First day!

Yesterday was the first day of Options for our school year here! The boys were so excited and had a blast. This is our second year doing this program (hence the excitement rather than anticipation/worry, LOL)...where homeschool kids get to go to a "school" for one day a week. It's through a public school, so all teachers are certified and all that, but it's only homeschool kids, so there's an understanding there and a focus on enrichment in realization that most of the schooling is going on at home. Overall, I'd guess there are maybe 80-100 students, and class size varies from 3-20ish, with most right around a dozen. Each child (other than kindergarten which stays with the same teacher all day) has six classes (changes every hour). In any case, the boys love it.

Here they are before we set out:

 
Yes, I swiped the jumping idea from my friend Elizabeth. ;) And, yes, Micah wasn't to be left out:

Micah, btw, was a little miffed that he's not old enough to go to kindergarten and has already been told that he can go once he turns five. As he's only just turned four, though, he'll have to wait. ;) Since it was the first day and I like to stick around and make sure the boys get to the right classes (particularly since we're in a new building this year, so no one really knew where to go), Micah and I hung out on site most of yesterday. He (having pleaded that I buy him reading and math books like his brothers, though I generally don't do structured work with the boys at this age) managed, at his own insistence, to finish three of his reading units and one in math. This kid is going to keep me on my toes. ;) 

Oh, and if you're wondering what types of classes the boys have...Asher (2nd grade) has science, art, math, reading, music/drama and PE. Noah (taking 4th-6th grade classes, though he's technically a 3rd grader) has science, PE, music/drama, PE, art and AmeriTowne. Yeah, he finagled his way into two PE classes. Apparently all that soccer isn't enough and he loves the PE teacher. ;) We view the program less as a source of academic instruction and focus more on the hands on time and group dynamics, so this works for us. 

Whew. Looking forward to a good year!

ETA: If you're curious and would like to read more about Options, here's a post I did last year. Pretty much the same info holds true. You'll note, though, that last year Asher was in Kinder and Noah started out in 2nd grade. Yeah. We bumped 'em both. (Asher did kinder last year because he didn't want to switch classrooms, though he technically could've been in the 1st grade classes. This year, having no choice but to switch classes, we opted to put him in 2nd...he's got that summer birthday so either works. Noah switched to 3rd grade classes the second day of Options last year...better fit for him academically and socially. This year, then, he's listed as 4th grade and 4th-6th grade classes are combined to give the kids more choices.) 

Comments

[slammie]

Totally cute jumping idea!

[Lisa Swift]

sounds like a wonderful complement to what you do at home, amanda! adorable photos!