Back to school 2011

Monday was the kick off to our 2011-12 school year, and the whole week went surprisingly well!  I think this is the best first week that we've had yet.  I'm sure it helps that my kids are a little older now and that we have been doing a little bit of math throughout the summer, not to mention that this is our 10th year of homeschooling!  10 years!!!  It really doesn't seem like that long, though, as this is just part of our normal lives now. Sometimes that line between the words "school" and "education" become a little blurry for us homeschoolers, as it's an ongoing thing, really, whether there are books involved or not.  Nonetheless, "school" has officially begun this week in our household.

The first day, we did not follow any set schedule, as my goal was to have an "orientation" with each of my pupils one by one.  I explained the schedule, rules, expectations, and new books.  Even so, we still managed to get about half of our subjects done for the day.  By doing this, though, we were well-prepared to dive in full-steam (for the most part) on Tuesday.  I'm telling you, that schedule works itself.  (See my homeschool curriculum link if you haven't seen it yet).  Everyone settled very quickly into their new books and assignments, which were well received with fairly good attitudes even.  Everyone is quite happy with what they "get" to learn this year, especially Baby Bach, as he's now officially joining the ranks this year as a first grader. He absolutely loves his video teacher, which he uses for a few subjects.

Here are a few photos of the kids at work (I didn't include much of Sister Strings this time, as she was the main feature of my last blog post...It's tough to keep up with four kiddos!):

 Watching math, Bible, habit training, and activity time online...

 activity time-art

 Language Arts...

 Starting a new English PACE...

 P.E. ???

 more photography from Brother Brass...He LOVES meteorology...

More graphic art features from Sister Strings (this one is done with a mouse)...

 And yes, this is our dog...posing for Sister Strings' next art project...

This one is for ME! ♥ (Done with her new writing tablet)