Saturday afternoon Lauren and I made our way over to Texarkana to get her some dress shoes and…to look at an educational supply store. I know. I’m weird. But I have told you that before, so please, no criticism. Thank you.
Anyway, we got some pencils for rewards for good handwriting. You know, the glittery kind. I got some cut outs for decorations on my “Star Students” board. I’m so imaginative! I got some star cut outs for that! Creative, huh? I was looking for window clings, I just LOVE window clings, but they didn’t have any. I also bought a Webster dictionary for the intermediate grades. It’s not huge, it’s hard back, and it stays open while you’re working. Oh, and it was under $20, so I bought it. I’ve been looking for a good, but not great, dictionary for some time. They were either enourmous and cost $50, or they were tiny and paperback. This one fit perfectly in the “happy medium” category.
On the way home, we were talking about our new school year. One change we’ve made – that I haven’t told too many people about – is that we are not doing the DVDs for Lauren this year! I’m going to teach fourth grade myself!!!! I hope we can manage it! As I see the year ahead of me, I’m a little nervous about it that’s for sure! There are so many things I will need to balance. But that’s another subject! As we talked about the year, we decided we should make up a motto for each of our subjects to sort of “inspire” us as the year went by. This is what we came up with. We wanted them to all rhyme. I thought they were cute. I hope you like them.
Here are the ones Lauren thought of:
Reading: “Read for Speed!”
Arithmetic: “Don’t pay the bills, just do the drills”
Spelling” “Spelling is propelling”
Science: (We have two for science that are about specific areas of study for this year.) #1 “I love bugs, and they don’t do drugs.” (What a relief! I’d hate for my daughter to spend time with dope head bugs!) #2 “Outer space is the perfect place.”
Here are the ones I thought of that Lauren liked:
History: “We travel back through the ages in our History pages.”
Language: “We’re striving to pass our Language class.”

We are really excited about school. For second and third grades Lauren got to sort of experience what attending regular classes was like by doing the DVD school. This year, we are looking forward to moving more quickly, because we won’t have to wait on 24 other kids to finish.
I am going into this school year on my knees! I need God’s help to get it all done, and to be the right example for my children- even during those tense moments that will most assuredly come. If I had to sum up our reason for homeschooling in one sentence, it would be the following: We homeschool so that our children will grow to love the Lord. That is truly the desire of our hearts. You can accomplish this regardless of what method of schooling you use. We choose this one for our family, but we realize it isn’t what’s best for every family. I hope I never come across as “down on” other educational methods. I love them all because I’ve been exposed to them all. I know the pros and cons of public school – my Mother worked there, and sometimes if felt like we all worked there! I know the benefits and draw backs to Christian school, I did that until 10th grade. I know the pluses and minuses of homeschooling. I was homeschooled from grades 10-12, and I’ve homeschooled my children for five years. As parents, we make the difference regardless of what method of schooling we choose. We are our children’s main teacher.
Whatever method of schooling you choose, whether public, private, or homeschool, I hope and pray you have a wonderful year of seeing your children love the Lord, and love learning, more than ever before!