Our first day of school for the 2020-2021 school year was August 10th. I plan (hope) to finish the semester the week before Christmas. So, I looked at a calendar and counted backward 18 weeks. I skipped the Thanksgiving week as a built-in buffer for when we fall behind. And, yes, I mean "when", not "if". Even in "normal" (non global-pandemic) years, something always comes up. Someone is sick, someone has a group project or Science Olympiad event that takes up entire school days to complete, the lesson that should only take a day ends up taking a week to master, etc.
Because Boy #1 is a Senior this year, and not planning on college immediately after graduation, he has a much lighter course load. During his first three years of high school, he had seven courses per semester. This year he has five: ranch work-study (3 times a week), trigonometry, US Government, 12th grade English, Art Appreciation. (Government will be swapped for Personal Finance in the Spring and Art Appreciation will be replaced by Music Appreciation.) Given his lighter course load, I knew he'd finish the first day's assignments very quickly. First day assignments always go by quicker, as they are typically "introductions", syllabus review, and the like. Even adding in some knot tying practice and our usual start-of-the-year goal setting exercise, he'll be finished within 2 hours today. I must resist the urge to add in extra busy work--at least for this first week. If he continues to finish his day very quickly, I will add something into his schedule. Boy #2 is starting high school this year. As a 9th grader who intends to study aeronautical engineering in college, his schedule is full of rigorous academic studies. For him, I worry that I have over-scheduled his school days. I will have to keep a close eye on his stress levels and attention span. His courses this year: 9th English, World History I (dawn of civilization-1066), Ancient World Literature, Geometry, Biology, German, and Art/Music Appreciation. He's taking the semester length appreciation courses with his brother to save me some time and money! He will also have Science Olympiad starting in September. We start our school year with a special breakfast--Mark (my husband) made waffles this morning-- and then a goal-setting exercise. Their goals can either be for the entire school year or just the semester. We review the need to keep goals specific, attainable, and measurable. We also review our planners and I go over each boy's shelf with all of his school books and resources. Something I'm trying differently this year is scheduling their lunches. In other years, they have set their own daily schedules and taken lunch when they want. They are allowed an hour of internet time during lunch, but the constantly changing times for lunch made regulating this hour very difficult. (We use the Disney Circle app to monitor and control internet access in our household.) Now, with my husband working from home and having conference calls in the dining room, having the boys knocking around the kitchen at all hours is problematic. So, they get a scheduled lunch between 12pm and 1pm. I'll let you know how long this lasts. On a whim this morning, I dressed up for the first day. I spend the majority of the school year in culottes, or yoga pants, and t-shirts with my hair in a ponytail. Today I have my hair down, I'm wearing earrings, and I even put on a bit of makeup. I'm wearing a favorite broomstick skirt and a peasant-style blouse. We haven't been out of the house except for grocery or doctor's visits in the past five and a half months. It feels good to get dolled-up, even if it is just for a homechool day. Our first day included: discussion of our new writing curriculum (WriteShop), the rules on lunch time, a fun exercise on Greek Mythology for Boy #2, and practicing clove-hitch knots for Boy #1. Of course, no day is all rainbows, unicorns, and happiness. I had to urge them, more than once in a ten minute period, to stop goofing off and get back on track. Boy #1 doesn't like smiling for pictures and Boy #2 is still recovering from an illness. The first trigonometry lesson was rough, as both Boy #1 and I struggled to remember an old Geometry formula. The experiences of the first day never equal the rest of the school year, though. We will adapt, we will stay flexible, and we will learn. New learning adventures await!
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