Week in Review 2016: #31 (The First Week of School!)

It was an exciting week for us, as it was the first  week of school. Bridget is now in second grade (our second grade curriculum) and George is in pre-k (our pre-k curriculum). He has asked me every day this summer if it was time for him to start school yet. The day finally came and so far, he's loving it. Now that I have two students, I wanted to make sure I had everything planned out. Most of their subjects are separate, except for history and geography. Originally, I had planned on having them together for science, but knew that George would get lost when we did chemistry and physics, so instead George will be starting from the beginning with a special pre-k science curriculum. 

The kids got to pick their special color paper for their weekly plan and each task has a check box next to it, so we can mark it when they are done. I did this in the second half of last school year and it worked beautifully in making sure we got everything done and helps us to stay on task. 

The Friday before our first week of school, we went to the library to pick up school books and a few fun books. The children couldn't wait to dive in to their new books once we got home!

At last, the first day of school arrived. The kids were up early (on their own), dressed, fed, and were ready to begin at 8 a.m. No cutesy signs this year, but we did take this "first day of school" picture with my two students.

My youngest, who very recently turned two years old, was surprisingly well-behaved (most of the time) while I worked on school with the older two. He kept Bridget company when she did her math work, and kept busy with her math manipulatives. He got nervous when I called his name to take this picture, as he knows he's not usually allowed to play with the manipulatives, but since he was being good and quiet, I let him continue. He has done this every day this week.

For our first day of school, I cut up a pineapple to include with our lunch. Between the kids and I, we ate the entire thing. This was Liam's first taste of fresh pineapple, and he was hooked. Even when his mouth began hurting, he wanted to continue eating.

After lunch and after I put Liam down for his nap is when I like to sit on the couch with the older two and do some reading. This is when we get a lot of our history work done, and now geography. Bridget had to write her own narration, which I forgot to take a picture of, but I do have one of George coloring his narration page.

George really enjoyed his first science lesson. We worked on it while Bridget did math. We learned about observation, then went on a "science safari" in our backyard, where George told me what he could see, hear, smell, and feel.  

The week, overall, was a pleasant one. A fresh start to a new school year will do that. 

In other news, I developed strep again for the fourth time since May. I saw a new doctor, and he has determined that the strep never really went away and is somehow hiding in my throat and flaring up every few weeks (I was recently diagnosed for the third time on July 16th, and diagnosed again on August 3rd). The three different antibiotics I had been prescribed previously got rid of the symptoms, but didn't get rid of it entirely. Now I am on a new antibiotic in a different "class". I am not a candidate yet for a tonsilectomy, as the doctor feels I haven't been catching it over and over again, but that is has been resistant to the antibiotics. That was good news for me, because I do not have a history of a constant sore throat and really didn't want to have surgery. Fortunately, I got to the doctor before it got really bad, so I have not been in much pain after the first day, and have been able to eat and swallow (unlike the last 3 times), though food doesn't taste good. And on top of that and my immune system being weakened, I am also battling a cold. Thankfully, it is now the weekend and I only pray that I am better by Monday, though Sunday would be ideal. 

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