First Grade

I realize we are in October and many of you have been in full swing for 2 months now with school. We just past the 1 month mark for first grade. It seems that first grade takes on a very serious role. The task are more, the activities have increased and the interest of a little one seems to expand even further. Plus, the responsibility list has lengthen. We school M, T, W & F. Thursday is our activity day and reading day. Little man is so involved in swimming and gymnastics that we have lumped them in one day. We have other activities that occur 3 times a month with cub scouts and then AWANA on Sundays. Typically, our cub scouts is at night so it still fits in our schedule. Throw in Nature and Science group on Monday afternoons and well, we are busy. The good kind of busy! Not so busy that we feel overwhelmed. The right kind of balance! Anyone else feel that the jump from kinder to first is a big one? One of my bestie's has lunches prepared for 4 days in different bins in the frig. A fruit, sandwich, lunchable(only 1 for the week), dessert and a drink. Chips or pretzels are in a bowl next to the frig. Each child is responsible for packing their own lunch! Brilliant idea! I love it. Even though we home school it is still a great system to build into our routine. Sometimes, it is easy to just fly by the seats of our pants since we do home school. However, I find it more productive and a timesaver when we prepare ahead of time such as packing our lunch everyday. How about you? What do you do to make life easier or what system do you have during the day to help your family be successful? 

We still school with bear! Shows his tender side. 

I decided a new tradition on the first day of school is to add a book to our collection.
Thought this to be so appropriate!