Thursday, August 27, 2009

First Day of School

I love being a follower of Christ. He makes life exciting. He leads me down paths I would NEVER choose on my own. One of these paths lately is the decision we have made to follow His leading to homeschool our kids this year. Hayley is in Kindergarten and Jack and Riley are pre-school. Mallory is in on the fun too. See pictures below. : )

I have people all the time say, "Oh, well it will be easy for you to homeschool---you were a teacher!" True. I was a teacher. I taught math to 6th graders for 5 years in Euless. I have a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies and I'm "certified" to teach grades 1-8. But there is a BIG difference in teaching a room full of 11-12 year olds who have been in school for at least 6 years and in teaching a room full of an infant, a toddler, a preschooler and a kindergartner. I think I was more nervous on the first day this week than I ever was on my own first days of school as a student or a teacher. Not to mention the fact that it is MY OWN children. If they miss something, I'M the one to blame! That's some serious pressure! But the Lord keeps reminding me that He equips the called. He's not going to call me to this new way of life and leave me high and dry. He is so faithful too. This week has been a lot of fun and I can't even believe how much I LOVE teaching my children!! We live next to an elementary school and every morning when I look out the window and see everyone heading to school at 7:45 and we are all in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast, I thank GOD for knowing how very much I needed the slower pace. No scurrying, no arguing, no making lunches, etc. We finish with breakfast by 8:30 or so and my eager beaver (Hayley) is ready to start school. The girl comes down at 7:30 or so every morning completely dressed with a smile on her face and tells me she has her bed made and room cleaned. She does this just because she wants to. Jack on the other hand occasionally sleeps in his clothes so that he doesn't have to "get dressed" the next morning. One night he had on jeans and a tshirt after his bath. JEANS. And getting him to make his bed is a major challenge. His favorite quote to use is, "I'm stuck in the mud." Lots
of character training to do in this house! : ) Anyway---we have praise and worship time with all of us upstairs and then Bible Time, Calendar time, and then Handwriting. Riley and Mallory do a lot of playing during that time and Riley enjoys the Bible stories. I also use that time for character training. It's about an hour and then we move down to put M down for a nap and have snack time (usually coordinates with color of week or letter of week) and storytime. The rest of the day consists of an art project of some sort, some bookwork, and lots of playtime and of course NAPTIME. Another time of day that I am thankful to be either resting or working on some of my stuff when I see the line of cars at the elementary school. : ) I'm sure I'll add in things here and there as the year goes on, but for now it is working out wonderfully. At times I have a hard time believing I am really doing this. I LOVED school growing up. Loved my teachers, my friends, everything about it. I loved teaching school---my co-workers (who I really miss a lot!) my students, etc. I'm not 100% sure why God has us on this path. Maybe I'll never know. But for now--although it has just been one week--I am so thankful to be on this journey with my most favorite little people in the world! I know there will be days of weariness and frustration but so far it has done nothing but bless me!

Here are a few pictures of our first day:

Clothes are optional at our school : ) And you have permission to wear navy socks with your undies in the 100 degree heat in the afternoons. (Daddy disagrees with this.) : )

The letter of the week is "A" so we made some applesauce. And we ate some too. . .

Riley letting Mallory in on the applesauce---so cute! Mallory LOVED it!

YUMMY!! (apparently the "Woody" costume got a little toasty---hence the undies and socks)

Ouch, Jack! Such a rough look! : ) Riley got in on the finger painting too. She tried eating it, but discovered the applesauce tasted a little better.

11 comments:

JB said...

Love your post, Shelly! In your spare time (ha!) I'd hope you update often on your adventures in homeschooling. What a wonderful experience for your kids!

Boswell Buzz said...

I am so glad the first week went well for you! I have already thought about the fact that I am going to have to wake Jarett up to take Macy to school next year--he is notorious for sleeping till 8 or 8:30! May God bless your homeschool experience.

Naomi said...

I hope everything goes well for your little school. I was homeschooled until I was in the 5th grade.Your kids are blessed to have you for a teacher.

Unknown said...

Wow...how wonderful! I have always thought homeschooling would be so wonderful. How blessed to be able to teach your children in every area, in your own time, at your own pace. They will be blessed by this time...and so will you! Hugs!

Randi Freeby said...

I am so proud of how eagerly you are following God's leading. He is always so faithful to bless that. I am so excited to hear more about what you think. What a blessing you are to your kids and I know they are a blessing to you in return.

Jamie Ridgell said...

Shelly - I am so excited for you that your first of school went so great! It looks like a blast. I know the Lord will continue to bless your great effort in teaching your kiddos.

Heather said...

I admire you for homeschooling. That takes a lot of patience & organization. I believe you have to be a special person to do that & evidently God has equipped you. :)

angela said...

Thanks for sharing! I love hearing how other homeschoolers days go. I really should start posting more on that. Alex likes to do what Hayley does, minus the clean room of course. She loves to get dressed, shoes and all, and even has been known to pack a backpack a time or two. She will take books and pencils out of the school room and put them in her bag to bring to school. Its so funny to me!

I, too, sometimes find it hard to believe that I'm really homeschooling. Never in a million years would I have pictured myself doing this. Now that I have started, however, I can't see not doing it! Teaching my kids is the BEST work ever! They grow up too fast as it is anyway. I want to soak up as much time as I can with them while they are little. Look forward to hearing more about your first year! You'll do fantastic!

Courtney said...

I just now saw this post. It chokes me up when I think of this journey your family is on with God. Your heart for Him and His will encourages and blesses me! I love sharing this with you - what a precious gift God has given me in your friendship! Love you!

Erin said...

Great post! I love that you don't just take the school decision as YOUR decision for your kids, but recognize that it's the Lord's decision and have been obedient to whatever Father has called you to. You and Tre are awesome parents!

Leilanni said...

You are so awesome!! And you have no idea how timely this post is. I have been on the fence ever since Elliana was born what we would do about school. Like you, I loved school and I loved teaching school. But I get all sorts of knots thinking about Ellie being somewhere 7 hours a day and God not being mentioned once during that time. Christian school is wonderful but probably not an option for us. So that leaves homeschooling . . .which also gives me stomach knots! Sheesh. Who knew parenting would be so complicated? ;-)

Anyway - I love that you're following the Lord's direction for your family!! I can't wait for more updates! Love you :-)