Homeschool Day #1

Well we started back to homeschool today, but just part time. We did only about 2 1/2 hours today. We will probably to do the same until Destiny starts back to school which I think is about August 18th. She is participating with us right now, which is awesome because it will get her back in the groove before school starts back for her.

We started out today with journal writing. I read a Veggie Tale devotional out loud and then asked them to write about that topic. The topic for today was about Jesus giving us life and salvation. I knew that was going to be an interesting topic to read what they wrote about and it really was. Crystal and Andrew have not yet accepted Jesus as their Savior. It was interesting to read their thoughts on salvation and see how close they really are to probably making a decision. Forrest, Jose, and Dayton have accepted Jesus as Savior and it was so great to read in their journals about what that means to them and how important it is to them to grow up and serve Him. Destiny wrote too. She wrote very much like a 1st grader and it was so sweet to read. It was also very great to read how much she understands salvation already and how much she does love Jesus. I am excited to see what He has in store for her!

Precious and Unique are 17 & 18, but very much under the level of even Destiny in so many areas. They weren't able to come up with much to write or write much that I could understand. I helped Precious by writing some stuff that she could copy correctly. Unique was able to write some things down that I was able to make out and help her to write to where others would be able to understand some of what she meant. What is great though is that they both do love Jesus and know what He did for them. How awesome is it that God made it simple enough for each one of us to know Him?!

The kids then worked on some math in each of their books. Destiny worked on some "same/different" type activities which are harder for her normally than writing, but she did great today. I was very impressed that the kids all did so well on day 1! Of course Dayton is a "go getter" so he even did his reading workbook today after he finished math and while the others were still working on it.

The kids have been very excited to use some of the new art books that I got. I was very impressed with how they each worked on them. I love these new books because it has them working on "creating" their own designs for things. The girls are designing clothes, shoes, and bags as well as other activities. The boys are designing robots, bugs, and spaceships as well as other things. They were so excited about these books that they didn't even want to work on the more "messy projects" that I have for upcoming art projects.

Zeeky, Jacob, and Julianne all joined us today. They worked on coloring, puzzles, and books that have pieces in them. They were cooperative for the most part. Julianne threw a few things. Zeeky realized that I was giving out M&Ms and waited hoping for more until he realized that he had to work more to get more. Jacob had a small meltdown that required a visit to his bed, but was able to rejoin us shortly thereafter. All of these are improvements over last year because they were able to be maintained and participate for much longer.

Denzell decided that he'd help with some cleaning today. He is doing an online school for high school this year. I got his classes scheduled/assigned today with the liason by phone and we'll get his school year started on August 25th. He did wash down some walls for me though :) I am hoping to repaint some of the existing part of the house soon and have it looking new too as construction will be done in October!

All in all I was very impressed with our first school day. Everyone seems to be looking forward to another partial day tomorrow. I think we will try out a few other subjects and see how they go. These partial days are a big help to us all. It lets me know if I need to make adjustments before we get into full swing. It also lets them get use to the setup and expectations slowly since summer has been lots of fun and it is so hard to get back into full swing too quickly. I can't wait to see what this year will hold!