“Mommy, we forgot to do school today!”, Junior worriedly told me when he got home today from fishing with Daddy. Well, I guess you could say we had a successful first week, if he is wanting to continue with his studies on Saturday!
We DID have a good first week of first grade. We jumped right in with both feet. The great thing about using Georgia Cyber Academy, is that we have the flexibility to complete lessons on the weekend if we choose to. Although fishing is a great learning experience as well!
Most of this week was a good review for Junior and a way for us to familiarize ourselves with the system. Overall, it is very user friendly and I love being able to log-in and see our daily or weekly plan at a glance. You can also check your course progress with expected completion dates. After floundering around last year with homeschooling, I love having everything organized and prepared for us in advance. We have been spending between four and six hours a day on his studies. Of course, we have our almost three year old distraction that occasionally wants to participate and I need daily lessons in PATIENCE. It’s great to have an organized plan but I think staying flexible is the only way we will be able to get through the day and have fun. Things like taking breaks between subjects for movin’ and groovin’ to the “Move It, Move It” song from Madagascar or taking a quick walk outside benefit us all.
I’ve also had a reality check on just how much time we need for homeschooling! I am having to stay organized myself and on top of all the daily household chores since most of my day is spent teaching now. Meal planning and a regular cleaning schedule are helping me to not get behind. I am definitely one of those people that needs a clean and straight house to stay sane, so with my daily schedule a little tighter, even the simple chores like laundry require a little more thought and planning. I’m trying to get the boys more involved in some simple chores this year, not only so they can help me out, but to teach them to take care of things and be more responsible.
Overall, I am feeling very confident about our decision to go with GCA and believe we are going to have a fun year of learning ahead of us. 
