I really need to get better about some kind of official first day of school picture! Before we began homeschooling the boys - we always stood them out on the front step and took pictures of them on our way out the door on the first day of school. They were super cute - all slicked up in new school uniform clothes, fresh haircuts, new backpacks and lunch bags. I think we took a few first day of homeschool pics for the first couple years of school. But, then I slacked off! Last year thiswas Loe's first day. Though the post a couple days later show more of her school books and passion for learning! And this post talked about what the boys were up to. This year these are the only pictures I've taken so far of school! And it is actually of Loe's snacktime!(Note to self - take some more school pics!) Loe & Ren received these adorable tea cups and saucers from some friends. Loe thought it would be grand to have her snack served on those - each day last week! Makes a snack and some rice milk extra special.
So far Loe is doing great with first grade. I keep wondering if letting her start kindergarten when she was still 4 might catch up with her and we'll need to slow down. But, not so far. She is doing Sonlight's Core 1 - Intro to World History - which covers history, geography, bible, reading and language arts. We also are using Sonlight's science 1 along with more Handwriting Without Tears (she has probably used 4-5 of their books - she always wants to do several pages at each setting and since I don't feel like she's quite ready for cursive - I keep picking up more of the few printing books they have). She's using Horizons for math, Come Look With Me books for art and I picked up a Draw, Write, Now book at the conference that looked fun. I found a Nature Journal for her at the conference and she has already started using it and is loving it! She is also taking art, history of famous Christian people, choir, math concepts and soccer at CHESS this year! She's THRILLED to be able to stay all day and have lunch there with her friends! I find it very odd to think about dropping her off from 8-2! We'll see how a semester of this goes for her. We can always back off next semester. At this point her school day is still pretty short and so we can double up now and then and allow a full day off for classes at CHESS on Wednesdays. She is also going to be taking two hours of ballet and worship dance class on Friday afternoons along with Tae Kwon Do that continues on Thursday evenings. A fuller year then I envisioned - but I think Loe will handle it fine. We may back off next semester.
Chase is a senior - I just do NOT know how that happened! He is still working one morning a week with Trevor, but will probably look for a job as soon as he gets his license. He is also taking classes at CHESS - speech, creative composition and chemistry. And at home he's doing spanish, Sonlight's British Literature (he was SO happy to get back to Sonlight after taking a year off last year!), bible, math review along with finishing up Driver's Ed and hopefully attending TeenPact in the spring for government. We hope that we can make it work to send him to a Worldview Academy next summer - we have heard amazing things from other kids who have spent two weeks there. Chase isn't sure yet - but he's actually exploring the possibility of becoming a dentist. We're praying with him and for him as he seeks the Lord for direction. He and Trevor picked up a book about jobs and personalities at the homeschool conference and after going through that book - this is the job that is standing out the most to him right now. So exciting to think about what God has for Chase's future.
Hunter is already a sophomore! Though he has enjoyed many Sonlight cores over the years - he was ready for a break this year and is tackling the Notgrass US History that Chase used last year. The stack of books for literature is much shorter and it's more of a textbook/lesson/test type of curriculum. It covers history, English/literature and bible. That is appealing to Hunter right now. He's also taking Spanish here at home and will probably begin driver's ed soon as he's ready to get his permit! (Aaahhhh - two teenage drivers?!) He's taking speech, geometry and chemistry at CHESS. He's also planning to attend TeenPact. And he's doing Tae Kwon Do with Trevor this year. It could change - but right now Hunter is considering a career in computer hardware engineering. Whether or not he sticks with that direction or not - he mentioned that just having a goal has helped him to focus and buckle down with his studies. Motivation is a good thing. All in all looks like a great school year. We are reading Elisabeth Elliot's Passion & Purity together during family devotions in the morning. Trevor also reads some scripture each morning as well. We're looking into a new bible study that we can all do together - even Loe. That would be so fun!
As much as I get bogged down at times by my procrastination regarding paperwork and records (I bring a lot of that on myself by doing more then is required by the state or satellite school!) And even though we deal with attitude issues and occasionally ill-fitting curriculum - I STILL LOVE homeschooling! The blessings are abundant. If the boys were in school we'd see SO much less of them during these years and for our family that just wouldn't fit! We are looking forward school discussions, field trips, read alouds (kids are NEVER too old for that!) and more. We all love watching Ren discover the world around her - she is starting to say more and more words and loves to pretend to count and sings her own version of the ABC's! She tries to copy everything Loe is doing. What a hoot she is! Just today Loe was trying to do her math with Ren looking over her shoulder YELLING 'ice cream' over and over because there was a picture of an ice cream cone on Loe's math sheet! It cracked us up!









