Yesterday was our very first day of homeschool.
I worked all weekend getting things ready, looking over plans, and building up excitement for the girls.
Part of me kind of feels silly for taking this so seriously. After all, some may think, they’re only four, it’s just preschool.
But taking that approach is selling this time short.
This is a very important time in the life of our family. We are planning to homeschool throughout the educational “career” of our children and to begin this journey is a huge investment. Today was in many ways, the first day of the rest of our lives. It marked a starting point of something special.
I don’t take the call to train up my children lightly at all. I am blessed that we have this opportunity and I really wanted to make it special for our entire family.
There is a tradition in Germany that on the fist day of first grade, German children are given something called a “Schultüteâ€, or school cone, filled with school supplies and candy. The reason for this is to make that first day of school special and a little less scary. From what I understand more and more German families are using this tradition for other school years as well. I used this idea and went out this weekend to buy Schulutes for EA and MC, and a small one for Will, too. Before going to bed, I filled them with some school supplies, candy, lip gloss, and hair bows.
The girls spotted the cones in my room when they woke up this morning and were super excited to get into them, but they had to wait until their Daddy came home from PT and we had a special breakfast to celebrate our first day of school.
We went with a Disney princess theme, since that is their facination right now.
MC’s had a Snow White design
EA’s had a Cinderella design
And, of course, little Will wasn’t to be left out…
Poor things….it was torture for them to wait to take pictures before they opened them up!
But they did eventually get to open up their cones and discover lots of surprises.
This week I tackled starting homeschool with my little girls and making that first day a little extra special. Visit Tackle it Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom to see what other moms have tackled this week!
Carly says
Those pictures are PRICELESS!! Too cute! Good luck with schooling!!
Sallie says
Thank for stopping by and commenting during the blog hop!! We went on vacation with family in town and I’m trying to catch up with all my comments.
Too cute!!! I love the cones and the fun tradition!! Please tell your husband I said thanks for his service… and thank you, too!
Be blessed!
Sallie
http://www.mikeandsallie.com/sallie
Andrea McMann says
Great pics! Where did you find those cones?? I’d love to buy some for my kids! 🙂
Grace @ Sandier Pastures says
I salute you for homeschooling patience and dedication. I could never do that, not even imagining to do homeschooling! Looks like you had a very memorable day today.
What an awesome mom you are!
Steph says
Very cute pictures. 🙂 Good luck with the homeschooling. Do you have a specific curriculum you’re using?
Susie's Homemamde says
What an awesome tackle! Good luck with the rest of the year.
angie says
good luck with the homeschooling and what a special day you made it for them.
Christy says
That is wonderful and so fun! Have fun with school…we hope to be able to do more fun things this year too!
Rhonda says
Wow, that’s such an awesome job. My sister home schooled both of her children all the way through high school. They’re both in college now and doing beautifully. Never doubt the importance of what you are doing.
Stacy Owings says
Monica,
I am so impressed! You are such an amazing woman, mom and wife! I could not begin to imagine homeschooling Jackson and Alex, and you are homeschooling 4 year olds with a 2 year old in the house too! Wow. I am so excited to follow your journey!
LifeAtTheCircus says
I was thinking of you all day yesterday wondering how it went. Looks like it got off to a great start! Those cones are adorable! What a fun tradition. Glad you included pics, when I first read it I assumed something small and brown looking… Those are so cute and HUGE!
Nancy M. says
What a wonderful idea! I know they loved them!
Kacey says
Okay, I’m getting freaked out. I also have 2 girl twins, age four, and then my son is 2. We are starting homeschooling soon, and I’m brainstorming about the first day of school (see my blog for all that news), and one thing we thought about doing this year is the Schultute! Seeing your blog and your family so eerily like mine was just awesome!
Corey Brock says
I just found your blog and I just loved this first post! We are starting our homeschool adventure the first week of Sept. My oldest is 4 and starting PreK also. I have been planning and planning over the past few weeks and sometimes I think, this is silly, she is only 4, but like you said, this is “the first day of the rest of our lives!” I LOVE the cone idea and am going to incorporate that into her first day! I hope yours went great!!!
Corey Brock