Week One Done!

We got through our first week of homeschooling!  Okay, that sounds a bit more impressive than it really is since I've been doing school work with her several times a week for a least a year now, but still!  We started the week on Tuesday because she had dance class Monday morning and we had run a bunch of errands after.  This worked since I've only planned to work 4 days a week anyway. 
                 
I was amazed to find that even with math, language arts, phonics, handwriting, reading aloud, science and social studies and bible work we are still able to finish in about an hour (a little more if we are working on a project).  When I look at the stuff we did in one day and think about doing it in a classroom, I know it would take all day, so that's a great discovery.  We can still have time to do other things. 

I was worried that the little bit here, little bit there read aloud schedule in Sonlight would not work with her and I was prepared to just read through a book at a time instead.  But Eleanor really seem to like the way it was scheduled, so we'll keep up with that for now.  I was also worried about the creative writing assignment.  This week was picture book narration.  We reread one of her favorite books.  Then she retold me the story, using the pictures if she needed to.  I wrote down word for word what she said and then typed it up and printed it.  She drew a picture to go with it and we shared it with her daddy when he got home.  Here is what she came up with:

I was worried this would be like pulling teeth to do.  But she loved it!  In fact, she wanted to do another one!

Some things I already knew and had reinforced:  Eleanor really seems to love math.  She always wants to do more than is planned and is anxious to learn about money.  I can't say that it's the math curriculum we've chosen because she loved the last one, too.  I hope this love continues.  On the other hand, she hates writing letters and words.  She traces them just fine but doesn't even like to try on her own.  She's still young, so hopefully she'll get better about that. 

Some highlights of our week:

We read "Jack and Jill" one day.  After we read it we bandaged up Teddy and Lucy and I bandaged Eleanor's arm.  She really liked the idea of the bandage and "hurt" her foot later that day.  She walked around with a bandage on it for the rest of the day.  I tried to get a picture of all three together, but she wouldn't let me:

Today in our read aloud bible we read about the serpent in the garden.  Sonlight suggested making a paper snake and decorating it, but I figured with her Viper (from Kung Fu Panda) obsession she'd want something more permanent.  So I sewed a quick snake out of green fabric, and sure enough she had to decorate it like Viper: