First Day of School

WHAT A DAY!!!!

Today started out with a trip to the clinic to get an ultrasound. I had a really high hormone count last week and I wanted to be sure that I was as far along as I thought and I wasn't having twins. There is one healthy little gummy bear in there. YAY!!! They bumped my due date up 3 days. No big deal. 

After the excitement my hubby and I went out on a mini date to Barnes N' Noble. We had some snacks and flipped through books and magazines together. It was very nice. It did not last long though and I had to rush hubby off to school. Then I went home and started our first day of school with the boys. 

Last year, we had such a well planned and relaxed but fun filled first week of school. I had activities to do. Everything was set up. I had all the library books I wanted. I took pictures of the kids doing every single subject. 

This year, I am ashamed to say, I did not take one picture of my 5yo's first day of Kindergarten. Today was such a mess. I told them to get out their binders. They did two different bible devotions. Then my 7yo skipped math because Daddy is taking over that subject and he was at school. I started math with a very mad 5yo who spent the first half hour of Kindergarten yelling, "I HATE KINDERGARTEN!!!! I DON'T WANT TO DO STUPID WORK!!!" He has a flare for drama. I finally told him there is no sliding past it this year. He is 5 years old and either he does the work at home with mommy or he goes to school but it is the law that he does Kindergarten work. This was not said as a threat mind you. I was warned by a homeschool veteran early on, never to threaten to take them to school. I was merely stating the law. He calmed down and curled up beside me in bed where we did our readings. 

In the meantime, my 7yo had done his literature reading with his uncle, who is staying with us for a little while. I am so thankful he was here today. Although, I wonder, as a former homeschooled kid himself, if he thought I was the most disorganized and lazy homeschool mom ever?!?! Hmmm???

My 7 yo had just enough time to finish his copywork before it was time for us to go pick up Daddy. So we grabbed our school books and left. He did his science reading on the car ride to the college. He really liked the subject, life cycles. Something, I am sure you can image, he is very interested in right now. As the birds and bees talk looms ever closer.... It took me 3 weeks to tell him I was pregnant because I was afraid he would ask how it happened. But... I digress... 

Now I will relay the Math debacle... Oh man.. More shame... I wanted to go visit my Gpa who recently had eye surgery. So the plan was that I would pick up hubby and head over there. Hubby and my 7yo could do math while I visit. First, I forgot the books. So we had to come home and get them. Then we got to my grandparents house and realized, we forgot both the manipulatives and the work pages. UGH!!! So we visited for a while and then went home to try and squeeze math in before hubby went to work. 

I came in and laid down while daddy conducted the Math lesson. Afterwards, Hubby came in and said, "It went well but the blocks don't match the lessons." He meant the manipulatives. but since it is a new curriculum that I have never used I trusted him. He changed for work and left. 

I knew something had gone wrong with the lesson because my 7yo was struggling through the first few problems on his worksheet. I asked him to bring it to me. I saw the problem right away, it said on the top of the page, "Find the sum using objects.'' I asked him where the blocks were. He left the room and came back carrying a box of Cuisenaire Rods on his head. Cuisenaire Rods are fantastic but they are not what the lesson calls for. I asked him if those were the blocks Daddy used for the lesson. They were. So I dragged my tired butt out of bed and went into the living room. I did the whole lesson from the beginning with the correct blocks. I also worked out the lesson on the board and my 7yo copied everything onto his little board. Simultaneously, I was helping my 5yo get through his reading and writing lessons. Afterwards, I felt like Supermom... So I decided to take a nap. I crawled back into bed. 

My 5yo was officially done with his first day of school. I did not take one single picture. I was starting to really beat myself up about it but then I remembered that co-op starts next month. I will take a bunch of really great, "First Day Of School" pictures then. 

I was laying in bed and my 7yo came in and asked what he had left to do. UGH... I had him write one sentence about the story he read in Literature and one sentence about Science. I am trying to wean him into writing his narrations. The single sentences do not replace oral narrations though because oral narrations are much more long and detailed. I get a much better idea of what he learned orally at this age. He complained and dawdled and made excuses. I can hardly blame him it had been a long day. I told him to bring me his History book. What luck! It was a Geography review. All he had to do was trace a map of the world and label the continents. He really had fun with it too. He got to use special tracing paper. 

Finally it was over, the first day of school. I am EXHAUSTED and after reading all of this, I bet you are too.