Our first quarter of homeschool ended last Friday! Nine weeks flew by so fast, but the kids have made great strides. We are now part of a homeschool group, have started some "extracurricular" activities and have a classroom schedule we look forward to daily.
Madalynn has grown in self-control and maturity in taking instructions and doing her work with a super attitude. Her desire and excitement to learn new things encourages me and I look forward to homeschooling. The effort she put forth in learning how to write, say and "build" (with hundreds, tens and one "unit" bars and cubes) numbers to 999 was above and beyond what I could ever expect. Math was never my strongest subject, so I was a thrilled as she was when she "got it" and understood place value and, most importantly, that effort pays off.
Justis's ability to sit and follow instructions has grown. He now can sit at least three hours in the morning and another hour or so in the afternoon to homeschool, without whining or losing interest. He has learned all of his letters and sounds they make and his penmanship has improved 100% since the start of school because of his perseverence.
Dawson, my three-year-old whom I haven't been officially schooling, is a joyful learner and sits with us (if he wants to-and he usually does) and participates in most of the recitation and learning songs that Madalynn and Justis do. He happily works on his color song and shapes song each day while Madalynn, Justis and I "help" him. His openness to and interest in learning is evident when he recites the months of the year and days of the week all by himself.
Jillian grows during school time in the morning. That's right, she naps almost three hours by the grace of God while we get the nuts and bolts of each day's schooling done.
We joined the St. Tammany Parish (county) HEA (Homeschool Educators Association), after checking out several homeschool groups in the area. St. Tammany HEA was the best fit for us and we have already made friends through the group. St. Tammany HEA serves as both a support group for parents as well as a group that organizes activities, field trips and runs a homeschool co-op (a once-a-week group were students get together for "extra" classes). We joined a little late, but we are doing P.E. every Thursday afternoon this semester.
The kids all look forward to story time at the library every Thursday morning at 10:00. Miss Renee, the librarian, makes listening enjoyable and always has lots of love and special activities for the kids. This Thursday we're dressing up in our costumes and going to a special dress-up story time for Halloween.
I feel indebted to the individuals that designed the curriculums I am doing with the kids. They are very well thought-out and include every necessary detail necessary for the kids to master each subject. I did a semester "grade card" for both Madalynn and Justis and I could check of more than half of the skills as "mastered" for each child and they are well on their way to mastering their remaining goals for the year.
To be honest, I put God to the test with homeschooling. I said, "God, I'm doing this because I feel like you are specifically asking me to. So, You're going to have to do this, because I don't know the first place to start!" Silly me. I was skeptical, as usual. After all, I had a super time in public school and felt like public school is good choice as well. Far be it from me, however, to do the opposite of what I feel God is directing me to do! God is God, and, as usual, he saw his plan through. I do NOT take credit for the kids' success and happiness in homeschooling. I give God all the credit! God supplied me with wise family and friends whom are teachers for support as well as fantastic curriculums and daily strength, patience and grace we all need to learn each day.
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