First Day of School!

We begin our homeschool year when the rest of the kids in town begin. Our homeschool co-op waits until September, but by mid-August the whole town is buzzing about back-to-school. The children’s programming at church and other extracurriculars kick back up, and we get into the swing of it, too.

I call it a soft launch. We do many of our daily lessons, practices, and read-alouds, but things will ramp up even more when co-op days begin.

Felicity will be going to a private school that starts in two days, so having her around won’t be the norm. She was invited to join in on what we were doing today. She fussed at first, but eventually chose to participate.

Special Things about our First Day:

• Cinnamon rolls for breakfast (Plus our daily green smoothie)

• Gifts for each kid, plus a more expensive "family gift" (I may be more excited about it than they are! Micah was thrilled and worked on it for a while.)

• First Day photos (gotta do it!)

• Handicraft on our year's history theme of the middle ages (perler beads with knight and princess pattern)

• Kitchen lesson time

🟢 High point of the day: Reading Canterbury Tales

I love reading aloud. When I read, it’s a joy for me too—not just for the kids. I don’t particularly love many of the necessary parts of homeschooling - like instructing piano, supervising a kitchen lesson, pulling out handicrafts, or checking handwriting. But reading aloud feels different. Today we began a child’s version of The Canterbury Tales, which is suggested in our co-op this year as we study the Middle Ages. I had never read it before and know almost nothing about it, so I’m curious right alongside them.

I had August and Felicity take turns narrating what we read, Charlotte Mason–style. It was such a joy to hear their narrations—proof that they were listening, enjoying, and comprehending. Felicity even encouraged me to keep reading more and more. Partly because she loves stories, and partly because she wanted to finish her perler bead project—a princess and a dragon (on theme!).

🔴 Low point of the day: Tablet-Hiding

Last week I instilled a new house rule: no screens on weekdays for entertainment. Screens are still allowed for lessons, and for family time if Dad wants it, but no more mindless tablet games or Netflix shows. I don’t want screens to stifle play or imagination.

Micah is having the hardest time with this rule. He keeps asking for tablet games. I know he’s testing my resolve, but I don’t like the constant struggle. Today’s low point came when I let him use the tablet for Simply Piano. We have about a week left of our subscription, and I plan not to renew it—this year I’ll teach the boys from books since I’ll have more time (due to not working anymore!). But later I couldn’t find him. When I finally did, he was under his bed with the tablet, hiding his face. The Yoto app was open, which is fine, but when I checked recently opened apps, there was a game. It seems he tried to cover it up by switching to Yoto. Pretty sneaky for a five-year-old, but I could see right through it.

It made me sad to face this struggle. I told him I’d be taking away the Cheerio I gave him this morning. (We award Cheerios for getting ready on time; each Cheerio is worth 10 minutes of weekend tablet time.) Micah whined and cried over the loss and stayed in a sour mood for a while, hiding in my office.

I hope I can find a good balance with him—enough engaging opportunities, plus open time for him to explore his interests. I pray God will help me break his reliance on media. I’m looking forward to more outdoor time tomorrow, which I know will be good for him. I’m looking forward to the fall.

✨ What surprised me today?

My mom stopped by. I was a little fried (after dealing with Micah), but it’s nice that she lives close enough to drop in. The kids were upstairs, playing nicely—building a fort and coming up with a creative game together.

📚 What resource/activity worked well?

For their back-to-school gift, I gave each child a special book, not sure how it would go. To my delight, each one loved theirs. August read his puzzles and riddles book all day. Felicity loved the origami paper puppet book and learned how to make a Santa. She struggled following one guide, and eventually decided to look up a video online. She got obsessed with this Santa puppet and made a bunch. She enjoyed teaching her brothers to do it as well. She made up stories about how the Santas share the duties of delivering gifts to children.

🛠️ What didn’t work?

I was in the kitchen too much. I made a special breakfast and lunch, plus helped Micah and Felicity each with their own cooking project (Micah made peanut butter energy balls, Felicity made oat breakfast cookies). Then I cooked salmon and green beans for dinner. By the end of the day, I was tired of being in there.

I think I can only handle kid-in-the-kitchen projects once a week. Hopefully getting out to parks more often will also reduce my kitchen load. I want us to eat healthy and avoid eating out too much for budget reasons, so there will always be a lot of food prep—but I need to find a better balance.