before the baby is born.
