Dear Diary,
Today was....a perfectly planned and executed day! All that praying and preparing came in useful this year. As you know in previous years' rantings, it seems that I do more hair pulling than gleeful waltzing through that first day. It just seemed as though we were all tired of being held prisoner to the air conditioned house and if we were going to have to do our time, school is always a better option than climbing the walls.
So, as the strange beeping, so seldom heard in the last three months, forced me into the shower at the crack of dawn, the house stood motionless. With a quick wash, the reliable pony tail, and my new dress code, which demands I wear a bra each day, my morning began with a perfectly peaceful prayer and meditation on today's Scripture. Unbelievable, right? After those stolen ten minutes, I got to cooking our breakfast and waking up the kiddos.
The sleep still in their eyes, there was no "Good Morning" or "Hi, Mom", it was "Where are our goodies?" "Oh, you mean your school stuff? I decided not to start school today, so you'll have to wait for those."
"What? That's not fair. You said we were starting today!"
WOW! A little bribery goes a long way towards motivating kids. Actually, like years past, I had them on a scavenger hunt for their hidden "goodies".
1. You want to get started, you need your supplies.
You might find them where Baby Sweetness lies.
2. Oops! Not here, I guess you better keep looking.
Maybe you'll find them where I do the cooking.
3. Again you were tricked, but you are almost there.
Go to the place where you wash your hair.
Prez, of course, being the newest to my schenanigans and being the most exciteable which is a stark comparison to the non-chalant preteen who was trying not to show her thrill....was squealing and running. His joy just made my day! They poured over everything and loved it all. Bubbles had received most of hers already and Prez was overly estastic about his new sparkly pencils. I wished I had thought to add a pack of gum or a candy bar, but I probably would have regretted it around 10am.
Well, diary, you know how I love food--enough to get up early and make it from scratch--and this morning we were not disappointed. In honor of our Blessed Mother, we had blueberry muffins with clouds, I mean Cool Whip. The sprinkles on top were just a bonus.
With Prez joining the ranks, I wanted to at least discuss with him/them the reasons why we homeschool and our goals for the kids this year. In all honesty he did not grasp what we were talking about, but it makes me feel better having said it.
Just to silence the ponderings, we asked Bubbles why she thought we homeschooled. "Because I asked you to." Well, even though she thinks it is all about her, it was fun to point out that we don't do everything she asks us to. Perhaps there is a deeper reason. There are five to be exact, which you know I did not think of myself. I modified them from a homeschooling book I read four years ago.
1. We want to bring you closer to Jesus.
2. We want to develop respectful and loving relationships in our family.
3. We want to provide opportunities to grow strong moral character.
4. We want to give the example of a healthy personality and give the time needed to mature apropriately for your age.
5. We want to develop your academic potential to the highest level possible.
See what I mean about Prez giving us the "blah, blah, blah" look?
The goals received the loudest groans and the award for "most likely to ruin my year". Not that the kids don't want to be all that they can be, but the idea of chiseling away those areas in our lives that frustrate ourselves or others can be a daunting task. Now, I'm not talking about a goal of memorizing the phone book or even doing chores without complaining, surely I know the difference between reality and fantasy, but bless their little hearts, just when they thought school was all about fun. I had to go and ruin it for them. :) So, dearest diary, if you're wondering, just what this road map looks like:
Bubbles's academic goal is to get through a new Spelling program and achieve confidence in this area, once and for all! Prez's academic goal is to learn his Math facts, addition and subtraction--for ones through the nines--rapidly!
Bubble's spiritual goal is to grow in reverance for the Mass and Prez's spiritual goal is to try and make a daily sacrifice with love, not complaining.
Bubble's physical goal is to try a new sport and Prez's physical goal is to learn to tie his shoes and ride his bike with confidence.
Bubble's character quality is to gain self control of her mouth and not let her moodiness spew negativism and Prez's character quality is to control his anger which means no more grunting at me!
We definintely have our year cut out for us, and I'm sure you'll be hearing about it. But the kids received it all well and quickly cleared the table to begin. Their smiling faces and enthusiastic attitudes felt like a rainbow to my soul. It also reminded me of my days teaching in school when I would look out at those smiling faces, knowing they were relying on me, watching my every move, listening to my every word. It felt good to stand in my kitchen, dirty dishes up to my elbows, and finally take the overplanned, heart pounding step into the new year. I felt ready for the challenge.
Here is our banner for this school year. I chose the theme: Working for The Glory of God with 1 Corinthians 10:31 as our verse to memorize. I'll make another post with a look back at previous year's banners and themes. If you're wondering about our school name, you can have a good laugh. I'll write about THAT later.
The last of Bubble's supplies. Isn't the zebra bag perfect? I had it sitting in my closet, of all things!
Oh the joy! Oh the sheer thought of putting these art supplies to the test! Oh me Oh my!
If you were going to ask about Sweetness..she tuned out the academic stuff and kept herself busy by decorating her face.
She has found her niche in the family as the class clown. I'm going to have to send a note home to her father. He may have to have a teacher conference. :)
The blueberry muffins which tasted like hot, moist, cake right out of the oven instead of blurry, blue muffin stones which the picture portrays.
At the end of a very successful day, we went to the pool for physical education, of course!
When I say that we had a ball today, I meant that we actually had a ball! :)
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