Half Way!! (kinda)

Halfway through Raia's first grade year! (can I get a *woot woot*??) We technically hit half-way point just before the holidays, but I only realized it this week, as I was writting "Week 20" at the top of my weekly lesson plans sheet. (we're doing a 36 week school year) In History Raia has been through Mesopotamia and Babylon, Ancient Egypt, and is now wandering through Greece and Persia (with the rise and fall of Rome, the rise of Christianity, and the building of the Great Wall still to come). In Math she's learned her addition facts, and is now wandering into the world of subtraction. In Language Arts she's completed Level 1 of her spelling curriculum, is on schedual to finish her grammar curriculum a full month early, can breeze through nearly any "I can read myself" Dr. Suess book, and her handwritting is beautiful (and she's a lefty!). This week in Science we wrapped up our animal studies, and next week we'll start studying the human body. In Seminary we went through an entire Book of Mormon workbook (condensed stories with word puzzles and coloring activity pages), and are now going through the lessons of Preach My Gospel (which I'm finding is surprisingly kid friendly! read the description of the gospel topic, read a couple of corresponding scriptures, ask some questions, and done! Raia is loving it and learning lots) We started formal Art this month, looking at prints of classical paintings, learning about the techniques the artists used, and then practicing them with "real artists supplies" (pastels, watercolors, modeling clay, and pencils).

And of course I'm learning too. Patience being a daily lesson. ;) As hard as it is at times though, I'm loving it. And Raia is loving it too! My little social butterfly. I was so nervous pulling her out of school, wondering if she would be lonely and wanting to go back to school with her friends; but the past few months have shown just how much of a Mommy's Girl she is. And she most deffinately doesn't fit the stereotype of a homeschooled kid: shy, sheltered, and socially awkward (as if those types of kids don't exist in public schools. I was certainly one of them). She is quick to make friends anywhere she can find them: the park, the library, the gym childcare room, etc. I don't doubt she'll be able to function in society as well as any other public schooled kid out there. :)

George and I had approached this first homeschooling year as a "trial year": if it didn't work, back to public school Raia would go, and we'd consider it a lesson learned. It made the first few weeks a little stressful for me, when there was a lot of falling on my face trying to get all this Very Important Information crammed into her head, but I was finally able to relax, find my groove, and then, without even realizing it, last week I started purchasing curriculum for her 2nd grade year. It wasn't until the first box arrived in the mail that I realized what I'd done. Accepted homeschooling as an assumed part of our family's existance! It's a pretty cool feeling to realize that what was once the waaaaaaay outside of my comfort zone, is now completely withIN my comfort zone. Sending Raia back to public school would be such a hard thing to do at this point. I'd miss her so much. :( (not to mention missing the freedom to pick up and go to the park on a sunny day, or the library on a dreary rainy day, and just generally not being tied to the school calander!)

It's been an interesting 20 weeks for sure. :)