First Day

The AmblesideOnline curriculum is so far a big hit. J and W loved the readings. No, I mean, LOVED them. We started with math. J did Teaching Textbooks and W did a new Spectrum workbook. While J continued with math, W and I went over cursive handwriting together. He did great - a lot better than I expected. W and I read Paddle to the Sea, with J listening in. She gets as interested in W's stories as much as her own. J and I read a chapter of The Story of Mankind and about David Livingstone. W's readings continued with a poem from A Child's Garden of Verses and an Aesop's Fable. J's continued with some Robert Frost poetry and the first chapter of The Hobbit. Then both kids sat by the computer with me and we learned about Sandro Botticelli and analyzed one of his paintings. The whole thing took about 2 1/2 hours. I have to say, it was fun, interesting, and done so quickly. I enjoyed it a lot, myself. Now, let's see how long all this love lasts. ;)

After lunch, J had a vocal lesson. She's performing at a local street fair on Sunday and was asked to sing. The vocal coach went over her old song with her, fine-tuning any perceived weak spots. This coach is amazing. She's so thorough and has such a great ear. We lucked out finding her. The bulk of the lessons will be focused on J's new competition vocal selection (which hasn't yet been selected, lol). They are trying out different songs and styles. J will know when it's the right one.

K's first day of 10th grade was really good. She's happy with (almost) all of her teachers and the classes look fun. The entire English term is called "Newspaper" and will be run like they all work for one. She's excited about all the subjects, actually, and says she feels like acing everything this year. I love that her school is incredibly small (for NYC), has a uniform/dress code, and is very progressive as far as mission and overall attitude towards learning.

First day done.