The First Day of School
We are "back to school" in just twelve days, and I'm excited but honestly, also a bit panicked! Every year I have a little panic about two weeks out from our first day and think "maybe we should just push back and start a week later..." but then I decide to start on time and so far so good. Because homeschooling is fun. :) The first day of school each year is always exciting, but I think that first day of first grade is really one to treasure. In this post, I thought I would share an excerpt from the First Grade curriculum on planning out that very first day of school! This comes from the section on How to Teach the Form Drawing Block....
The first day of first grade is very important, as it sets the tone for all the lessons to follow. I recommend that you plan and “rehearse” this first day more than you typically would so that you convey a comfortable feeling of authority. I’m almost positive that you’ll have days in your homeschooling career when you wake up without a plan and end up improvising - but don’t make this day one of them!
I recommend finding some little ways to make this first day special. For example, you might start with fresh flowers on the table, new school supplies out on the table or wrapped up like presents, or taking first-day photographs. In Waldorf schools they typically have a rose ceremony on the first day in which eighth graders present a rose to each new first grader.
Start your “school” time with a little talk about the wonderful world of first grade. Take the time to acknowledge how big your child has grown and how he is ready for lessons. Ask him if he has noticed how the adults all around him know how to read books and how to write, how to follow recipes and measure out ingredients, how to use numbers and figure out how much money to spend at the store, and so on. Let him know that it’s his turn to start learning all these wonderful things!
Give your child a tour of your school supplies and area. Again, make this special so that you convey a feeling of excitement and respect for the tools that you’ll be using this year. Show your child where everything belongs and mention that each day you will take care of your supplies and put them neatly away.
Then, you are ready to start circle and your first form drawing lesson!