First official day of the 2011-2012 school year

Yes, we're late. Very late, in fact. We were traveling at the end of the summer, and while we did some "beach school" in North Carolina, we didn't plant to start our school year until the third week of September. Then I got sick. Then both kids got sick. Then Dennis got sick. The house was was a wreck from all the sickness. Then our school year social schedule launched (as well as the new co-op we're a part of this year)...and, well, needless to say, we're getting a later start than I'd really planned! But we're back as of today, and the train is roaring full speed ahead.

J was totally gung-ho to get back to schoolwork today and kept asking me for more. We didn't get all her work done, but we got FLL, Funnix, and handwriting done.

B was less than totally gung-ho, but she plugged away diligently, and we got math, WWE, geography, and GWG done. Miraculously, we also did our first-ever Latin lesson! It was really interesting and kind of fun--at least for me, given my background with Spanish and (some) Italian. B was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, but she really enjoyed seeing the connection between Latin and many of the words we use every day, and she liked hearing me connect Spanish and Italian words to the Latin words as well.

Due to a glitch in my online order, my Dynamic Literacy student books still haven't arrived, so we'll have to start that tomorrow. I also didn't manage to get science scheduled in, so we'll start that tomorrow too. Thankfully, we tend to school year-round to make our schedules a bit more flexible, so even with our late start, we should still be able to wrap fourth grade up in a reasonable amount of time (i.e., in time to start fifth grade!).

In other news, J is really enjoying both her dance and singing classes, and the co-op is going well. We're eager to get going on a bunch of fun outings we've booked via Groupon and Living Social (Please Touch Museum, the much-loved Bronx Zoo, etc.), we have an upcoming trip to the excellent Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, and the homeschool days at the Adventure Aquarium are coming. And we have some of our favorite family members arriving in town this week.

I'm already exhausted!