Homeschool Update

We are about to start week three of homeschool and I'm very excited! This is the first year that we have began so early. Normally it has been September or October before we really got things under way, for one reason or another. So far things are going well.

This year I bought separate schedule books for my 7 and 9 year old. I plan to fill in one month at a time and each day they can see what assignments they will be working on. They really like this. I list all of their workbook assignments, science experiments and art projects as well as suggested activities sch as learning to type, working on craft projects or cooking.

I can see that our biggest challenge for my 9 year old is going to be the Language Arts program that I chose. It is harder than what she is used to. I think this is a good thing because she enjoys being challenged and it is really helping her learn how to really study. She's always been a very bright student and not had to put too much effort in as far as studying things goes.

My 7 year old has really blossomed as a student. She works very independently now. Many times I set aside time to sit with her and work on school, she has already taken it upon herself to do certain pages on her own and has done very well. Her biggest struggle right now is math because some of it seems boring to her, although it really is drill work that is reinforcing her memory of facts.

Our 5 year old is loving being a "school girl" this year. She loves working on school whether it be listening to me ready, reading with me, practicing her handwriting or doing a math workbook page. Her drawing skills are really blooming and I think her biggest challenge is going to be having patience while I work with her sisters and she has to wait for her turn to have my undivided attention.

2 year old is just "being two". She is at a stage of challenging us on everything and testing her limits and boundaries. So there has been a lot of training going on with her in the area of behavior and self control. She loves to sit and color or play with blocks when we have school time.

2 year old is also VERY ready to potty train and I am hoping to get her started this week or next. She is not at all afraid of the big toilet and loves to try to use it any chance she gets. I guess we have started unofficially... I am just nervous about officially starting because one thing I am not good at is potty training. I am praying that God give me extraordinary patience to push through and help he succeed. If anyone has any great potty training tips I would love to hear them, especially night time training!

Tomorrow we will be having a family devotion time instead of church because three of the girls have colds and need to stay home to rest.

Life is very busy right now but full of so many blessings!