First Day of Homeschool Vlog | Starting 9th Grade Without Losing the Fun
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The video documents the first day of a family's homeschool journey as they transition Emily into her freshman year of high school, marking a significant new chapter for them. Recognizing that the family has lost their daily rhythm over the summer break, the mother decides to keep the initial week intentionally relaxed and simple rather than diving straight into a heavy academic schedule. The primary goal is to help Emily find her footing and re-establish a comfortable routine without pressure, allowing her to explore new games and books at her own pace in the morning before settling into their standard day.
To address Emily's sadness about turning fourteen and feeling that high school might be less fun than elementary school, the mother plans a special surprise field trip involving an activity restricted to those over fourteen. The day begins with independent math work followed by "basket time," a reading session that starts with learning a historical fact about Martha, the last passenger pigeon, which serves as a lesson on extinction and nature preservation. They also read from the book *Tuck Everlasting*, chosen specifically for its engaging narrative to make the start of the year enjoyable, with plans to introduce personal growth books and continent-based read-alouds once their routine is more established.
After completing their reading and learning activities, the family takes a photo to commemorate the first day of high school before heading out on their planned field trip. The transcript captures Emily's positive reaction to the morning's events, noting that she found the experience amazing and even expressed interest in driving one of the vehicles they visited. This successful start demonstrates that it is possible to maintain excitement and fun while navigating the serious transition into high school, proving that growing up does not have to mean losing the joy of learning and exploration.
Read the full video transcript
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>> It is our first day back to home school.
It is also Emily's first day of high
school. This is all going to be a brand
new territory for us. Like never done
and seen before. Uh
but this first day of home school and in
fact this entire first week of home
school is going to be really really
chill. My goal is just for us to like
find our footing with our rhythms
because we've been out of practice over
the summer. So we're just going to kind
of like start our days with her doing
math. It's her independent work. So just
like one little thing for independent
work. Then we're just going to roll into
our basket time. We won't be doing any
other curriculum. We'll be keeping
things really really simple and easy. Um
and then we will just kind of like have
the rest of our day to explore whatever.
Really really simple and like I said
just working on getting that rhythm and
routine back. However, today is a little
bit different because it's the first day
and it needs to be fun. So I've set up
some things for Emily to like see all of
our new games and books and just like
the fun parts of this year. So she'll
have a little bit this morning to kind
of peruse her way through those.
Uh then we'll do our regular routine.
We'll take our first day of school
picture. And then we're going on a field
trip because Emily was like really sad
and a little bummed about turning 14 and
starting high school and growing up and
things not being fun anymore.
So I did some research and I found an
activity or an experience that you had
to be 14 in order to do, and it's going
to be super fun. So, I booked that as a
surprise like first day of school, you
can be older and in high school, and I
can still make things fun. So, that is
what we'll be ending our day with today.
>> [music]
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>> First basket time of high school. I'm
pretty excited.
>> Are you really?
>> I missed it.
>> I miss basket time, too. Okay, so we're
going to basically be starting every
basket time off with our everyday
amazing, which is going to be a fact.
So, let's find out what today's fact is.
Today's date is Oh, it's September 1st.
I knew that.
>> [laughter]
>> It was in my brain. Okay, September 1st
was Pigeon's Last Post. Martha, the
world's last passenger pi- pigeon, died
in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo in USA.
Passenger pigeons once numbered in the
billions across America, traveling in
huge flocks that blocked out the sun.
Hunting drove them to extinction and the
now stuffed Martha survives as a
powerful symbol for preserving nature.
Major events in world history.
We're going to start with the history of
the world.
The people, places, and problems of the
past might seem unimportant, but nothing
can be further from the truth. Learning
how technology was invented, why wars
were fought, or how countries were
formed helps us understand our world
today so we can avoid repeating
dangerous mistakes. From ancient
civilizations to modern times, this book
is going to ground us in 50 major events
that helped shape the world. I thought
we would start the year off with a kind
of fun or one of the books I think is
going to be a fun quick read. Um so
we're going to start with Tuck
Everlasting. And then next week, when
we're like more into our routine, we'll
go ahead and start with our personal
growth book and our read-alouds based
off of the continents we're exploring.
Sound good?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Okay. Prologue. The first week of August
hangs at the very top of the summer, the
top of the livelong year.
Like the highest seat of the Ferris
wheel when it pauses in its turning,
the weeks that come before are only a
climb from the balmy spring, and those
that follow a drop to the chill of
autumn. But the first week of August is
motionless and hot. It is curiously
silent, too, with blank dawns
>> [music]
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>> What do you think, Emily?
>> That was awesome.
>> Want to drive one now?
>> Maybe.
>> How was it?
>> It was amazing.
>> [music]
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