Still hanging in there...

Well, we are nearing the end of week two, and I must say, so far so good. I'm learning a lot about my children. For instance, my oldest can read WAY better than she wants to let anyone know. She dislikes, can't stand, loathes reading! But if you remind her that mommy is her teacher and has all the power of the school room and will take her tv away, she perks right up and reads just about anything. A-MAZING!! She can also color pretty good when she takes her time! It's something else she has ZERO affection for. Zero. I always loved to color, so it's not something that I can identify with.

I have learned even more that my middle girl LOVES to read. I knew she liked it, but it's becoming apparent that she loves it. She is also a teacher pleaser. She's forever asking if her handwriting is good, if she reads well, and if there is anything she can do for me. She's taken it upon herself to read a devotional to the girls every morning, as well. They're all sweet, but she's proving to be especially sweet in the classroom and it's starting to spill over to the rest of her day.  

Then we have my youngest. She is certainly the stinker of the bunch, but she's so funny. She's also numero-uno at trying my patience. She won't stop talking, and she dislikes can't stand writing, almost as much as my oldest can't stand reading. Like the oldest though, if you bribe her or threaten her (with a visit to the Principal's office with her daddy), then she'll pretty much do anything you want...only very slow, and with out being quiet. Oh, Lord above, please help me teach her the art of being quiet. Even as I'm typing this, she talking about everything. Lucky for her, it's everything having to do with her practice writing. 

We are kind of getting in to a groove of things. We've done this for 8 days now and so far I'm really enjoying it. I'm finding that i want to teach them so much more than what's in their curriculum. I'm sure there will be days when we just 'flush the format'. I'm also sure that those will probably be some of the best days. Which brings me to what I know will be the bestest days of all!! Field trips! Oh, I am so ready for field trips season that it's not even funny! (PS...field trip season means cool weather!) 

Our first science experiment

They love this picnic game. You can use it for learning fractions if you're creative...maybe one day I'll be creative. :-)

Just like the pic says...Homeschool PE Rocks! 

Day One...

Well, today was our first day of homeschool!! Graci was up with the sun and I practically had to drag the other two out of bed. Sydney told me she thought school was boring and that she should be able to stay in her room and watch TV all day because she learned plenty doing that. Uh...negative.

Once everyone was up we got dressed, had breakfast, and waited for Daddy to come home and take pictures. Aside from, "Have you found a co-op yet?", the next most asked question has been, "So...ya gonna let them go to school in the PJ's?" Again...negative. The question did inspire some of our pictures from this morning though.

                                            Yes, yes this will go over nicely, don't you think?

                                 So cute. How could I not want them in their sloppy PJ's and robes?

Yeah...Never mind. We see that we have a faker here. We couldn't get her to shut her eyes to save her life. 

See!! Tricked ya! They even all had shoes on. Seriously? I didn't even have on shoes. Oh...lookie there. There's a flip flop, a small blanket and a skirt on the floor behind them that I asked a certain 8 year old to pick up yesterday. I'm totally shocked that it didn't get done. Totally. 

We actually had a really good first day. I was very pleased by how well they listened and how little trouble they gave me. I know it will be a challenge. I know there will be days when I want to pull their my hair out, but I can honestly say with out a doubt that we are doing the right thing. A gal that I know always says that it's a good homeschool day when the day has come and gone with no crying. Today was a no crying day!