Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Our First Day Back

Well, we're back in the 'ol grind! Not that that's a bad thing, by any means. In fact, Bear really seemed excited to get back to school. I wish that I'd had something fun planned for our first day back at school, but I didn't. Bear did a new reading packet and practiced some math flash cards. (We got a kick out of trying to say "math facts flash cards" without messing up! It's harder than you might think!) Bear also started writing her thank you notes for Christmas presents. I think that one a day is probably all we're going to get done, so some people might still be getting their thank you's in February! I tried using a four-square grid to "map out" her thank you before she wrote it - the present in a box in the middle, then four things around that that she wanted to say - but I'm not sure that she really got the concept of what I was trying to do. Heck, I'm not even sure that I got the concept! Oh well! We got one note written without any huge problems, so whatever we did worked!
I'm at a point this year where I'm beginning to feel at loose ends as far as the teacing aspect of school goes. That's the problem with not using a set/boxed curriculum, I think, because I remember it happening last year. I begin to worry if I'm teaching everything that she needs to know and wondering what things I'm leaving out, and since I don't have a manual or something telling me what to do, I begin to panic. But I hate to think of buying something new in the middle of the year because I don't want to only get through half of the first grade level before summer break. (That happened to me last year with math and I'm bound and determined that it won't happen again!) I feel like I'm in a rut and I want to break out of it, but I'm at a loss as to how I go about doing that. Argh.

1 comment:

Sherri said...

Hi friend,
When I am feeling a little lost in a subject that I am not using a particular curriculum for...like Science and Social Studies...I go to the Louisiana Department of Education site and pull up Comprehensive Curriculum. It lists all of the subjects by age and a complete description of what is taught in each grade. Now, I like to challenge them beyond this sometimes because I can, but sometimes, just knowing that I am on track helps me. Just google your states department of education site and click on the comprehensive curriculum link.
I hope this helps. Don't get overwhelmed with the details of it...just use it as a guide.
We are starting back on Monday. I need to get my weekly plan done. I need to do some creative planning to make up for the extra week that we took off...oh the joys of homeschooling :)!