First Together-School Day

10 kids, 8 different age levels, 2 "classes." That's what happens at my house on Wednesdays now. Great fun! Of the six families on the team I'm serving, only three have school-age children (currently). Thus most of my week is divided between those three homeschooling families; the students come to me, or I go to them. As much as I enjoy that part of my job, I am particularly excited about this Wednesday School we've inaugurated. Why? Because it's an opportunity for the kids to learn together with other children (near) their own age. They love it!

Mornings: "Preschool"

l to r: Ella W (age 5) and Tessa H (4)

l to r: Jessica B (3) and Michaja K (3)

Afternoons: Elementary

(plus a couple older participant/assistants)

Clockwise from the little girl in pink:

Mikayla B (6), Tirzah G (11), Lianne W (7), Kira W (9), Camden G (13), and Braden G (6)

Essentially, these Wednesday sessions are "extra"--the older kids are still doing their own complete programs at home. For these together-times at my house, I tried to pick a topic that would be fun for the various ages to explore together. We are touring the world, visiting different peoples and places, in a year-long geography unit. Most of the younger kids are not yet full time students, so my goal for our once-a-week program is to give them an introduction to school. I try to provide them with fun activities centered around the basic themes of shapes, letters, and numbers.

As more of the kids reach school-age, I anticipate doing more "together school" like this. It's exciting to see the beginnings!