A Super Hero Show.

 At the end of the school year, the two third-grade classes at Nathan's school took an interim break to learn about theater production, which concluded with a performance on Friday evening.  A group called Dakota Players from the Black Hills area came in to teach the kids about the ins and outs of putting on a play.  They passed out parts, and the kids learned the script during the school day that week.

It was fun to see Nathan's first performance.  It was titled, "The Super Hero Show".  Nathan  played a chemical scavenger, which is sort of like a minion for the bad guy...who of course in the end learns a lesson and turns out to be not so bad.  All the kids got a lot of stage time, and Nathan had about five lines.

He was super nervous, but he delivered his lines well and did a great job.  It was fun as a parent to see him do something out of his comfort zone and to try hard to do it well.

They performed in their gym, so it was difficult to get any good photos during the show (no elevated stage), so I did my best to get a few after the show.  

All the kids were pretty pumped after the performance!

 

Nathan stayed in character and went for the tough look!

Schooled.

It's that time of year again.  School is in session!

It's always bittersweet; the sadness of the end of Summer mixed with the excitement of Fall and all the activity it brings with it.  With school not starting until September 8th though, we all definitely felt ready to get into a school routine (well, maybe some were have mixed feelings).

Last Spring we wrestled and prayed about the best school choices, and now we get to see how God is going to use this year, and where He has placed us, for His glory...

So, here is the 2015-2016 Thompson Line-up:

At the Challenge Center at Robert Frost Elementary, is our 3rd grader Nathan.

Nathan is attending the same school as last year, though they are meeting in a new location.  Last year there was also only one section of 2nd graders and this year there are two sections of 3rd grade.  So, his class is filled with a mix of kids from his class last year and new friends.  

(Now there will just be two sections until 6th grade when he goes to middle school).

I love getting boys (or at least my boy) ready for the first day of school.  Nathan threw on a shirt from last year and some shorts he just received from his cousin,  I think they're a size 6 (Nathan's 9).  When I asked him if he wanted to put on something newer or more special (like NOT basketball shorts for just one day, please) he looked at me strangely and said, "nah".

He was feeling a mixture of excited and nervous, but once we got to school I could tell he was ready to go!

His class went in a few minutes earlier than expected so I didn't get a good photo at the school, but here he is heading in for his first day!

I did manage this year to not cry until I got back into the van...success!

Everyone had risen early to bring Nathan to school, but then the girls and I headed right back home again to begin our first school day!

The girls will continue to stay home with me, though how I have two schoolers!

Ella is in the second grade!

Much of our curriculum will remain the same as last year, just bumped up a grade.

This includes:
Reading and Poetry: Heart of Dakota

Math: Singapore 3A

Language Arts: Logic of English D

History, Latin, Science, Art, English, & Math memory work: Classical Conversations

Ella was also super excited to begin her day.  

We didn't get through everything we typically would, but it was a great soft, rolling start.  

And, Adeline is a Kindergartener!

Adeline too was ready to be a "big girl" and get "real school work" to do.  

At home, we'll be focusing primarily on the 3Rs:

Reading: How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Explode the Code

Writing: Handwriting Without Tears

Math: Saxon Math 1

 Adeline also is enrolled in Classical Conversation and does the same memory work as Ella (sometimes better than anyone else).

Sweet Evelyn is a pre-pre-schooler.

 

Her year is focused on puzzles, books, drawing, playing with babies, and soaking up knowledge like a little sponge.

In addition,  all four kids are enrolled in Bible Study Fellowship.  Nathan and Ella go in the evening with Matt and Addie and Evelyn go in the morning with me.  This year we are studying Revelation.  How awesome that we get to study all together as a family!

Now that we're two weeks in we're developing a routine.  I can't say it's always smooth, we've run the gamut of emotions from joy to total frustration, but it is good and I'm so thankful to be in a position to keep my kids home with me, or not.

Can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds in store!

Last day of School!

 School's out!

Nathan officially finished 2nd grade at the Challenge Center on May 15, 2015!

Let's begin with a look back.

Here's our little guy back in August on the first day of school.  

 

Poor guy was very nervous (and excited) to embark on his first year of public school.

 Here he is on the last day of school.

Not nervous, just excited!

 Some things didn't change:
He's still wearing Star Wars t-shirts &

He still won't just stand and smile nicely!

Overall it was a great year!

Nathan loved being at school (most days).  He impressed Matt and I by getting himself up every morning at 6:45 and completely ready for breakfast by 7:00.  When at home, I had to drag him out of bed at 8:00!

The beginning of school was a big adjustment for all of us.  Like I've said before it was challenging for me to hand Nathan over for so many hours of the day.  I had to grow into this new situation of creating a home that would remain Nathan's main source of love, support, and education, while allowing him to learn and grow away from home.  We had bad days (after school, Nathan was great at school), and there were definitely opportunities for growth and maturity for both Nathan and myself.  

In the end however, God is faithful.  He continues to lead us on this journey and as we seek Him, He provides comfort and direction. 

 

We praise God that Nathan had a great teacher and got to learn with many great classmates.  I wanted a picture of Nathan and Mrs. Ivey on the last day, but Nathan had a case of the last day of school blues and wasn't up for it...I think he's going to miss her!

Once the weather got warmer in the Spring, we were able to hang out after school.  It was great because I got to get to know some of Nathan's classmates and parents better.  One particular boy that stayed to play also had a little sister, so it was perfect!

I took a couple of photos of the girls on the last day of school too (last day of Nathan's school...homeschool is almost finished for the session).

Spinning in a swing...still one of life's simple joys!

 

Here's Nathan with his friend Luke.  I wasn't able to get one of his little sister and the girls.

 

We again give thanks to God for such a great first year of (public) school!

Next year Nathan will continue at the Challenge Center as a third grader.  His school is moving to a permanent location at a new building, so there will still be some newness, but we're looking forward to it!

(especially since it's much closer to our home...yippee!)

Labor of Love.

 So, as a homeschooler I sometimes have felt like my kids are missing out on some aspects of public school.  One such being class parties.  But now that I have a kid in public school, I'm surprisingly apathetic towards them.  They don't really seem that valuable to me...however, the kids enjoy them and nobody's going to end school parties because of my apathy, so carry on.

This Tuesday was Nathan Valentine's party.  This was our first party that required at home effort: creating "the box".

He was told he could bring it Monday or Tuesday, but all weekend long no one even thought about it.  It was not high on my priority list, and apparently not on Nathan's either.

Then, of course, Sunday evening comes.  Nathan declares he's been thinking about his box and he thinks he would like it to look like Gandalf (from Lord of the Rings).

Alrighty I say.  I'm not going to stress about it.  But, I do realize that I also volunteered to bring some candy to the Valentine's party and Nathan doesn't actually have any Valentines to pass out yet.  So, Monday we picked up Nathan, stopped at Target for said Valentine's "necessities" and headed home about 4:00.

This gave Nathan two hours to create his Gandalf box before dinner.  After which he had Bible study and wouldn't be home until 9:00.

So, as soon as we entered the house it was game time.  I told Nathan he needed a plan. 

[By the way, I could find nothing on the internet for Gandalf Valentine's box, not even on Pinterest...shocking!]

This is what he came up with:

(I'm not sure if they were helpful or not)

I then told him find a box or two.  So, he brought up ten.  I helped him get started, but I had to work on dinner.  He was on his own, and I didn't have a whole lot of expectations for what Gandalf was going to look like when completed.

When he left for Bible study, he had a good start.  However, the hat wasn't quite finished and he hadn't started his beard.  Personally I felt like these were the two distinguishing characteristics, and so must be completed.  Nathan's idea was that I finished his box while he went to Bible study...right.

Obviously, I didn't do that.  

But, when Nathan got home at 9:00 he wrote out his Valentines cards to his classmates while I shredded paper.  Then Matt and I hot glued the paper on for his beard and hot glued the top of his hat to the brim.  It wasn't perfect, but it was finished...and Nathan headed to bed at 10:00.

Nathan was actually so pleased with the final result that he spontaneously gave me a hug and kiss and told me thank you.  It made every hot glue burn worth it!

So, here's Nathan and Gandalf, all ready to leave for school the next morning.

He thought he was going to win the prize for "coolest Valentine's box", but some kid came in late with an even cooler box and won that prize.  I guess there was also some confusion as some kids thought it was the wizard from Harry Potter.  But Nathan was still glad.  He told me there were even 5th graders that wanted to see his box.  I'm guessing the custodial staff was not as pleased since Gandalf was also a bit of a shedder...

I was able to volunteer an help with the party.  It seemed it was a success...kids exchanged cards, played games, and ate too much sugar.  Nathan did however describe it as "the worst party he's ever been to".  I can't win with this kid!

With all the cardboard lying around, Ella also decided to whip up a Valentine's box Monday afternoon.  

 

It's a unicorn!

She had plans too, though I couldn't find them to take a picture.  She worked very independently and finished it before dinner Monday evening.  I love it.

Sweet Evelyn.

 I get comments a lot lately about how 'big' Evelyn is getting.  It's true.  In a few short months my baby will be three.  She's really not a baby all...sigh.

She's enjoying exerting her independence more and more lately.  I'm enjoying watching her personality come out as we get to continually learn more about her.  It's so fun (and often funny) to finally hear her speak and discover what is going through her mind.  She has a very gentle and fun personality.  I'm totally in love with her. 

However...packaged with this independence and sweetness is a streak of naughtiness.  She has definitely been testing the boundaries more and more.

I got this shot of her earlier this week:

She selected her outfit and her shoes.  Yes it's February, so when it was time to go get Nathan I slipped some leggings and a sweater on her (and some boots).

She looks totally studious and lady-like here...never mind the blue plastic snake under her chair.  However, when she is drawing with markers (here she has a dry erase marker and board) the rule is she needs to be at.the.table.  

(side note: This rule has come about as a result of negative marker experiences...if you have young kids you should also have this rule!) 

We had already had a battle over the fore mentioned rule once this day (and several other times on other days).  So, she is feeling quite pleased with herself right now.  Like perhaps this is acceptable because she is sitting in the correct chair, or maybe if she crosses her legs it's okay because she'll get some cuteness points.

Sadly, it may have worked a little.  After all, she is the baby.  

Hopefully I don't have a photo next week of marker all over our furniture...

[Addie wanted to be in the photo, so she is posing in the background.  Ella is doing some spelling.  I see she is flirting with the rules too!]

Let the Freedom [School] Bell Ring.

You likely haven't heard, but it was National School Choice Week- a week to highlight "effective educational opportunities" and "empower parents to choose the best educational environment for their children".  I'm 100% in favor of allowing parents this freedom, and I encourage all parents to be active in the education of their children... but I can't help but thinking about how difficult it can be to choose.

I was with some good friends today and many of them spoke about how it can be overwhelming to order at a restaurant.  You want to make the right choice, and there are so many options.  So many things look good...or nothing may look good...or there's just too many choices and your brain shuts down.

That's how I can feel  about schooling choices.  There are many options: public school, private school, a "specialized" school, or homeschool.  This list may be longer (or shorter) depending on where you live.  I want to get all the positive aspects of each one.  Unfortunately, I can't have it all; I have to make a choice, and the effects of the decision will last much longer than a full stomach.

[Evelyn on a trip with a homeschooling group at the Butterfly House]

We homeschool...and we don't.  I have one school-aged child in public school, and one at home. I have this paradigm where I feel half of those I know think I'm crazy for homeschooling, and the other half think I'm crazy for not. But, what do I think?!  That's the tricky part.

I love homeschooling. It's difficult to argue with the list of benefits.  I can give my children an individualized education.  We work at their level and their pace.  The student to teacher ratio is unbeatable.  Even if you have a large family, it's not going to be 27:1 like at my son's school (unless you have a very large family!).

I also get to spend more time with my children.  There are days when it can feel like a little too much time, but I wouldn't trade time with my kids for anything.

 [Who doesn't read in a leotard?]

Our education is Christ-centered.  We can talk about how all education points to our awesome God because He made science, He designed math, He established different languages, and He wrote history, etc. 

Our schedule is flexible.  Especially at times of big life-changes this has been a huge blessing.  When my mom passed away, we didn't do school for a week.  I didn't have to worry about how my kids were doing emotionally, because they were with me.  We spent some time loving on each other and spending time at my dad's farm.  It's beneficial in little ways too.  I feel it now as we try to plan trips, we always have to be mindful of the school calendar.

[A song Nathan recently wrote for my mom] 

However, once/if I decide to homeschool, I have to choose (or write) curriculum, and the list of options becomes insurmountable again!  This does get easier every year, but it's more time consuming and expensive than sending my kid to public school.  We have enjoyed Classical Conversations this past year, which helps with curriculum decisions somewhat, but also adds to the expense.

[The girls making ABAB patterns]

Homeschooling also isn't all sunshine and roses.  It involves difficult kids (why are kids so much more well-behaved for other adults than they are for their own mother?!), and a phone call to Matt about once a month declaring my sanity may be lost for good and I don't know if I can do it any longer.  This may just be me though...

[The girls with their "bodies" they constructed at Classical Conversations]



On the flip side, public school (this is our first year) has gone well for us also.  Our son, is at an advanced-placement school and has had many opportunities that he wouldn't have received at home.  We have been very watchful of what he is learning, and have not had many issues at all. We were skeptical of the math program, but have found it to not be that different from what we had done with him at home.  Early in the year he studied Ancient Egypt, which fit in perfectly with the timeline we were learning at home (yes, Nathan still does learn at home) as well as the Bible study he was doing on the life of Moses.  It was an answer to prayer. We've seen God work out many other things as He has empowered Nathan to speak up and ask questions when things he's learned at school didn't quite match up with the Biblical worldview he's taught at home.  Nathan enjoys public school and he likes working with his peers.  He gets to hammer out ideas and fix problems with his classmates in a different way than he would get to at home.  He also has a great teacher who has had very open communication with us the entire year, and has been very easy to talk to when we did have a question or concern.  He loves recess, gym, Spanish, and music...all classes that become more enjoyable when done with other people.

 [Columbus Day, making foil boats and seeing who can float the most pennies]



But there are disadvantages:  the education is secular, there's the schedule as mentioned before, kids can be mean, he's gone from home, the system as a whole can feel broken, and please let's not even mention "Common Core".
I'm also sensitive as to whether Nathan feels left out.  He's the only boy, he's the only kid gone during the day, all the girls share a room, etc.  But, perhaps it's in a mother to feel a little guilt.

[A page from Ella's Bible study.   11. God showed His special kindness to the Israelites and kept them safe.  How has God shown His special kindness to you?  Ella's response, "He gave me a sweet momy."]



Ultimately, as a Christian, sending my child to public school felt like a calling.  We are not to conform to the ways of this world, but we are to be active and living in this world.  Imagine what the public schools would be like if they were abandoned by all Christians.  It's easier for me to build up a large hedge around my family, stay home, and avoid the world.  However, I don't think it's what God would have us do.  I'm challenged as to how I can better represent the Gospel in my community.

 [Nathan reading to his sisters]



In conclusion, as I think about what we'll do for school next year, my answer is "I don't know!"  I'm pretty certain the girls will still be at home, but Matt and I are still pursuing God about what Nathan will do.  We've always made decisions year by year, and God has been faithful to guide us.   You can see how I may be a little jealous of those who "know" they're homeschooling through high school, or who don't even consider it and "know" their kids will go through public or private school though.  Sigh...

The happy ending is that we have freedoms to choose, and there's not a "wrong" answer.  God is sovereign and will lead His people according to His will.  No education system is perfect, but God can take the pieces that are lacking and knit them together for His glory.

To further help me in my pursuit, I'm going to veer from my monthly reading challenge of reading a classic and a non-fiction and read two non-fictions.

The first is, The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education by Leigh Bortins.  The author is the same person who started Classical Conversations.  I'm hoping this will better inform me about classical education before we make our decision.  (We don't have any classical schools here, so to do classical education we would have to homeschool).

Also, I'm going to read Going Public: Your Child Can Thrive in Public School.  This is written from a Christian perspective as to how to nurture the power of Christ in your child as you send them to public school to show God's love and even be a light in the darkness.  It explores what the Bible has to say about education and why everyone should also homeschool in addition to public school.

So, am I alone?  Does anyone else struggle with this decision?  I'm looking forward to finding how God will direct us!

Book Projects: Fall 2014

Nathan doesn't have a lot of homework (which I like).  However, each month he has a book project to complete at home.  I've already posted about his first book project from September, but for archival purposes I thought I would do a wrap-up of his other book project from the Fall semester 2014.

Matt and I's rule is that he must choose a worthy book for his book project.  There are so many good books out there, and since this is an educational pursuit anything with "underpants", "wimpy", or "Yoda" in the title likely isn't going to fit the bill.  (If you have a son in elementary school you may know what I mean!)

October's book project was focused on the main character.  The students could select any book of their choosing as long as it had a strong main character they could write about.  They then had to complete a character web about the main character and create an artistic representation of the main character.  Students could use whatever media they preferred...paper, paints, clay, etc...even a pumpkin.

Nathan chose from the books in his case that he hadn't read yet, and ended up reading Gulliver's Travels. Though I usually frown on adapted versions, this one was a Classics Start, which retold the original story by Jonathan Swift at a 2nd-4th grade level.

Overall Nathan enjoyed this story, and perhaps he'll read the original some day (though he doesn't have much ambition to do so now).  The biggest challenge he discovered with this book is that the names of characters and places are very strange and very long.  The character web (which I didn't take a photo of) ended up to be more complex that it probably needed to be.

Though I was pushing for a pumpkin, for his main character creation Nathan painted a portrait of Gulliver using acrylic paints.

It looks just like him, right?!

 

For November's project, the students created a story "sandwich".  Their teacher gave them pages with each piece (bread, cheese, tomatoes, meat, onions, lettuce) of the sandwich.  The first page was a title page, the second told the characters and setting, the following pages had guide words at the top like "first, then, next, finally."

For this project, Nathan read the very first Hardy Boys book, "The Tower Treasure".

Nathan did a great job and received the highest score possible!  Admittedly Matt and I did make him write out a rough draft which we edited, primarily for spelling and length (his original would not have fit!).  But, I think that's part of the learning process too!

December was a short month, so instead of a book project Nathan kept a reading log.  He also  had to answer some reflection questions about the types of books he's reading and what he wants to read next.

You can't see everything on the log, but you get the idea.  There's definitely twaddle on this list...Nathan is an excellent reader and every time he reads a classic he ends up liking it. But he would definitely lean towards much easier, "fun" selections if left to his own devices.  In his defense, there are also some good books on this list too!

So, that was it...we're proud of Nathan and all the hard work he has put into his projects (though often with a little prodding).

I realized this weekend that Nathan has not even selected which book he's going to read for his January project....

Book 'em.

It was a beautiful day here.  Nearly 80 degrees with Fall colors all-around.  Church was awesome, we went for a bike ride, I ran for the first time in over a month...so many blessings to be thankful for!

 

This afternoon Nathan also finished up a book project due tomorrow.  Every month his teacher assigns a book report to be completed at home.  I've appreciated these projects so far.  It helps us encourage Nathan to read good books, and it also helps Nathan to stretch himself creatively.

So, this project is from September.  The assignment was to read any book of your choosing, and then place five artifacts in a brown lunch bag that represent the book.  The students also had to draw a scene from the book on the paper bag and draw a picture of the main character on an index card.  Once completed, you brought in your bag and gave a presentation to the class.

 

Here is Nathan's complete book project.  Can you guess the book?

 

Nathan read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein!

 

We had read the book as a read aloud last year, but he had never read it on his own. Matt and I made requirements about the books that he could choose from.  This is after all a school project and we didn't want him reading anything too easy or that would be considered "twaddle".  Unfortunately a lot of books Nathan would like to read, we consider twaddle.  The only down side to The Hobbit was that Nathan didn't decide on it until the week before it was due and it's 300+ pages.  He loves reading and it wasn't a  big problem, but he could have used a few more days to get the project done (read, he did stay up until 10:30 finishing up his artwork the night before the project was due...not exactly my best parenting moment!)

Here's a closer look at four of the artifacts.  He took Gandolf pez, a dwarf pez to represent Thorin, a "gold" ring, an eagle, and he also drew a picture of Smaug the dragon (pictured later).

 



The pez is actually from Lord of the Rings.  We tried to convince Nathan that it would be okay to just call the dwarf pez "Thorin".  He couldn't do it though.  So when he presented, he said this is Gimli which represents Thorin...honest Abe!

 

He also recited the prophetic poem about the ring from Lord of the Rings (and maybe Hobbit too?  I don't remember).  It was his idea, and I thought  a very lovey touch.

 

Here's a closer-up photo of the lunch bag.  He drew a scene from the book where the dwarfs are captured by giant spiders and Bilbo has to rescue them.

 



I'll be honest.  This wasn't the first attempt.  Nathan struggles with doing things slowly and paying attention to details.  We gave him the bag and told him to spend twenty minutes on it (at least).  He came into our room about three minutes later claiming to be finished.  He was, but it was "not his best artwork", as were the instructions.   It was a struggle for me.  How do you gently tell a child I think you can do better, without crushing his spirit?  And do you let them fix it, or hand it in and get a poor grade?  So, we talked with Nathan, and in the end I ran to the store and bought a package of brown paper bags.  I am that mom.

 

However, the good news is that Nathan and Matt then sat down and Matt gave him direction on how to improve his drawing.  It was basic instruction like "don't draw stick people" and use more than one color, as well as more complex techniques like how to make things appear closer or farther away.  Matt was so patient with him.  Nathan did it all on his own and was very proud of his finished result.  I think it turned out great!

 

He also wanted to include a dragon to represent Smaug.  However, he couldn't find a little dragon, only a large Lego dragon, so Nathan decided to draw a picture of him too.

 



 

This time, Nathan did his work slowly and carefully the first time!

He again was very pleased with his work!  Hopefully the lesson is sinking in...

 

Finally, here is the index card of the main character, Bilbo Baggins.

 

 

I'm so proud of him.  He chose a good, challenging book, did great work, and scored well on it too.

This month's project was a little different, but also fun. 

 

My parenting goal for November is to not wait until the last weekend to finish!



(Home)School's in Session!

With Nathan going to school it honestly felt a little strange for the rest of us to not be doing school.  The weather was beautiful that week (he started August 18), so we did a lot of playing at parks and bike rides, but.....we missed him terribly!  Ella especially didn't know what to do with herself, and I was even having a little guilt that we were enjoying ourselves without him (silly I know...)

But that being said, we ditched our plans of waiting until after Labor Day (when school should start) and began easing into school the week before instead.  We love the care-free summer days. but the girls were excited to get started, so I decided to go with it.

We are now in full force!

 

Ella Grace is a 1st grader.

 

 

So cliche, but it's hard to believe my baby girl is 6!  She is officially school-aged...eeks!

For Ella's first grade curriculum we are continuing to use Heart of Dakota (which Nathan used for 1st grade).  I love it because it is literature based and ties everything from science to history to poetry to art to the Bible together. There are especially many great history readings that I'm looking forward to doing again!
 

Ella is also using a math curriculum called Singapore math (book 1B), and a language arts curriculum called The Logic of English (Foundations  B).  This is our first time ever using LOE, and so far we are really liking it.  Everything is laid out well and it covers not only phonics and reading but also spelling and handwriting.

 

 

A major new thing for us this year is that we also joined Classical Conversations.  It is a classical Christian home school group.  We have a class day every Tuesday, and though we've only had one meeting the girls love it!  We've never done any group, so it's nice to have a day to meet with others, both for the social and fun aspect and for accountability as well.  Using the classical approach Ella and Adeline will primarily be memorizing lots of history, math, science, English, geography, and Latin facts.  They also do a science experiment and art project in class every week, as well as give a presentation (which for Addie could be as simple as show-and-tell).  I shouldn't forget that they are also memorizing the first twelve or so verses in John chapter 1.

The memory work seems like a lot, but thankfully it is on CD so we listen to it in the car when we pick up Nathan from school.  This also works well because I can have Nathan memorize it with us so he's not missing out.  So far so good, but if you see me and I just start singing skip counting songs or history facts, you'll know that we need to take a break and listen to the radio a little!

 

And here is Miss Adeline, age 4, all prepped for pre-school. 

 

 

I've always assumed she would be my most difficult child to home school.  However, she has certainly surprised me so far!  Addie loves to accomplish things and she feels very proud of herself when she learns something new!  Her "schooling" is still pretty relaxed, but besides listening to the CC CD and doing class on Tuesdays, Addie is doing Saxon Math K, handwriting, coloring, puzzles and whatever strikes her fancy.  She enjoys listening to Ella's history for school, (which I love), or she'll play with Evelyn for a bit.  She also just started "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons", the same book I went through with Nathan and Ella to teach them how to read.



I love that my girlies can stay home! 

(They love that they can wear dresses and be barefoot all day.)

 

 

 

Back at it & Nathan goes to school: A lesson in trust.

So...It's been over a year since I've written here.  It's funny how a year goes by.  It's okay, I don't think anyone has missed this blog and the last thing the world needs right now is another blog.  But, I've decided that this year, I'd like to give it another try.  Perhaps I  need it.  I've had many hard times through the past year-and-a-half since my mom passed away and so many moments I don't want to relive.  However, God has been showing me His mercy and goodness.  By faith I continue to move forward.  Though the brokenness of this world and the affects of sin are more real to me now, so is the truth that Jesus is Victor and redemption wins out.

We continue to live life.  This year will be unique for us.  Nathan has entered the public school system (eeks) as a second grader while Ella will continue to do school at home as a first grader.  Addie will have a more structured school year, at home, as she will be five in October.  Ella and Addie are also doing Classical Conversations.  It's a classical Christian homeschool group that meets once per week, but will also dictate much of our school work the other days.  I will post more about that as we begin our meetings and school work in September.  But, it feels we are jumping with both feet into two pools, and I'm eager to see how this year will shape and mold decisions we make regarding education in the future.

 

We are also starting some more serious home renovations.  I want to post those too.  To remember our progress and see how we've improved our home.  Hopefully it won't be all that's improved this year.

This time, I focus on Nathan.  We decided to have him repeat second grade since he has a summer birthday.  He is also going to an accelerated school, so he will be able to work at the appropriate math and reading levels, and not just be confined to "second grade" work.  This was the main reason we felt good about holding him back.  Academically he could definitely move on, but we saw it as wise to let him grow and mature another year.  Another year at home with Nathan seemed like an advantage too.  Our kids are young yet, but I'm in no means excited to have them graduated and gone!  (Ask me again in 10 years though:)  Here he is on his first day of school.  A little nervous, but totally excited!

 (2 for second grade)

 

The first week has gone well for Nathan. He is a rock star and has mainly adjusted with no issues. The only issue Matt and I have had is with his personal choices for reading material. I would like to write that Nathan naturally gravitates towards poetry and all the classic children's literature out there...but that would be a lie. Most of his reading time was spent with Captain Underpants. I'm sure lots of kids read it and love it, but it just didn't seem like a productive way for Nathan to spend his time and fill his mind. He since is making better choices :)

 

Here he is with a couple classmates waiting for the bell to ring.

 

 

The week may have been more challenging for me. I hated giving up all that control to a lady I'd never met before. All of sudden someone else was choosing his curriculum and spending the day with him. I just wanted to tell her, "This is Nathan, and he's really special so take extra good care of him. Get to know him, he's wonderful!" But praise God for peace and a willingness to trust Him, (and self-control so I didn't look like a crazy lady).   He has led us down this path and He is good.

Look at all those kids though.  Nathan's class has 27 students!  Way too many for my comfort level (trust, breathe, it's going to be okay).  His teacher, Mrs. Ivey is at the head of the line and admittedly doing a fine job so far.

 

I've also seen lots of good things happening this week.  Matt and Nathan eat breakfast together and do a devotional every morning.  Nathan even gets to ride in the truck, something much coveted for all the kids.  We also spend more time intentionally praying for him, and the girls look forward to picking him up.  I'm sure that as the year goes on (and even now) I could make a list of negatives, but we'll deal with them as they arise and continue to humbly bring them to the Lord.  Praise God He is leading this adventure!