One Crazy First Month

 

We are one month in, people. One month. Four weeks. Twenty days of school. I know, I'm just as shocked as you are. Every time I go to write a blog post, I think to myself, "Do I really have anything to write this week? Did anything interesting happen?" Then I look at the photos I've taken and it all comes flooding back. Things sometimes get so busy at school that whole days and events blur together - especially here in the beginning, where everything is a whirlwind of change and adjustment. There are a few established constants in our classroom by now, though, and the largest one is what we like to call the 'Puzzle/Carpet/You Know What' (depending on stress level).

 

 

We use this for at least two thirds of our group activities. Each student has their own assigned letter, so last year's 'I didn't get to sit next to hiiiiim' and 'she sat there last tiiiiiime' are things of the past.

 

I requisitioned it during our last rummage sale fundraiser, and it turns out the glorious thing was donated by none other than Astronauts M & A and their parents.

 

 Imagine having a live, constantly accessible history report about something you buy - because that's what we have. Every so often one of the Astronauts will pick up a piece and M or A will tell us what happened to make any particular markings on said puzzle piece. For instance, during the activity below, Astronaut M picks up one of the filler circles and turns it over to reveal several tiny indents. "See this?"  Astronaut M says. "A and I used to chew on this when we were little. These are our teethmarks. Hah."

And we love it, secret teethmarks and all.

 Some important things happened during the past two weeks. We had our first Creative Movement session of the year.

Look at them go.

 Astronaut M. turned 7 and we celebrated with glorious, glorious cupcakes.

And we had our first cooking class of the year - spaghetti and tomato sauce, a crowd favorite.

 

We also saw one of the biggest benefits of a one room school in action. Our two oldest Astronauts, R and M, were caught being super helpful with the younger students during our first painting craft. Having a mixture of older and younger students is fantastic, especially as our enrollment grows. The younger kids get the benefit of role models, and the older kids learn responsibility and helpfulness.  

 

Finally, I leave you with probably the most horrific thing I have ever seen dangling in the middle of the sky like the worst UFO ever. At first it just looks like a black dot, right?

 

 I saw it from my desk and thought it was a plane or something, except it hovered and wriggled. So I went a little closer.

...oh no.

 And then, out of morbid curiosity and a lack of self-preservation, I went a little closer.

...oh no.

I don't know what this monstrosity had in its terrible clutches, but whatever it was made me glad that both of them were outside and I was not. I've not seen Spiderzilla again since last Friday, and that is 100% okay with me.

Tune in on October 5 for the next blog post. If you've liked us on Facebook (and if you haven't, why not?) you can also check our newsfeed on September 28 for a special video recap for the months of August and September. I hope you've enjoyed this little insight into our classroom, and the Astronauts and I wish you a very happy end of September!

God bless,
Mia