Two weeks ago today, we started our new school year with an excited 1st grader, 4th grader and 5th grader.
I baked donuts with icing and sprinkles for breakfast.
We made new school shirts.
We painted grade signs for taking photos.
We wrote about ourselves on the first day of a new grade. Then I took pictures of them in their new shirts holding their grade signs to glue to their All About Me sheets that we have done on the first day of school for the past few years (can be found here).
Then, we (or rather, I) struggled to sort out the schedule of lessons for a 1st, 4th and 5th grader. And finally, we met with friends for snow cones in the afternoon. I hope the first day traditions, the art projects, the photos and the snowcones are what my kids remember about the first day of school. I hope they remember it as a fun day. Because it was only 2 weeks ago, it’s still fresh in my mind, and I remember the stressed-out, overwhelmed feeling of that day. I was not having fun.
This is not our first year homeschooling. It is our fourth. You would think by now I would have this first-day-of-school-thing down. Nope. Why was I struggling so much with what should have been a fun day for Mom too? Because in all the planning, I planned too much into that day.
So, here is my official note for next year: do less on Day 1. Keep the first day fun. Keep it as an exciting kick-off for the school year. Do the fun breakfast. Do the art project shirts and signs. Take the pictures. Go for snow cones. Leave everything else on the to-do list to be done another day.
Hill County Homeschooler 