Today was our first day of first grade!
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And, it was a great day! (In addition to a smooth first day of school, it was also very productive on the homemaking front as well.  I love our new schedule…and so far, it is working!) Dare I hope that the rest of the year is just like today??  Probably not, but it was a wonderful day.  And, if it is any indication of the school year we have ahead of us, it is going to be an incredible year!!
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But, as it is late, and I am so very tired…I’ll just give you a few of the highlights…
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I got our school area set up last night…
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Complete with a “Happy First Day of School” sign:
(What? Doesn’t everyone put “happy” and “first day of school” in the same sentence?)
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And, a First Day of School gift:
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Here is my adorable first grader (although I’m still not entirely sure how she got old enough for first grade):
Yes, she can be quite silly. Â I love that about her.
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Getting ready to enjoy her requested First-Day-of-School breakfast: Pancakes with blueberries.
(She was very specific about this, she did not want the blueberries in the pancakes, but sprinkled on top.)
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Getting ready to start our first day of first grade!!
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What’s this?
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Essential First Grader School Supplies, of course…in very girly colors. Other than the crayons and colored pencils, everything was either pink or purple…including the glue stick!
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See…I told ya! Â Purple!
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Daddy with his first grader.
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And here is one of Hannah with her Teacher…
I love my job!!
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And, here she is…hard at work:
At one point, I asked her if she needed a break… Â Her response?
“No, no! I love school!”
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We can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow!!
I am so proud of you both!!
Thank you for sharing your first day with us! I LOVE your school area and enjoyed your sweet photos!!! I am currently on a long term visit at my mother’s in order to support her current health, but am looking forward to setting up a cute space like yours when I am back at my own abode. 😉 Thank you for taking time out to be a blessing to us. May you be blessed! ~ Teri D.
Glad you had a great first day! We have yet to start our first day of kindergarten… but I’m not stressing. We’ll start some day after I’m all ready.
I noticed you’re using the italic handwriting… I’d love to know what thoughts you put into that and why you chose it. That’s one of the things I’m trying to decide on right now. Ugh… the stress of it all! 🙂
@Babychaser
Yes, we went with the italic/pre-cursive handwriting. Hannah has been SO excited. 🙂 She really wants to write “fancy” and sees this as a great improvement to the “plain” (block printing) style she has been using. 🙂
For pre-school/kindergarten, we used the book Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. So, I used the block-printing suggested in that book, as we were teaching each letter/sound. I was mainly using it to reinforce the sounds, and at the time, it seemed like it would be easier for her to just have to learn one alphabet in order to read/write… I figured we would work on the look and legibility of her writing as her motor skills progressed. And, I actually kind of like the fact that she knows, and can write in regular block printing. I don’t know that I would do it that way again… But, it served the purpose, and helped with number/letter recognition as we were starting out in the reading/writing world.
But, now she is “re-learning” a whole new way to write some of the letters…which has its moments of frustration… 🙂 I know many schools are no longer requiring cursive in their curriculum. But, not being one to go along with the current fads, 😉 it is still something I think she should know. And, the italic printing leads into cursive so much easier… Hopefully next year (when we do cursive), it will be a more natural transition. 🙂
I’ve been doing some research/reading on italic printing versus block printing, and have found that some say that the italic form of writing actually fits better with a young child’s motor skills…because it fits in with the natural movements of a young child’s hand. It has been shown that young students can have difficulty forming letters that are made up of straight lines and circles. But, the ovals and slant of the italic style are more natural for them. This (the italic style) reduces the tendency to “draw” letters, and focuses on “writing” instead.
Don’t know what we will do for the next one… I guess I still have a few years to figure it out. 😉 But, right now, I am loving the italic style, and the legibility of Hannah’s writing is VASTLY improved! 🙂
Enjoy your kindergarten planning! 🙂