First Day of School Grade 1: How We Made It Special! -

The beginning of a new school year always feels exciting. Each year is different—no two first days ever look alike. And honestly, your first day of school probably will not look like your 100th day or your last day either. That’s the beauty of homeschooling: it’s flexible, and it’s important to stay adaptable.

We don’t really “stop” school in the summer. Instead, we keep going at a slower pace—working on science and practice worksheets here and there. This helps us avoid the dreaded “summer slide” and means we don’t spend weeks relearning last year’s material. It also makes easing back into a full routine so much smoother.

Last year, I was only two weeks postpartum when school started. Our “first day” was literally just getting through the first videos and worksheets, and then grabbing coffee through the drive-thru as celebration—no decorations, no big celebration.

This year looked a little different. At the end of August, we were visiting family, and since their cousins had already started school, my kids joined them for their first 10 lessons. So technically, we had an early first day! After returning home, I took a week to reset from vacation and finish prepping lessons before officially starting at home.

I had grand plans—new school supplies, personalized rulers, a themed breakfast, first-day books, even an outing. In reality, most of that got scratched. But we still had a full and meaningful day.

Here Is How Our First Day Of School Went

7:30 – I woke up, while sipping my coffee and looking over the day’s plan my kids woke up, eager to start. They made themselves a “very healthy breakfast” of Nutella sandwiches and sat waiting for me.
8:00–8:30 – Breakfast & Bible lesson (video).
8:30–10:37 – Phonics lessons and worksheets (with plenty of breaks and redirection back to seats).
10:40–10:50 – Writing practice. I used video lessons for reminders on neatness and handwriting—though I usually skip these.
11:05–11:20 – Spelling & Poetry lesson (no worksheet).
11:22 – A short math lesson with video + activity pages. My eldest practiced subtraction, my daughter worked on addition, and my toddler joined in with color recognition. (Here’s the link to the activity I used: counting, addition, subtration)
11:45–12:00 – Reading. My eldest is in grade 1 books, my daughter is finishing up K5 readers, and my toddler is practicing the Russian alphabet so she doesn’t feel left out.
12:00–12:30 – Reward time: 15 minutes of LeapPad educational games.
2:30–1:00 – Lunch: pasta with pulled pork.
2:10 – Outing to our favorite coffee shop for a treat, plus our first-day photos (a tradition I treasure!).

And that wrapped up our first day of school for grade 1! I must say that day two already looked different—fewer videos, more independent work. My eldest actually finished all his work in under an hour without videos, though I had him sit in with his sister for motivation since she loves them.

Curriculum Notes

This year we’re using Abeka for core subjects, but instead of the full Academy plan, I purchased the books and video lessons on demand. I realized last year that we don’t need as many video lessons since a lot are repetitive. I am also hoping that this would lower the cost of homeschooling for us, I will report back!

While our first day of school leaned heavily on video, I know that’s not what the rest of our year will look like. Like I said in the beginning, your first day won’t look like your last day—and that’s okay.

Homeschooling is about flexibility. I’ll be adjusting our lesson plans and tweaking our routine throughout the year as needed. Be sure to follow me on instagram @simply.mama.04 for more day to day updates!

Here’s to another school year full of learning, growth, and lots of coffee.