Day #1 = Success!

Well, the big day came and went - and we had a fantastic first day of school! The girls were up absurdly early this morning because they were so excited to get started. Each of them found a sign at her place on the kitchen table this morning, and they got right to work coloring them while I made breakfast. Afterward, we went outside for our annual first day of school pictures. I still just can't believe that my Rachael is a second grader now! She's pretty proud of the fact, though:


And then there's my BABY, who somehow has gotten big enough (despite my demands to the contrary) to want to "do school" as well. I'm wondering if it's significant at all that she didn't color the letters on her sign at all, but rather the spaces in the center of the letters. Hmmm.


Of course I got one of the two girls together! I got about a dozen, actually. I like this one best. :)


After pictures, we went inside and got to work. Each girl has an age-appropriate devotional book that we'll begin our mornings with. Rachael's book asked her today to make a list of her family and friends that she wants to remember to pray for. She made a pretty lengthy list and didn't forget many people - immediate family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, even some friends' parents made the list! My thoughtful little girl.

She was a little apprehensive when I took out three books for language arts, but quickly came to the conclusion that this was "eeeeeeeeasy!" Princess Smartypants missed one word out of twenty on her fourth grade spelling list. Not that I'm proud of her or anything.

While Rachael worked on her language arts stuff, I moved over to Milly. We talked about the letter A and the sound it makes, and she took very seriously the task of coloring a big letter A:


We also read books, went on a scavenger hunt for different colors around the house, talked about the number one, and read the Bible story of Adam and Eve. (Her thoughts? "Ewwww, snakes!") And we sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" no fewer than ten times, although I'm not even sure now how that even came up.

Back in the kitchen, Rachael and I did some math review...she had been dreading math all morning, but was relieved to find that she hadn't forgotten place values or how to add after all. Read some from her history book, and read the first lesson in her health book, about how people are unique. One of the activities was to talk about the student's wishes for the future...so I grabbed the video camera. Whew, this kid is a wildcard - I never in a million years would have guessed that first answer! (Never mind the Milly background noise...)

As soon as her book work was done, Rachael rushed upstairs with a piece of paper and her new pink sparkly pencil to tackle her first ever book report. I had explained the concept to her this morning, and even jotted down a sample (title, tell about the plot, did you like it and why) to make it easier for her. And I told her that she had to do one book report per week, in her own free time and without being reminded, to be turned in on Friday. This, rather than reading a particular number of books (because the girl always has her nose in a book) is how she'll earn her Book It! rewards this year, and she wasn't taking chances on forgetting about it this week! Granted, it was a less than thorough review of Green Eggs and Ham, but I'll let it slide this week. It was a wonderful first attempt. Next week, I'll request that she review something a little more meaty. ;)

I also need to take a closer look at BookAdventure.com, which offers quizzes on lots and lots of children's books and allows them to "earn points and prizes for their literary successes." Sounds like something she'd love!

Finally, after her newly-mandated daily piano practice (not too much, mind you - she doesn't have but so many pages to practice), school was over for the day. We cleaned up and the girls went outside to play while I started on supper. I thought something special and fun was in order for two little girls who had done so very well on their first day of school, so I made pizza and...

...strawberry milkshakes. :)

One last special thing wrapped up our day - the iCarly doll that Rachael had ordered online with the gift card she won from the library finally came today. I picked her up at Walmart on my way home from a Girl Scout leader's meeting, and the girls got to play with her just before bed.

Inexplicably, Rachael insisted that Carly sleep with me tonight. I'm still not sure why. She said it was because I got it for her, and I reminded her that she had actually bought it. She said it was because she wanted me to be happy, and I told her that the smile on her face made me happier than anything else. But still...she insisted. So now Carly and I are going to bed, so we'll be ready for another beautiful day tomorrow at Regalia Academy. <3