School Bell: only 7 minutes late today, we are getting better.
Prepare: They are trying to do it with no help, but the zipper on the backpack is quite challenging.
Circle Time and Greeting: "Teacher, I like your shirt," Alex says. I am wearing an AC/DC rock tee. I realize now I must give some thought to my clothing. But hey, there is an A on my shirt! This can work, and I point out all the letters while Alex recites.
Prayer: I think of some hand movements as we do it this time. "World", "birds", and "everything" now have signs, and both girls do it this time with a lot more enthusiasm.
Weather: Alex picks correctly, and I don't have to tell her to go hang the cloud on the easel - this routine stuff is kicking in already.
Month Day and Date: She does not say September on her own yet but I am waiting for that moment . Too bad September is over in a few days, she is just learning how to pronounce it.
Exercise: I think of this "sing-song" myself moments before our "class" and I am pleased at how well it is received. I want to make sure I do it again next week. Later at "home", I hear Alex doing the actions and song to herself, and I am one proud teacher.
1. Apple seed, apple seed, you start so small. You start so small.
(Curl up in a ball on the floor as if you are a seed on the ground.)
2. But then you slowly grow up tall. You are so tall.
(Rise slowly, stretching and holding your arms out which are your branches.)
3. Apple tree, apple tree, reach for me. Reach for me.
(Now we stretch on our tippy toes, hands and arms straight up.)
4. Let's pick some apples off the tree. One, two three. One, two, three.
(On your tippy toes, stretch each arm high, bending and using your hands to grab apples.)
5. Autumn days, autumn days, feel the wind. Stretch and bend. Stretch and bend.
(Our arms are our branches and we turn and bend at the waist as the wind pulls us.)
6. Apples falling to the ground. Apples falling all around.
(Your hands are straight up like the apples themselves, now let them fall, slapping the floor like apples falling to the ground.") Alex and Amy really like slapping the floor and are hitting it as hard as they can.
7. Pick the apples up for you and me. Pick them all up. One, two, three.
(Walk around bending over and stretching as you pick up your imaginary apples.)
We walk through the motions first, and by the second time they follow teacher with much gusto. Teacher can't stop watching those bright, beautiful eyes...nor stop listening to those soft and shy voices as they learn the words for the first time .
Activity Time 1: They immediately ask if we can do a puppet show, as they now notice it is all set up and ready to go on the table. I let them do one themselves today, and they sing Old MacDonald, each one taking a part, voicing their favorite farm animal's noise.
Handwriting for Alex is the best yet. I don't have to follow my hand over hers as she writes. We continue on to coloring pages with circle and shape recognition. Alex is quite talkative and colors with a lot of effort. We end workbook time pretty fast though, and move to Circle for another one of my favorite books, A Tree is Nice by Janice MayUdry. Another Caldecott Medal winner, I decide to read this book each week for as long as we continue to do trees as our theme.Craft Time: There is a little bit of prep work involved for teacher with this one. Draw and color trees on some poster-size paper. Using paint sponges, cut out a circle for the apples and a triangle for the acorns. Alex and Amy reach hysteria once I start putting on their paint smocks. This is a great way to end our "unit" on circles and triangles, as well as apples and acorns. I use our naked wall in the hallway (which we still have not got around to painting) as our showcase for their art work.
Snack Time: Each week, I plan to do one "letter sandwich". Alex is quite amused by this, and eats it all, which is amazing to Mom, not teacher. 
Outside: We sit at Circle first to discuss another farm animal. I give them feathers that I have pulled off of one of Alex's dress-up boas. They do not take long to guess where we are going on our walk today. We put on some farmer hats and head to Farmer Grandma's.
The farm girls begin with a story-telling of Little Red Hen. Rooster Bob is supplying great "cockle doodle doo" sound effects.
A tour of an Amish barn goes along with our farm animal theme. Learning about farms shines through when a day later, we take a drive to dance class, and Alex begins to point out barns to us. It ends up a game of fun as we continue our barn hunt, naming their colors and any farm animals on back roads that we see through the beautiful countryside. Amy screams "Animals live in barns!" and I can tell this is a revelation for her little mind, and I praise her right along with her sister. 
The fun is just beginning as the farmers shake it up with The Chicken Song by Laurie Berkner. With gathered eggs in hand below, the girls help Farmer Grandma with the morning feed.
Activity 2 time is short and sweet with the number song and a couple workbook pages. Alex spends some time using the Fisher Price piggy bank to count coins. We end class with The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. This is a great book, and I plan to use the theme here on out. Simple items get described in this beautifully illustrated picture book, including "you" at the end. A great way to approach our Show and Tell time, I assign one homework assignment for Alex to bring a baby picture.
I leave this week with the above picture just for laughs. We happend upon Farmer Grandma's cat , "Mamma Kita" under the table striking this pose. We assume she is trying to get in on some of the chicken action going on.
Week 1 leaves me having a lot to live up to for the rest of the year, I hope I can keep up the energy. Not included here is a field trip to an apple farm and showing of Wizard of Oz at the cinema. Both girls are wide-eyed and excited through the entire showing. With apples, scarecrows, corn fields, witches, and great costumes, I do not believe there is a better movie choice for the fall season.
Home schooling leaves me exhausted, but happy, for what better thing to be doing with my time than spending it teaching my children? I get to witness and control everything in their learning environment, and that leaves me feeling that I have the advantage. That is a very different feeling now than one month ago, when I was filled with disappointment over being told that there would be no options for Alex and school this year. I was worried that she would be at such a disadvantage. I know now I have made the right choice.
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