Here it is. Day 1 having a 4th grader and 1st-2nd-3rdish grader. I can't really say which grade Jonathan would be because he is studying at all different levels. But I digress. Just finished our first day and I thought I would share Jonathan's first journal entry:
This is it. The reason I home school, the reason we have sacrificed so much for me to be able to stay at home and raise our children. Love.
I have to admit I went into this school year with a little trepidation. I mean, when I started this home school journey Alissa had already completed kinder and first grade through the public school system. Her first day as a home schooler she was reading and writing and had a solid foundation of math under her belt. Piece of cake!! How can you screw up a second grader anyway?! I had it in the bag. This year is a bit different.. Alissa is in 4th grade and learning things that I have long since forgotten. I am guiding Jonathan along his journey to become a strong reader. This is actual work. I started to feel the responsibility weighing heavily on my shoulders - I can't screw this up!!!
And then today happened. The kids woke up excited and energized - ready to learn. After a long day of cleaning and organizing yesterday I was fully prepared. We sat down together as a family (me with coffee in hand) and cracked open the bible to read from Genesis 1:1-5 .."In the beginning..." and so began our day.
Today we learned our first Greek root word "Biblos" and I watched with wonder as it really "clicked" how other words derived from biblos.. when Alissa read the word "Bibliophobia" and jumped out of her seat (literally) saying "Mom!!!! Phobia is fear... fear of BOOKS!" and she laughed hysterically. She got it. She understood.. and in that moment I had a deeper understanding as well of why we are on this journey together. Not just the joy of learning.. it's not always a joy trust me. But the joy of being together. The joy of witnessing your child's brain making connections.. and their excitement that follows.
Before this sounds too romantic, let me also tell you of our struggles. I asked Alissa to complete a pre-test for grammar that I had prepared and I walked off to assist Jonathan with his grammar work. When I glanced at Alissa sitting at the table I noticed tears streaming down her face. Oh boy, what have I done?! I walked to the table and asked Alissa what was wrong. She looked at me with a face that broke my heart and said, "Mom, I just don't understand this." My sweet Alissa thought she should already know all of the material she was being tested for - I tried to explain to her that it was a pretest and that it was for me to know what we needed to work on this year - and then I stopped. I took her test away, gave her a big hug and apologized. The kids aren't the only ones who got a lesson today. I sat down with Alissa and we began her first assignment together. We hugged some more and I promised her I wouldn't use pretests anymore. We would just dive right in instead.
Jonathan, being a very left-brain kinda guy, wanted to know our schedule and was constantly watching the clock to be sure we adhered to it. Here it is:
9:00 - Bible/Journal
9:20 - Vocabulary
9:35 - Spelling
9:50 - English
10:05 - Math/Snack
11:05 - History
11:20 - Reading
11:45 - Science
12:10 - Lunch
1:00 - American Sign Language/Greek
1:30 - Art/Music
2:00 - Dismissed
If it were up to Alissa and myself, we would probably not stick to this schedule. Good thing we have Jonathan keeping us on task.
We ended the day singing "What's Up" by 4-Non-Blondes. Why? Well...why not? It was fun. All of that trepidation has faded away. It's now 2:30 and I am feeling good about all of this. About the adventures we will have, the memories we will make, the time we will be able to spend together. Is it all lollipops and roses? Absolutely not. Are there days I will wish I could give them a kiss and a hug and place them in the capable hands of another teacher? Absolutely. But our good days will outweigh our bad.. and on those days when I have to lock myself in my room and cry (ya it'll probably happen), I will come back to the table because I know that no matter how hard this journey can be - in the end my kids are worth it. In the end they will grow up too fast, as kids tend to do - and I will have these memories for a lifetime. And so will they.
Tomorrow is Day 2..
Wish me luck.
