We just saw a commercial for the curriculum we will be using (K12.com).  The kids and I are real excited to start our new program.  Their laptops should be mailed sometime after the 17th of this month.  They took their placement tests last week; including Xander who did very well.  I was really impressed that the enrollment placement teachers kept me in the loop the whole time.  The decisions were made with my input, as a team, with my children's best interest in the center.  Very impressive; So far so good!!!  So unlike brick and mortar public schools.  I have watched a few live orientations they do online and feel very comfortable with the school.  They explained what is expected from us (the parents) and answered all the questions I had.  This took care of any fears I might have had left in the back of my head.  I will pretty much be doing what I am doing now, but they will be taking care of all the record keeping.  My kids will also have "teachers", so if I need help with something I have dependable back up.  Some parents have issues with the "titles".  They are the "teachers" and we are the "learning coaches".  Titles do not bother me.  I am the one who will be "teaching" my children who will be home with me 24/7.

My niece will also be staying with us this year.  I am waiting for my sister (who is deployed out of the country) to send me the power of attorney for my niece.  She has already ordered her birth certificate and I should be receiving it soon.  Then I will be signing her up for PAVCS also.  

Wizdom's enrollment teacher emailed me asking for approval on his courses.  He did not do too well in Math and will be placed at a lower level for Math.  He did well on everything else and will be placed accordingly.  They have already emailed me the list of his courses and we should be receiving his books shortly.  I didn't think I would be so excited about receiving books, but it feels like Christmas in our home right now.  tee-hee

AnaMaria's enrollment teacher called me yesterday to go over what courses AnaMaria should be taking.  We spoke for a while and although I am not completely happy with AnaMaria's math placement, I did agree with it.  She really does need more help in Math.  Like Wizdom, she will be placed in a lower level for Math.

I'm starting to wonder if I dropped the ball with Math.  When we started homeschooling we decided that dh would teach math (he's so much better at math than me), but when we moved to MD it became difficult for him since he had to take a second job.  I should have really picked it back up after that, but we left it with him teaching on his spare time (mostly weekends).  All the other subjects were taught by me and since we all LOVE reading (even Wizdom now, woohoo!), they did very well on those.  What I really want to kick myself for is that when we moved I wanted to buy the kids Math U See.  I've heard this is an awesome curriculum and I really think they would have excelled with it.  Oh well.....No use crying over spilled milk now. 

Anyways, this was "quality" time my dh got to spend with his kids.  God does everything for a reason and I have to Trust in Him.  I'm sure something good will come out of it.

All in all I am happy with the courses being sent and honestly a little excited about the change.  My only dissapointment is that my kids are requesting more structure.  They want a classroom with posters up and everything.  Uuuugh!!!!  How are they so different than me.  Looking at our new "old" farm house, there really is no room for this.  Like I stated in my last post......I will have to turn our living room into a classroom, which means my dining room will be turned into our family/living room.  Not really too big of a deal.  Our kitchen is a eat in kitchen with plenty of room.  The dining room is bigger than our living room and I don't mind the sacrifice for the kids.  It's just a house and they are the loves of my life. 

So far I have 3 desks and will now need 2 more (hopefully 3 more so that I can keep my sewing desk as my sewing desk).  We are still debating how we want to decorate our classroom.  They want structure, but it does not mean it can not have a warm homey feel to it.    I might also use it as my sewing room during non school hours.  The room I have as my sewing room now, was actually a small room used as an office behind the kitchen.  I am thinking of turning this into a walk in pantry and also placing our upright freezer in there.

Our Lord is bringing so many new things into our lives.  As I look around, every new day is really being received as a gift.  It seems all our dreams are coming true.  We are even receiving gifts of things we didn't even know we wanted, like homeschooling.  It makes me look back on all our trials and I now realize what a wonderful gift they were.  Who would have ever told me when I had to quit my job to stay home with Xander, that it was the greatest gift I would ever receive.  Since then I have broght my older two home to homeschool and we have moved way up north.  We are now starting our farm (you can read about our farming journey at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/angelswithapurpose/), of which we have been discussing and dreaming about for years. 

I am truly Blessed to serve such an Amazing God!  Praise the Lord!!!