School

For all of you wondering what "school" looks like for us (or mostly, for Lucia), here's a little window into our days.
The main school day is Monday morning, when I hustle, and I mean... HUSTLE, to get all three kids and myself presentable, snacks, lunches, backpacks, water bottles, etc. packed and ready to get out the door by 8:30.  That's my goal.  Most Mondays it's more like 8:40 or 8:45, but thankfully school doesn't start until 9:10, so we make it there in time (mostly). :-)
Rhea and Alexa are still in the childcare class with Ms. Barbara, and it's been a really good experience for both of them.  They are in the same class room, and it's been a good opportunity for Rhea to be the older, responsible, experienced "care taker" without having Big Sister always know just a LITTLE more, be just a tad more experienced, know more about what's going on, etc.  The teachers commented every week for a while how well the girls did together and how caring and thoughtful Rhea was of her baby sister, always making sure she had what she needed, helped her get her snack ready, etc.
Alexa also loves her class, and now that she's used to going, happily, with her little backpack on, she's also fine with going to the nursery at church, where, before, she would try to cling to me and resist the drop-off process.  Not anymore!  She knows her little friends' names (in both classes) and tells us after we pick her up what and with whom she played that morning.  So sweet!
Lucia and I then go to Opening Assembly, where the kids recite the pledges and a different family gives a little presentation each week so we all get to know one another better.  After any announcements, the kids (with parents) go to their respective classrooms, where we spend the remainder of the time until 12:00.  Their tutors (a.k.a. teachers :-) ) present that week's new memory information with little songs, motions, activities, etc.  Then there is a half hour for a little art project or music instruction (theory and tin whistle, a little like a cheap, metal recorder -- AGH! ;-) ), a half hour of science projects or experiments, and a half hour of presentations.  Each child gets up in front of the class every Monday to present something to his or her classmates.  It's been really neat to see the progress in confidence in the kids over the weeks.  This week's assignment has been to interview someone about his or her job and present that to the class, or to research a job that the child is interested in.  Speaking of... we need to do that tomorrow. Ha ha. :-)
Lucia has seven class mates: two girls and five boys.  Sadly, she is not with the same group of kids as she was last year, but, on the plus side, they moved her with a slightly older group of kids and the dynamics seem to be a little more at her level.
Here are some pictures of our school day.

First day of school: Lucia's class.
Left to right: Lucia, Julia, Josiah, Mrs. Jones, Joshua, Silas, Nolan, Lori, front: Gavin.

Ready to go inside on Constitution Day

 Learning western European geography.

Getting some memory work done

Singing the Preamble to the Constitution on Constitution Day

Heading to Ms. Barbara's class

 Last week's science project: Each kid got to "be" a planet in our solar system, and they lined up in proportionate distance from the sun (orange cone).  Lucia was Mercury, the closest planet to the sun (but not the hottest, did you know that?).

 Lucia (Mercury) and her friend, Julia (Pluto). :-)