We had our first day of homeschool on Monday!  We started off with our first community day at Bridges, the new classical group that we spent the last half of the summer planning.  It went so well that all of the children have been talking about it non-stop.  They cannot wait to go back!

We made a few additions compared to our typical Classical Conversations community days, but kept all of the good stuff like memory work and presentations.  We added in more detailed music theory and musical era/composer studies, as well as in-depth art lessons and artist studies.  We’re also including more detailed science experiments and language arts studies for all of the children.

For the early readers, language arts consists of learning spelling rules and spelling lists, read-alouds from the great books with corresponding comprehension questions, and light grammar work.  For advanced readers, language arts looks more like a CC Essentials class with heavy emphasis on writing and grammar skills.

It’s a small group this year, but we are excited about inviting new families to join us next year.  I really love what we’ve got going with our group and hope to expand the program!  I was so impressed with how all of the children supported and encouraged each other on Monday.  Everyone did what was asked of them without (many) complaints, and the kids got along well.

I had the pleasure of tutoring this crew of seven.  Before lunch, we worked on the new Claritas Week 1 memory work, played a review game of musical chairs, did presentations, and had a snack.  After lunch and recess, we also learned 11 new musical theory terms and did a lesson about the artistic element of line.  The lesson got paired with an artist study of Joseph Stella, who was a Futurism painter during the Modern Era.  I didn’t get to take any pictures of the day except for when the children were working on their art projects.  But I think they all agreed that was their favorite part of the day anyway, so it’s a fun subject to have documented.

I also worked with the three beginning reader children separately during language arts.  We’ve planned for 75 minutes of instruction time, which goes by very quickly!  We covered the week’s spelling list and did a grammar activity.  I also read aloud from The Borrowers for about 25 minutes, and then we worked through reading comprehension questions.  My hope is to read 4 books aloud this year, and I think the timing will be just about perfect.  A lot of reading lists were scoured to come up with the choices we ultimately picked, and I love them!

Dumpling was in the nursery during the day with his BFF.  He did really well, although he still has trouble with maintaining his attention span.  Baby steps though, I’m so proud of how well he’s doing!  I came and went all through the day and he was always happy to see me, but also easily able to say bye.  So sweet and worth every bit of the last 9 months of intentional parenting!  It also helps immensely that his teacher is not only a very dear friend and sister, but someone who has walked through the trenches of adoption parenting with me.  She truly understands and there is never an explanation required.  Simply priceless.