I was born an educator... I always loved being around kids, had younger siblings, went into education in college, became a teacher (1987), and wanted a family as soon as we were married. It's just what I was made to do~ my gift from God.
When the older girls were growing up, I was always a teacher and they went to school with me. I knew and loved every single teacher that taught them. Scott always said if he loved his job half as much as I did, he would have it made. It was so good!
In 2006 when we traveled to China for EK I knew without a doubt, I couldn't keep teaching and leave her at home. She needed me to mend her brokenness and that had to be done 24/7. Along about the time she was say two and a half :), I began preschooling her. It was just the natural thing to do.
Last year when she was 6, we felt a year in K @ NH would be good for her socially. Academically she was right on target and a year away from mom might be needed. She had a fabulous year and once again I LOVED her teachers!
As the year wound down, I felt a tug on my heart to bring her back home and school her myself. It was the natural thing to do... it's my gift. I wanted to allow her time to learn one on one, be with her siblings, and have time to play as children need so very much to do. So bringing her home has nothing to do with public school not being good enough or me thinking I can do it better... quite the contrary.
It has been a big growing week for us all. What started as a very involved full schedule (stressed me out) evolved into a very smooth and relaxed one. Getting every single thing done in a week including school, meals, chores, housework, and play.
You would think being an educator makes this adventure so easy. It is hard work but SO my calling and I couldn't be happier to be investing my whole heart into nurturing whole children.
Here is some of what we did this week~
(All photography shot with my phone throughout the week)
School started Monday and we have worked, played, and loved well!
The first day was a little overwhelming fitting everything into our day but as the week moved on, it all worked out just fine.
One of the biggest hurdles was scheduling... one of my 'things'.
It has also evolved throughout the week and finally think we have a manageable flow to the day.
Here are some of the things we accomplished this week.
Each morning I have a clipboard of morning work the girls can do when they come downstairs... they can do whenever they want.
The first morning, EK was up before me getting right to it. :)
She's a great influence on her sister~
Our day began with Calendar, Bible/prayer, and Language~
Each morning, we copied the scripture for the day and illustrated~
This year we are using Five in a Row curriculum and they love it.
This week we rowed Yellow Ball~
By yesterday, EK was reading to it to us and now SJ can read it~
This book was such a fun one to get outside and enjoy~
We also rowed a math book called Seaweed Soup.
This was by far WP's favorite thing we did all week.
He LOVED acting it out~
We made games and worked on lots of skills~
Did a little rolling around on the floor too~
Writing has been fun... we printed photos from our vacation and wrote about our fun times~
Once they shared and celebrated, we added them to their notebooks~
Reading was a big deal too~
as well as Social st/Science~
and lots of art~
FUN Friday was a great way to wrap up a GREAT first week.
We made Rainbow Fish Toast, mixed colors, and graphed skittles. Everyone loved it!!!
In celebration of our week, here is our art gallery~
YAY for the weekend!
