Luckily the morning schedule works out for Bradley to drop them off on his way to work. I pick Esmé up at noon and Brig at 3pm. The school is only 5 minutes from our home so it's not too inconvenient making multiple trips there daily.
By September Brig was definitely ready to be back with his friends and continue working on his favorite projects. Esmé talked about school all summer and finished potty-training just in time.
The morning of their first day:
He's five. :)
I had to snap a couple more of Esmé in her new raincoat Grandpa Roger picked out for her.
My babies are growing up! *sniff*
After much prayer and consideration we decided to home school Allen for 2nd grade. We gave our local public school a try last year and were less than impressed with the results. It wasn't an awful experience (no horror stories), it was just...okay.
He had a wonderful teacher and made several friends–no concerns there. He simply wasn't challenged academically and began to loose his love of learning. He started to complain about reading and really only enjoyed P.E. class. His teacher had a lot of behavioral issues to deal with and Allen got frustrated (and bored) with the amount of time spent trying to get the class under control.
He also brought home an attitude. It seemed like each day he would get a little more sarcastic and even negative. He wasn't as interested in playing with his siblings and it took him about 45 minutes each day after school to warm back up to being the happy, helpful older brother.
When we presented the option of homeschooling Allen loved the idea. I researched programs over the summer and ended up going with Sonlight. It's a non-denominational Christian, literature based curriculum. So far, its been excellent.
He's done a complete turn around with reading–he loves it. His favorite subject is science and we do at least one big project per week. He also enjoys history and geography a lot.
The one-on-one time with Allen has been awesome–for both of us. The curriculum is interesting and fun to teach. The only part of this set-up that I struggle with is the lack of time. I was already feeling overwhelmed with the house (never ending laundry & dishes), cooking, working from home for our practice, having a nursing baby and a husband who works long hours. Homeschooling takes at least 3 hours a day, sometimes more. We're 7 weeks into this program and I still haven't found my groove yet. It seems like we're always in chaos-mode.
For now, I'm focusing on being okay with that. I know all too well how quickly time passes and that this is a temporary stage in our family life. I'm also aware of what an immense blessing it is to be able to teach my child at home. For that freedom, I'm truly grateful.
Enjoy these shots of Allen learning at home:
I love that I can actually recognize some of your experiments ;) We have a few similar ones. :) Your kids are so cute! I love the Pic of B and E walking down to the driveway holding hands.
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