Homeschool has begun!

New notebook. New pencils. Lots of books and lots of prayer.
We have officially begun our first year of "structured" homeschool!

For the past year we have been doing "school" with Eli. We have worked on sticker books, alphabet mats, mazes and other various preschool things. He can recite the entire alphabet and recognize every letter and almost all of their sounds. He can count to 100 but doesn't necessarily recognize the numbers that high. All of this, however, has been done when he has wanted and for as long as he wanted and it has been fun for both he and I. He has been simply elated about the idea of turning five and starting school. Needless to say, the past week has been a different story. It has been a rough start for Eli and for me. I too, have been looking forward to this season in life and the structure and schedule it will bring to our family. I have read and read lots of advice and thought I was prepared. Apparently not. But we started. We took the plunge and last Tuesday was our first day of school.

We are using SonLight Curriculum

Eli did not like it. In fact, he said it was boring. At first I thought maybe it was too easy? No. Then I realized it was because he is learning what it means to finish what he started, even if he doesn't necessarily like it. He is learning to sit and focus for an extended period of time even after he doesn't want to anymore. He is being challenged and taught the importance of not giving up.

And the result? This morning was a nightmare for sure but after lunch and some quiet time for ALL of us, this afternoon pretty much rocked. It went so much better. Eli even said he liked school. The hardest thing is Sammie. Toby will sit with us for a bit because he wants to do school too but his attention span is so much shorter.

Toby learning along with Eli using some preschool materials I have

Sammie wants to be right there too but she prefers to dump the crayons all over or climb on the table while Eli is trying to write.

Sammie's favorite thing to do!

You get the picture. Then there is Silas who needs to be fed and changed in between all the other commotion. I KNOW we will figure it all out. It is really an adjustment for all of us though.

This picture was not staged. This is exactly what it looked like one morning: Eli working on handwriting, Toby tracing shapes, Sammie climbing up and down, Silas watching it all and Mommy with her coffee saying a silent prayer!!

But when Toby starts running around the table counting to ten, Sammie says "help you" and Eli has learned how to write his last name and without skipping a beat finishes a short narration I start for him, wow! It is all worth it.