First Week of School!

 We started school again this week, kicking off our week with some fun, back-to-school traditions. We always start with a scavenger hunt that ends with new school supplies. Since we usually have the staples, like notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc, I usually get them a few fun things as well. The highlights this year were packs of rainbow colored gel pens, and Squishmallow pens. We also did our yearly back-to-school interviews.

I must have some very determined kids, because farmer has been the plan for one for at least a year, and video game designer has been the plan for the other, for at least four years. She told me this year that she wants to be a video game designer "so I can share my imagination with the world." 

Also, I made this back-to-school interview myself, and you're welcome to use it if you like. Find it here!

The girls also received sun print paper in the scavenger hunt, so we enjoyed the sunshine and made some sun prints on our first day of school.

I've been talking a lot with the girls about their goals for this year, in terms of subjects they'd like to learn about, or skills they'd like to develop. Sweet Pea wanted to learn how to make potholders, so we jumped right in. It was a significant challenge for her, and she had to take a lot of breaks, but her sense of pride when she finally finished it was incredible to witness! Pumpkin also wanted to make a few. Buying potholder loops in beautiful, aesthetic colors is one of the best parenting choices I've made! 

Pumpkin decided that she wanted to learn how to spray paint this year, so we also jumped right into that. I've had this unfinished chair sitting in the garage for a while, so we decided to finish it. She picked out her own color and has a plan in mind, and probably would be finished by now if I hadn't run out of primer!

Also during the first week of school, we had Sweet Pea's orientation for the farm school she will be attending one day a week during the fall. It was a great visit, and she left feeling very excited, slightly nervous, but mostly prepared for her time there! I felt pretty good about the experience too, and am excited for this opportunity for her! Below, she is holding some clay that she dug up from the creek on the farm. She also enjoyed preparing snacks for the chickens at the "chicken cafe."

It was a bit of a crazy week, as we encountered some unexpected problems with health and broken dishwashers, so I almost threw in the towel on school, with the plan of starting next week. But I really want to cultivate the attitude that learning can happen any time under any circumstances. And we really had a very fun and enjoyable first week of school, despite (or perhaps because) of the challenges!