And we're off...........................

Today we officially started school. It was shaky. It was weird. It was scary. It was surprisingly laid back and calm. James said as we pulled the desks to the middle of the room, "We are being homeschooled again, Boys, strange, it feels like Christmas."

Oh, that warmed my heart and I ran to Sam's side and whispered, "Did you hear what James said?" He smile a gentle grin and nodded a yes.

We began with the lighting of the candle. We said our verse, we recited 2 lines of a poem we are going to learn over the next 8 weeks. We did some skip counting, and I sang On Top of Old Smokey. In time they will learn it word for word and sing along. Once the poem and song are complete then we will move on to a new one.

Sam took James upstairs after this and worked on Geometry. I stayed with Jonah and Zane and we worked on Form Drawing Lesson 1. Good thing I sometimes have flashes of brilliance, because I sure needed it today! When you teach Form Drawing in the Waldorf method you need a story to bring you into the lesson that is about the lesson. Lesson 1 is straight and curved lines. I sat there for about 2 seconds as I was scrambling around in my brain thinking up a story. I started asking Jonah questions right off the bat to stall. Then it came to me in about 1 minute into the stalling routine.

Ivy and Charlie were walking in the forest looking at all that Nature had provided when along came an old woman and asked what they were doing there........this is where you bring in an old lady voice and find a voice for Ivy and Charlie............Ivy told the old woman how they were looking at the shapes in the woods. The woman asked what shapes, she only saw trees, flowers, grass, and beasts. Ivy explained how everywhere you look there are shapes and ALL shapes use either straight or curved lines. Then I pulled the little chalkboard close to me and began to draw a tree, a bird, blades of grass, and flowers. I explained to the old woman that the grass can be curved or straight, the trunk of the tree was straight, but the branches were curved. On and on I went until we ended with writing the names of our story helpers, Ivy and Charlie and talked about how Ivy had all straight lines and Charlie had a mix of both. We went outside and moved our bodies in straight and curved movements. We talked about the things we saw with those lines, and then came inside to draw them on their personal desk chalkboards I made for them this week. James finished his geometry and went outside to work around the yard while I finished up with the other two, then I worked with Jonah and read him his Fable and then read Zane his Fairy Tale. I finally got around to read James his Roman material. Some time later I helped James with Math. He finished the rest on his own; French, journal, spelling, and reading his book. I have a chart on the wall for him to keep track of each day. After it's completed (20 days worth) I make another and tweak it to what we are doing now.

It went smoothly for a day that I was clueless about and one Sam did not prepare himself for at all. He wants to help but falls asleep as I tell him what is on the agenda and procrastinates when it's time to do something. Oh well, he is willing to help with the morning opening and teach the geometry. This helps get James set in the right direction and shows the boys Dad is on board with what Mom is doing!

I am excited. It was even better later because we got home and our lesson books (blank books the kids make into textbooks themselves) had finally shown up. UPS "forgot" to put it on the truck Friday morning when it was suppose to be delivered, instead they brought Harry and David snacks sent by someone Sam works with. The kids enjoyed the junk food at least.

We still had the chicks to tend to, and the rest of life. It was a full day. Now I must prepare for tomorrow. Jonah's fable was about a Stag, I just found another one about a Stag. Tomorrow we learn how to draw a Stag after our review and do more reading. Should be interesting and fun!

Tootles...............until next time.