Browsing for Curriculum, AKA Drinking from the Fire Hose

Breathe. Just breathe. It's first grade. We don't have to conquer the world this year. I'll settle for learning to read.

Item 1) Overcoming Dyslexia by Somebody (it's been a long evening of names)

I have done a bit of research and it's early yet, but when dealing with Raccoon, I listen to my gut. So I bought the book, which was recommended on a parenting forum I find useful in cases like these. Review to come.

The rest of the night I spent wishing for more money and time. Shake it off. I have enough of both. As my dad would say, "Keep it simple." One thing I ask myself when pining over resources is, "Can I find or make something similar for free?"

We are going to try 3 days a week in July, just language (reading/writing), science, and math, for about an hour. I am going to spend July and August planning our science-based curriculum, which should give me time to breathe. I-n-f-o-r-m-a-t-i-o-n o-v-e-r-l-o-a-d.

I'm going to add in some right brain activities (www.rightbrainkids.com I think that's the site). They are a little out there with some things, but I hope to help Raccoon calm down and focus. Just giving him a pencil can make him anxious.

And... drumroll please... this year I'm introducing the Schedule, made up of 15 minute chunks. I hope it makes me more mindful of how we use our time.

Things left to do:

1) Find a moderate set of First Grade Goals

2) Pull resources I already have

3) Spend some time thinking about Tot School for Kitty.

4) Find a better way to do lesson plans. How to combine online and book resources all in one spot?

More big news: I changed half of our living room into a school area. So far it has a shelf and kid table with two chairs. I'm getting over an allergic reaction to a plant drink a new friend gave me (i.e. lots of vomiting), so not much got done today. I did make and print off our year-long calendar, two months to a page. I taped the 6 pages next to my whiteboard, replacing the ones my mom made me last year. I circle the date if we did school and jot down what subjects we did. It's a great way to track all sorts of things, and to write down ideas or things I want to cover.

Reminders to self: I never heard of the Periodic Table or parts of a cell until high school, and I'm still fine.

School starts Monday.