Aug. 14, 2006 -
We officially started school today. Well, sort of. I though that I was pretty well organized with my daily lesson plans, books, and a right heart attitude until everything seemed to go wrong....
For those of you who do not yet know me and my *young* family, I shall introduce us: I was raised in a very conservative Christian home in Northern California, as the oldest of five. My mom was *SUPERMOM*, if ever there was one - She pulled me out of public school when she realized she had other options and taught me at home home from 2nd grade all the way through high school. Each of my siblings have also graduated from our little homeshool, Cornerstone Christian Academy. I met my husband, Ray, at an American Christian History and Government seminar, in Morgan Hill, over 11 years ago. I had just graduated from high school and he was going to UCLA, working towards a BA in History. We stayed in touch, via letters and an occasional phone call, for over a year and a half before he started his almost weekly trips to see my family and me….. The rest is *history*, as they say! Ray and I are celebrating our seventh anniversary on the 28th of this month. We started our family pretty quickly after we got married - Just two months after we celebrated our first anniversary the Lord blessed us with twin boys, Ethan and Zachariah, born 9 weeks early. Julia was born 19 months later, then came Joshua 23 months later, and finally (so far) came Benjamin, 22 months after Joshua. Our quiver is not yet full!
Every since I was very young I knew that I wanted *a lot* of children and that I wanted to homeshool all of them. Mom and Dad laid a foundation of godliness in my heart and I have been eager to carry on those values and beliefs with my own children. Ray and I decided, before we even got married, that he would be the sole financial provider and that I would stay home to teach and train any children with whom the Lord may bless us. We knew that there would be hard times (and believe me, there has been), but we also knew that He would bless us for our decision to make our home and children our number one priority.
As I mentioned before, we started this school year just yesterday, with Ethan and Zach beginning 1st grade and Julia beginning Kindergarten. Julia participated in most of the twins’ studies last year, so she is on her way to catching up with them in all areas of academics. My goal is to have my three oldest children in the same *grade* by the end of this school year. So, back to this morning....we got off to a great start with our Bible reading for the day, memorization, some read-aloud time and art appreciation (all the *fun* stuff). But when it came time for copywork it was all over - We couldn't find sharpened pencils nor the sharpener, and all attitudes were lacking joy, including mine. I decided, since it was the first day back at school after a fun summer, that most of it was to be expected, but attitudes had to be corrected and a list shall be made!
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