Our first week of school went quite well, actually.I was pleased that both the kids retained some of what we learned last year! ;] I am sooo happy to be schooling Lauren myself this year. It was really hard keeping up with her and my other kids while she watched the DVDs. I know she wasn’t giving it 100% when we were not in the room with her. It’s great knowing what she’s up to all the time! And, the best part, is that we’ve been finishing up in about 3 hours. It took her five hours with the DVDs, and sometimes more. It’s nice not having to “wait” on the other kids on the DVD. I finally feel more relaxed about school too. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, and that was true for my homeschooling technique too. Every problem, every question, every page needed to be done. This year, I’ve decided that if I’m convinced she understands the concept at hand, then we’ll move on. I have let her choose what subjects to do when. (Except for Arithmetic, I insist that it will be first each day, while we’re fresh.) If she doesn’t like the way we review or drill something, then I let her come up with a better idea. It’s really helped her attitude, and mine, quite a bit!
Mitchell has done well also. He is definitely hyper-active. He is also definitely a kinesthetic learner (he learns best by moving or doing) . I am so thankful he is not in a Christian school! He would get in so much trouble for moving, and he would get bored. Homeschooling him gives me the ability to keep him moving along and working fast. We counted to 100 by lying on the floor and twisting back and forth for each number. No, that wasn’t my idea. It was his. He had fun and did his numbers perfectly. He would have never been able to that in a classroom setting.
We had several interruptions throughout our days, but I’m trying to take them in stride. I could tell I was a bit tense this first week; anxious about how it was all going to play out. By supper time, I was really tired. Getting dinner for six people wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. Or laundry. Or bathe kids. But then, those are never my ideas for fun even when I haven’t been homeschooling. :]
It was hard on the kids to see their neighbor friends playing outside this past week. The schools here in Hope don’t start until this coming Monday. I wanted to get a head start though, because you never know what may come up during the school year. I already know that we have a revival scheduled in October, so I’ll want some time off then. I really enjoy being flexible.
I want to say thank you to those of you who shared your reasons for homeschooling with me! I agree with you all!
Oh, and one more thing! I’ve added music to my blog! If it annoys you, you can stop it by just clicking the stop button on my playlist.

Have a wonderful week!