What I Learned In My First Two Weeks Of Homeschooling

I've already learned so much, and it's just the beginning.  Here are some of the main things I've picked up:

1. It's VERY easy to overbook ourselves
2. We can't handle having more than 1 field trip and 1 homeschool group event during the week.
3. Other homeschool moms (and dads!) are really cool.  Not a single denim jumper in sight!
4. My extremely detailed, hour by hour plan is unrealistic.
5. Being flexible is key

I need to work on:

1. Letting go of unrealistic expectations for myself and Millie
2. Teaching Elise the basics while I teach Millie everything else
3. Slowing down, and enjoying the new lifestyle I've created for us

First Day of 2nd Grade!

Here's Ms. Millie on her first day of 2nd grade:

Are you wondering how the day went?  It went great!  We got a little behind because we had to meet with her new piano teacher, but otherwise it was fantastic :)  Millie said "I like homeschool for now".  He he he.

Homeschool Orientation

I'm calling it Homeschool Orientation for lack of a better name!  I decided that since we're homeschooling for the first time, and we're formally beginning the school year on September 6th, I'd give Millie a "sample day" so she could see how things are going to work.  I structured the day exactly as it will be structured once school starts.  Here's our typical day:

Morning meeting - Millie did some copy work, did a daily devotional, and planned our recess for the day.
After that, Millie did a bit of spelling, writing, and reading.
History - I read to her out of Dinosaurs Unleashed.  She learned about the first people that discovered dinosaurs.
I chose our "recess" for the day.  We went to the library to play and get the readers for the next two weeks. 
Afterwards we had lunch.
While Elise napped, we did math (intro to the Meeting Book, and a timed addition practice test) and science (egg buoyancy experiment).

That's it!  End of day!  It went great.  It was great to have some structure to our day :)