Let the Homeschool Adventure Begin!!!!!

Well, we did it!!! We actually started school! After finally getting to open up our curriculum, I didn't want to wait any more days to see what we have gotten ourselves into. Because I know my kids have been out of school mode for too long, and I know we still want to enjoy a little more of summer, I decided to begin our experience with half days. 

We began this past Tuesday. I decided to take this week and next week to complete all of the lessons for the first week of school. Then when Ben begins Seminary the week of the 17th, we will be ready to jump in full-time as well. 

We had a bit of a rough start. It wasn't too terrible, but I could quickly tell it was going to take some getting used to doing school at home. The distractions of sitting at the kitchen table (how does a Kroger ad distract a 12 yr old boy, I will never know)...Learning not to whine when a lesson takes you longer than 10 minutes to complete (You do remember sitting in school for 7 hours a day, right?)....Trying to remember to answer mom seriously when she asks you how flattening Australia changes its shape (I wasn't expecting a simple map question to stump them. It gets BIGGER!!!!!) 

But with these aggravations came a lot of fun and bonding. We got to explore the flattening of Australia by cutting a mandarin orange "globe" to see what would happen. (This also resulted in hand squeezing the insides to make "orange juice". This was rather messy and probably overshadowed the map concept, but they enjoyed it.) 

We got to experience our lessons continuing throughout the day when Annabelle's spelling word "grasp" made an appearance in our conversation but under a different context and meaning. (Great teachable moment!) I am absolutely loving that their curriculum presents the material from a Christian view. Exploring habitats and learning about the first habitat in the Garden of Eden... examining cultures and discovering how we can be praying for them... hearing how science concepts support what we read in the Bible....so many ways to tie our faith into our learning experience. 

One of our favorite moments from this week was when we took our first field trip!!! We got to explore downtown Little Rock and play at the Discovery Museum as a family. We had such a great time! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, us or the kids!

Rianne hanging out with a cow

Noah and the pulleys

Annabelle braving a bed of nails

And then today, the girls and I got to visit the Christian Bookstore Mardel's. 

The ladies of Summit Baptist Church in Pine Bluff blessed us with a gift card there to finish our homeschool supplies shopping. It was so great to be able to buy the last of our curriculum and some other necessities without worry about the cost. (I had no idea how expensive homeschooling can be!) I am so grateful for this opportunity to homeschool. It was never anything I ever wanted to do. I am sure there are days when I am going to wish we were back in public school. However, I can already see how amazing this is going to be for my kids; and for me! I didn't realize how much I missed writing up lesson plans, checking math problems, and cracking open a new book. Nor did I realize the thrill of hearing my children say, "I never knew that!" 

Please continue to pray for us this school year. More challenging days are sure to come. We would love to have you follow our blog by signing up to the right, or leaving us a comment to know you are there. We so appreciate all of the prayers and support! God Bless!

Teaching and Learning, Anne

"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." Proverbs 23:12