First Day of School

Today officially marked the first day of our third year of homeschooling. After breakfast and chores we headed outside to take a few pictures to mark this momentous day. It was, afterall, Carter's first day of Kindergarten! What kind of mother would I be if I didn't have a camera full of pictures as he embarked on his educational journey? The only thing missing was the gut wrenching tears and extreme seperation anxiety I experienced on Ben's first day of Kindergarten. Today was much more enjoyable!

*My New Kindergartener*

*Smile boys, Mom wants a good picture for the scrapbooks!*

*No seriously, I need you to smile. Mom had a very clear idea of how this morning was going to go and you are RUINING IT!* (hubby was pretty sure I was going to lose it at this point!)

*Ahhhh, thank you. Mom's blood pressure just went back down*

*You can always count on Dad for a good startle to start the day!*

This morning's photo shoot did not go exactly as I had envisioned. I have an entire folder full of goofy, fuzzy pictures to show that my boys were simply out of control this morning. They got their wiggles out, at the expense of Mom's nice relaxing morning. Such is life.

We made a lot of curriculum changes this year and I'm very excited to dig into everything. The curriculum I've been using in the past was causing so much frustration and anxiety and I was under the assumption that I was failing as a teacher. I know enough now, to know that a child and a curriculum will just click. It will fit like a glove and what works for one child will not automatically work with the next.

Carter is starting off well over half way through K and is doing almost all 1st grade work. Ben and I had to take a small step back as we adjusted to some new ways of doing things and some new philosophies we're working under. This year, after just a few hours, already feels so much better than the last two years combined.

We only worked for about two hours this morning, and I'm going to have to tweak our schedule a bit here and there to accomodate both boys, but as one of my friends stated this morning "If they learn more than where their seats are and how to stand in line today, you are ahead of the public schools!" Now THAT's putting my first day jitters into perspective!