Our first week of Homeschooling

Our first week of homeschooling was full of peace, joy, and loads of quality time together. I am happy to report that Henry is back to his usual affectionate, loving, creative self, and I have no doubt that we made the right decision.

(An aside - I hope I didn't give the wrong impression before - we had already decided on homeschooling for many, many reasons; the negative socialization at Henry's school and the way it was affecting his personality and behavior was just the reason we started NOW instead of next year.)

Henry made pictures with and for Felix and Jude on Monday morning.

I tried to make Henry's first week of homeschooling as special and memorable as possible, so I planned a few special events. On Sunday, I took him out to get some new art materials, which (as I predicted) kept him happily engaged in constructive writing and creating all week.

Monday, March 4
We started the morning off with some games and playtime, then Nana came over to play with the boys while Dan and I met with the director of the school to inform her we were withdrawing the boys from school. Henry and I spent time together in the afternoon creating "Nature Journals" with some notebooks we bought on our trip to the craft store the day before. We had a great time decorating the covers. I'm trying to use the time in the afternoon while Felix is sleeping and Jude is having his quiet time to spend some quality time with Henry - so far, we've been crafting together, and Henry really looks forward to this time each day.

The covers of our nature journals

Henry made this for me to put on the back cover - see the crocuses?

Tuesday, March 5
After some morning playtime, we went back to the craft store to replace something we got on Sunday that had broken. We got Henry a new notebook and he got one for his friend T as well. (I love being able to sit down and play a game of checkers and read some books after breakfast instead of rushing everyone out the door and into the car to school!)

Henry's friend T came over with her mom; we all had dinner together. T's mom went to class while T stayed and spent the night! The two spent the evening making potions and other creations, and at bedtime created a pallet of blankets on the floor in the craft room and kept the space heater woodstove on all night as a night light. It was adorable. T decided to use the new notebook we got her as a journal, and Henry followed suit - since then, there have been tons of journal entries (usually one sentence with a picture labeled with the date on top). It was a joy to see how Henry learned this new skill from a friend, and it turned into great reading, writing, and spelling practice for him.

Wednesday, March 6
Slush day! We played outside for a while in the morning but eventually we were SO wet that we had to go inside. T read to the boys, we played some games, more art and potions...it was a great day.

Thursday, March 7
We had what Henry labeled a "stay at home" day. We cheated a little - after spending the morning at home, we went to pick up our Friends & Farms food basket and then went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. I was apprehensive to arrive right at lunchtime, but we really needed those things so I decided to go anyway - I lucked out as they had a "Giving Grill" set up so we got hotdogs and burgers for lunch which we ate in the cafe. Again I was so thankful to have Henry with us instead of at school.

Friday, March 8
My parents came over and took the boys to Port Discovery! They had a great time, and I got to visit the chiropractor and take Delilah to Atwaters where she got tons of love and I got to enjoy my lunch in peace!

In our many homeschooling days ahead, I know there will be ones that are challenging or downright bad. I am just thankful that our first week was so positive and full of special moments to remember.