Whew, It's been a good week!

Well, our first week of school is over and it was really full! We are going to do school year long so we will be basically having structured learning at least 16 days a month. We decided to start this week because basketball camp is next week in the mornings. This week was good! One thing I didn't really anticipate was all of the juggling between the boys and girls activities and lessons. The boys are doing the same curriculum with different leveled math, handwriting and spelling. Abigail is doing pre-k work and Claire is just having a bit of a hard time. She is the one that has had the hardest time adjusting. For one, she loves to go! Homeschooling means naturally that the lessons are done at home and thus we are home. We are not going anywhere. For two, she really likes her individual time with Mom and has had difficulty when attention and activity does not revolve around her. Three, she thinks she is as big as Abigail and so she wants to do all the things Abby is doing and then gets frustrated when she doesn't understand and can't do it. She is doing better day by day and I am trying to keep her busy and occupied during our three hour sessions but she is struggling just a bit in the adjustment process. The positives. My favorite things. This morning I went down to check on the boys to make sure they getting up and ready. We set the alarm and they are to be up at 8 AM. They are to get their clothes on, eat and meet downstairs at 9AM. The first morning Drew chose to lay in his bed a long time after the alarm went off and thus he went without breakfast and had a grumbly tummy until snack time. He has not done that again and I doubt he will dilly dally around ever again. Lesson learned. This morning when I went to go and check on them...they were up but still in their beds reading books for their book log. The book log has been a hit! We have brought back the Book-It idea by Pizza Hut. We asked the boys what they would like to earn: pizza, ice cream, icees..ect. They choose ice cream from Chickabiddy. For every 15 books read they get a certificate for a free ice cream. I did not imagine that in two days they would have read 15 books each!! (They were not sissy books either but level 3's and 4's and Carson read a chapter book that counted as 3 books.) Amazing! It was such a blessing to see them choosing books. We do not turn the TV on until late afternoon for a snack and a rest and it has been so good to see them embrace reading instead to fill the time. Another one of my favorite things is starting the day off reading the bible together and praying. This is so good. We did this before the boys went to public school but we used a little devotional. I decided just to take the book of John and go verse by verse this year to see what the Lord wants us to know about Him and apply to our lives. This is such a good time. Later in the day we are using our art or music time to reinforce the truth we have learned that morning. So far we have learned Jesus was with God in the beginning. God's plan of grace and mercy was in Jesus. Jesus is the light. John the Baptist made the way for Jesus and told the people the Savior was coming. Jesus was in the world that He made. The world did not recognize Him. His own people, the Jews, did not accept Him. I am not sure there is a greater joy than studying God's word with your children. I love to see their excitement over His truth. I love how in teaching God is teaching me. I love that God is using me to teach diligently His truth to my little blessings. This is good. We learned about our names this week and how the Lord know us and all the plans He has for us! That He made us fearfully and wonderfully! He knows all the hairs on our heads, he knows our every need, cares for us way more than the birds. He is mighty! He created all things! We are studying how He created the heavens and the earth as we start looking at history of the world and the United States. It has been good. My days are full. My heart is full and we are thankful that God called us to spend this time intentionally with our children as He provided a way for us to home school. It is a blessing.