I can’t believe it! My little girl has started Grade 1. A lot of preparation went into her first day of homeschool.
We began the day by discussing what she can expect on a daily basis. She will be encouraged to exercise some self-sufficiency and independence. For instance, she has a booklet which has a daily checklist of the topics we will be covering as well as any worksheets that she will require for each individual day.
My daughter got to work immediately and was pretty excited that she would be beginning every day with time to draw in her art journal. We read the applicable day in her Year of Art Book. The entry for the day was about Paul Cézanne’s self portrait. I then encouraged her to draw whatever she wished. I marveled at how without any prompting, she chose to do a self-portrait.
Since it was her first day back, I didn’t want to overwhelm her with too many subjects, so we spent the last part of our learning time focusing on Bible study. We discussed the Bible and explored the idea of how the old testament relates to the new testament.
She also had her back-to-homeschool pictures taken.
We have chosen to document her daily work with the Cozi app. We write a few quick blurbs about what we did that day and share a picture (if we have taken one). Here’s what her first day of school looked like:
As much as we planned for this day, nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming feelings I had on my daughter’s first official day of Grade 1. There’s something about this grade. It seems epic… monumental. My daughter is officially considered grade “school” aged! I’m still trying to figure out where the years went!
Despite being sick with a nasty sinus cold, I enjoyed our first day of Grade 1 (and I’m pretty sure she did too).
Psst – Come visit my homeschooling blog, Deliberate Homeschooling for many more posts like these.
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Hooray, the first day of home-school! I was home-schooled my whole life until college, and I remember how excited we were to start the new “school year”, even though we often did little bits of school throughout the summer as well. May your year be blessed, and may her year be full of learning!
What an adorable little girl! That app looks really cool too! Have a wonderful time!
I think she takes after you :).
I have to teach the boys for exams and I often wonder if girls give less trouble lol.
Fun! Very cool that you’re taking this task on yourself. Good luck! :)
I love how your documenting the experience!
What a beautiful first day of first grade picture! You’ve got a little beauty there, my friend.
First grade seemed like a huge deal to me this year too! Have fun this year!
Aw I hope you feel better soon! What a big girl she is to officially be in grade school. You take a lot on by being a homeschooling mama and hats off to you for doing it. Cute first grade pic too btw!
How exciting! And documenting the experience is priceless!!!
xo,
Janise
Adorable!! I just love first day of school pics! Good for you on homeschooling. I have a number of friends who have done it and I give you a lot of credit. Here’s to a wonderful new year!
Hi Jennifer! I think it’s great to document the days, you’ll love reading those when she is 21! And the ‘back to school’ photo is precious. I hope you have a fantastic year!
Ceil
This is amazing Jennifer. I have never been exposed to homeschooling so am really looking forward to following along as you share your daughter’s school days. Thanks for sharing!
I love how organized you are. I also appreciate how you are incorporating technology with her daily work. I’m looking forward to learning about how your school year goes.
I think it’s awesome that you document these kind of moments! I am so un-organized that just the thought of home school gives me a headache. It really looks like a great idea to do, with the benefits and everything but I have to give props to anyone who accomplishes this feat! It seems like a lot of preparation, work and organization!