And We're Off!

After much planning and anticipation, the first day of school has finally come and gone. With a big sigh of relief, I think I can say it went really well!

We stuck fairly close to the structure we had outlined before school started, and the day flowed very nicely.

First we had Circle Time. For this part of our day, the two-and-youngers played in one room while the three-and-olders had Circle Time in the classroom (formerly our formal living room/dining room, which we never used):



Miss K (the former kindergarten teacher) led the children in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, and then they went through the calendar and discussed the days of the week, the months of the year, the day's weather, the season, etc.:


Miss K leading the kids in The Pledge

After Circle Time, I demonstrated how the children would use their rugs (we laid our rugs out on the floor and walked in circles around them, then we played Follow the Leader while snaking through all the rugs) and how to carry a tray.


A nice rug shot :)

Showing the kids how to carry a tray was a nice way to get them all to a table with some table work, which they did diligently:


Miss K's 3yo doing the cutting work described here at My Montessori Journey (thank you!)


My 4yo doing the cutting work


Miss D's 4yo doing tong work


Miss C's 3yo doing a puzzle

Then the kids moved on to some rug work (I didn't get a lot of pictures here):


Miss D's 4yo with the wooden cylinders

Around the same time, the kids got hungry, so we took a break for snack, which all of the kids (even the little ones) ate together. After snack, it was time for our Music lesson, which Miss D, the former band teacher, led for all of the kids. She brought a tub-full of instruments, like shakers, tambourines, and rhythm sticks, and the kids played along to rhythmic songs.



They also did some songs that incorporated movement, counting, the days of the week, etc. This went really well, because as soon as the kids started to get antsy, Miss D would pull out a new instrument, which immediately got them re-focused.

Next was clean-up time and jobs. The kids fed the fish and the frog, and then they used a Swiffer to clean up the hard surfaces and a carpet sweeper to clean up the carpet. I shortened the handles on both (simply by removing one section of each handle's pole), which made them more kid-sized. I chose a Swiffer instead of a broom because even the two-year-olds can push a Swiffer, and they really enjoyed helping out.

Finally, we did one letter, A, from My ABC Bible Verses. It's a really nice book that teaches kids one Bible verse for each letter of the alphabet. Today's verse was Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answers turns away wrath."

In all, it was a good first day!