First Day of School

We started out the morning with mass - absolutely wonderful way to start the day. I'm setting my alarm for early tomorrow so I can head to the wee hours mass before the girls even wake.

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The school day went well. Some subjects, it was just an intro - no real lesson today. And others, Bookworm pushed to do some work, so I let her jump right in.

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I don't know what to do about the crying, though. The kid cannot handle handwriting and it doesn't matter what kind of attitude I have, she cries. It is the weirdest thing. I thought for sure this year would be different, since her handwriting has improved leaps and bounds in the past few months. But, no go. She cried through half an hour of copying a poem about writing.

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Other than that, the day was an absolute success. Even Silly Sally loved all her school work and didn't want to stop when the lessons were over. :) Maybe she'll surprise me this year!

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If you are starting school now too, bless you. I'm thankful not to put my kids on a bus each morning for one new reason today - the bus was 45 minutes late picking up the elementary kids on our block. Those kids were standing outside for nearly an hour waiting (in 90 degree heat at 9 am)!

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God Bless you.

Getting Excited!

We have had our best summer ever. Seriously. We have had so much fun and since we didn't move this summer (can I get an "Amen!"?), we have been able to really just enjoy the school break.

Bookworm did complete the B&N Summer Reading Challenge and both girls are finished with the state Reading Program (we still need to turn in their last slips and get their prizes). Bookworm finished The Chronicles of Narnia, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Princess Tales and about 30 other books this summer. Those three I listed are all series and she has been reading the Narnia books since the spring. She's also re-read Charlotte's Web and some of the Little House books.

With one of her B&N coupons, she got A Wrinkle in Time and she read that rather quickly, in spite of being on another vacation. She wants to go to the library and get more books, but we leave soon to go out of town again. :)

I am formulating my plan for the school year and actually have spent some time in the past couple days on the phone with Seton getting things squared away. (The testing department didn't mark Bookworm's results as part of an enrollment, so she hadn't been processed!) Luckily, it's all been taken care of and we should have her materials tomorrow. Gotta love it when businesses take care of their customers.

I am getting really excited to start and the girls have been counting down the days until school starts. It's a neat thing to have together. And I am really looking forward to the change this year. We are also going to try something new: a couple days/week, we will get ready early and have breakfast, head to mass and then go to the library. I am going to see if we can use a small meeting room or if they have a place where the librarian can stick us for a few hours. It'd be great to have no interruptions and be able to knock out our schoolwork. I will see how it works out and I hope it will help us stay better on track. I know the one thing I am worried about is making sure we stay on track this year - particularly since I have to submit work to Seton each quarter for grades and records.

Well, the kids are asking for lunch, so I am going to sign off for now. I have every intention of writing more on here about how we're doing with school and what we find works for us. So, for Beth, the only reader here, you can certainly check this space occasionally and expect to see an update once in a blue moon. :)

Until next time, God Bless you.