1 Down, only 179 to go!! :)

We've had a successful first day of school.

We had breakfast and devotions together, then the girls started on their copywork/vocabulary while Noah did his reading lesson and 1 page from each of his 2 workbooks.

I'm not a huge fan of "spelling word lists" for their own sake, but for copywork, which we use to work on handwriting, spelling, grammar, etc, I've put together a list of words taken from this week's science and history lessons. These are words that my girls are going to encounter as we study other subjects, so it will be helpful for them to be able to recognize and spell them, and know what they mean. So, they worked on that while I worked with Noah.

All of Noah's "work" takes about 20 minutes total, which I think is just fine for a Kindergartner. That certainly doesn't mean that he only learns for 20 minutes a day, just that he is only required to sit with me and focus on specific "work" for about 20 minutes. He did great today.

After that, I got Rachel started in Mad Libs while I worked with Alex on Reading and Math, and Noah went to play on the computer. Then, he went off to play with toys, Alex, when her reading and math were done, moved to the computer, and I worked with Rachel~going over the Mad Libs with her, working on reading aloud, and doing a lesson from MUS.

Then, we took our lunch break. After lunch, I gave the kids a brief "overview" of our science and history units for this year, read a chapter from a Mrs Piggle Wiggle book, and we were done for the day.

Wouldn't it be nice if EVERY day went this smoothly? Never gonna happen, but it would be nice! :)

We won't be doing science and history every day. Most likely, we will have history on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and Science on Tuesday and Thursday.

I'm VERY thankful for "smooth sailing" for our first day!

Now, Alex and Noah are watching cartoons, and Rachel is off to her first day at "work" with her grandparents. Both my parents work at a local elementary school, and they let my children take turns coming once a month to help clean up and straighten up around the school. Mom pays them each $10 for their afternoon's work, and they just love it!

We had a wonderful church service yesterday morning!! I felt SO blessed! I felt like I"d found an oasis in a desert! My Dad was asked to preach at a small church in our area. It's a small church, but it's newly remodeled, and it's beautiful. The people there were just as friendly as could be, and there truly seemed to be a spirit of JOYFUL WORSHIP in that church.

To my surprise, all 3 of my kids jumped right up and went off to children's church with the other kids. I knew Rachel would go, but I wasn't so sure about Alex and Noah. All 3 went, and all 3 came back with BIG smiles, and a goody bag filled with candy and new school supplies!!! Needless to say, they are hoping that we plan to visit this church again! :) I'd love to do that too, we'll just have to see how the Lord leads.

I"ve got lots of thoughts about many different topics floating around in my little brain today, so check back later. I may have to blog some more just to help sort it all out. :)
Vicki