A New School Year Begins!

Today is the beginning of our fourth year of homeschooling! I can hardly believe this day is here already! It seems like I've been planning it for months! Oh, wait! I have! LOL! I was very excited to begin and the kids were too. Katelyn needed a little motivation- "pencil cake" helped convince her- but all in all, they were ready!

As I figured, the day did not go exactly as I planned, but most things went really well. We started by taking the traditional "first day of school pictures". Chris and I make a "pencil cake" (it's actually a brownie) every year for the first day. I found the idea from Family Fun magazine our first year and have made it every year for the kids. I think they look forward to it and it is really yummy too! I like taking a picture of the kids with the cake to commemorate the day. It's fun to see the pictures from past years side by side to see how they've grown.

So we got the pictures done, but I wanted to wait to eat the cake until after school (I am so mean). (: It helps to say, Let's get our lessons done so we can have cake!! Anyway, here's a quick run down of our "schedule" for the day.

Devotion and Prayer Time
Pledges to Christian Flag, American Flag and the Bible
Song Time
Calendar and Weather Time
Story Time
Katelyn's lessons- Zach and Luke do an activity together
Zach's lessons- Katelyn and Luke do an activity together
Cake Time!!
Things started off pretty well. We read the devotion and talked about it for a bit, but it wasn't long before Luke lost interest and wanted to move around. He has been having a problem going (ahem) today so he was a bit fussy. We got him happy again by listening to some music but then he wanted "Cars music" which wasn't on the iPod anymore. So back to tantrum-land we went. Change of plan #1- Zach and Luke watch a movie while I work with Katelyn. That lasted 5 mins and Luke wanted to be back in the den with us. So we went back to the original schedule and did Calendar and Story. Halfway through the story, Luke was restless again. Change of plan #2- Skip to lessons and Luke and Zach do the activity tote together while I work with Katelyn-AGAIN. This worked for a good 20 mins and I was able to do Phonics and Reading with Katelyn. In the meantime, Luke pooped! Yay! This seemed to make him a bit happier (for the moment). I finished up with Katelyn but Luke was getting a bit restless AGAIN so...Change of plan #3- Have Cake now and then try to do some lessons with Zach. So after some yummy cake, people (including mommy) were happier.
Change of plan #4- I decided to do Zach's lessons in the afternoon when Luke is taking a nap. I really wanted to get Katelyn's work done since she gets tired in the afternoon (but refuses to nap unless she happens to fall asleep on the couch) and then she doesn't do well with school. In the future, hopefully I get more efficient and be able to finish with her in the morning or in snipits throughout the day. I think I will focus on working with her in the morning and Zach in the afternoons. We will see.
So after cake, we took a break and went outside. Ahhhh, fresh air makes everything better! Deep breath everyone! We can do this!! Everything will not always go as planned, but I just have to stay calm and things will work out! I can definitely tell that I get more flexible every year. I know there will be some adjustments, but we are going to do just fine! I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!