Welcome New School Year

I have no idea if I will ever get caught up from Christmas till now but I just decided that if I don't just start blogging again...  I may never do it.

     Today was our first day of Home-School!!!  Ella is in 1st grade now and Lucas is in K4.  It was a great first day.  A little slow going and only 10 minutes after starting I realized Kinslie had a fever and it seems that she has the Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  I let her watch a movie and she fell asleep so we actually had a surprisingly smooth first day.   Next Thursday we will start our Classical Conversations (CC) group on Thursdays and I'm super excited about that.
     Here are pictures of Ella and Lucas at their desks in the "new" school room!

     And here is a picture of Kinslie from over the summer so that she's not left out of this post.  She was watching Brian blows bubbles with his gum...  Bubble Lips!

Lovingly, the long lost blogger

School Time

The "fall" season brought a whole new stage to our family!  Ella started Kindergarten! AND we are home-schooling!  It's been a fun adventure!
Our first day of school was August 23.  This is the school table.

We have school at home 3 days a week and one day at Classical Conversations, aka: CC (see details about this below).  Besides the CC curriculum we have Bible, Handwriting, Math and Reading.
Ella's favorite subject is Math.  It's a lot of fun right now learning the calendar, playing with shapes and blocks to make patterns. I think it may be a little too easy for her...  she's beyond shapes and colors.  So this week we are going to start the 1st grade book to see how it goes.  (I love home-schooling for this reason.  -We can work at her pace in each subject.  Focus on specific interests or areas of weakness. )
Handwriting is her least favorite.  She struggles with being positive and motivated when she doesn't get it right the very first time.  But when she slows down, and thinks through each letter she does very well and that makes her very happy.  Hard work brings great reward!
Our "theme" Bible verse is Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do all of your work, hardily, as unto the Lord and not for men."  I try to help her to focus on doing her best and that doesn't always mean perfect.

 New school supplies!!  I included Lucas in this treat too! Pencils, glue, scisors, tape, crayons, etc.

About Classical Conversations (CC)
     CC programs model the three stages of classical learning—grammar (elementary), dialectic(4th -6th grade), and rhetoric (Jr. high and high school). Ella is the grammar stage,  Using age appropriate methods, children are taught the tools for studying any subject.   The Classical model emphasizes mastery of facts during the early years. This gives students a foundation on which to build later learning and a solid framework where ideas can be categorized and compared as students mature.  The subjects in the CC curriculum are History and timeline (from creation to current events), science, grammar, geography, latin and art
Every week each child gives a presentation (a little bit like show and tell for the 5 year olds).  They are learning to speak in front of peers as well as listen to others speak.  Ella loves this!  She loves everything about CC!  They have created a very exciting learning environment!  I also am excited about the education I am getting!  :)
Ready for their first day of CC!

Friends at CC ready for fhe first day.

Ella's classroom and classmates. 

Ella's first presentation and the class tutor Miss. Sonya.