1 Down 179 to Go!

(First day of school 2010)

We did it! We officially completed our first day of the new school year! We started a little earlier than normal because we will be taking off a week and a half in September to go to California. I felt so underprepared heading into today that I was rather nervous and stressed out last night, but now that the day is over I think things went pretty well. 

Little C. started school with us today and was incredibly excited for her first day of "school". I am doing Before Five in a Row with her, and started the reading game I made and used for all of our kids (I'll post more on that later). She just turned 3 last month, but she so wanted to do school with us this year, that we are just going to take it slow and have a lot of fun. I can tell it will be a good thing for her to get this special one-on-one time during the school day because she was able to play on her own so much better today after having her time with me. I was able to focus more on the boys and not have to spend as much time worrying about keeping her busy and happy. Hooray!

G. Diddy isn't thrilled about starting school, and we had our battles today, but he did a great job on his Math-it game and it was fun to see his sense of accomplishment in that. I-Mac wishes summer wouldn't end, and just can't wait for our California trip to come, but he is so easy going that he just does what we ask without complaining. We are reading some fun books together right now, so that is always a draw for him. The three of us will be studying about American History this year (my favorite subject) so we should be reading a lot of interesting books this year, which we are all looking forward to. If everything goes as planned, we will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. at the end of this school year to wrap up our history studies. Everyone is excited about that prospect.

H. Man was excited for school to start today. He is entering his "Middle School" years this year, and that is one of the main reasons I have been so stressed. His work load is a lot heavier this year, and I'm not sure I'm fully prepared with what I need to do on some of his courses. Luckily, most of his work is done independently and he is a very motivated student so hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed our summer, and it didn't seem to last long enough, it is exciting to be starting our new learning adventures this year. It is so fun to watch the light bulbs turn on as a child grasps a new idea, to learn about people and places you've never heard about before, to feel the wonder with your children as you ponder on the many amazing things God has created for us. For these reasons and so much more, I am grateful for the blessing and challenge of homeschooling my children. Here's to hoping I can remember to savor those moments all year long.