First Grade!

 Today was our first day of school! Aliza was so excited and cooperative. It was a great day. One of those days when I could take a breath and just enjoy my children. It is those moments when school goes really well and we all are enjoying each others company that make me feel like the luckiest Mom in the world.

This is first grade all laid out. The big stack of books on the right are the teacher's editions. The first days are overwhelming trying to print lesson plans and resource materials and watch orientation lessons. But it was so much fun to unpack the boxes of books and look through them. Aliza loved that part too. It is amazing how far her reading will progress this year. A new thing for me this year is grading. I'm not quite comfortable with it yet. Several aspects are subjective. I'm fine with the objective parts! I know that in time everything will fall into place and feel like routine.

Aliza really wanted to study Spanish this year. BJU has an elementary Spanish program. We decided it was worth the investment so we are doing Spanish. It's 2 days a week and we HAD to do Spanish on the first day of school. A puppet is part of the class. His name is Choco. Choco the Hedgehog talks to the Perrito the Parrot on the DVD since it is easier for a child to speak a new language through a medium. Aliza loves Choco.

Aliza felt that Choco really needed to go on our bike ride today. I suggested he ride in her backpack. It ended up being the cutest thing ever--his little nose and head sticking out of her backpack. Aliza regularly asked me if he was ok and could still see out. I resorted to taking a picture of little Choco to convince Aliza that, indeed, Choco was just fine.