First Official Day of Homeschool

Well, we did it! Today was our first official day of preK homeschool. Everything went great! In fact, I don't think it could have gone better. Avery was extremely cooperative and attentive. I was worried about the difficulty of breaking out of our normal morning routine and doing something more structured, but as far as this morning went, it went okay! Hopefully we can keep up with it and establish some better morning habits. I know it's up to me to do it, and I just have to not let myself get lazy about it.

We started off our school time with prayer and asked God to bless our school time together. I think this is super important for me especially (I know I need all the help I can get!), and to set a good example for Avery. Then we did our first Hooked on Phonics lesson. Avery already knows all her letters and sounds, and she breezed right through the first lesson. Then she read her first story all by herself! So now I can officially say that my daughter started reading at age 3!

(It may sound silly, but this was kind of a big deal for me. I started reading at 3, and I really, really hoped that Avery would also. I want her to have the lifelong love of reading that I do. I know that I also can play a big part in that by reading to her more and I mean to do so. It's definitely an area where I need to improve. I don't take enough time to read to her.)

After our reading lesson, we did our first Hooked on Bible Stories lesson. I read the story of Creation to her and then we had some discussion about it. Tomorrow's lesson involves memorizing a verse and listening to some songs.

Then we did a few worksheets. Mainly coloring, and little bit of writing practice. After that we read a counting book from the library that she had picked out. Then she read along with a story on Starfall.com and did some of the alphabet activities. Right now she's just finished up watching Word World and is starting Between the Lions on PBS. I love those shows! She has learned so much just from watching them!

And THAT was our first official day of homeschool! I can only hope that we continue to go smoothly and I can come up with some fun activities to keep her interested!

I feel like I should be relieved (and I am), but I'm also feeling even more overwhelmed. We took the first step on a HUGE journey today, and there is no going back! My daughter is not a baby anymore, she's a student! WOW. Okay, not going to cry! Really...

At any rate, we made it through the first day and now it's time for lunch! And I feel in desperated need of a Mountain Dew! ;)