Time for School

We're in the middle of our second week of school.  Things are finally starting to smooth out a little as we all get used to our books and figure out what is required of us.  I have 6 students this year...kindergarten, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 6th grade, 7th, grade, and 8th grade.  That's quite a spread....just like the old one-room schoolhouse.

We've started something new this year...something we've never done in the 17 years or so that I've been homeschooling.  It's something I've thought about doing many times but have never known exactly how to go about it.  I purchased the Trail Guide to Learning series this year.  It is a unit study that encompasses the subjects of history, geography, science, language, spelling, and art.  It has different levels of difficulty and slightly different pages in their folders for different grade levels.  It is actually only written for 3 grade levels, but we are adapting it and everyone is picking up something from what we've been reading.  The curriculum uses regular books (such as biographies from the Sowers Series and Childhood of Famous Americans) to teach all the subjects.  We are reading about Christopher Columbus right now.  We are getting used to the new curriculum and enjoying it.

We are also using our regular math curriculum (some Bob Jones and some Saxon) and A Beka's language program.  I'm very pleased with our school program this year and feel like the girls are getting a well-rounded education.  I know there is no other teacher they could have that would care as much as their mother whether they are "getting it".  There is no other teacher that would spend the amount of time it sometimes takes to make sure they "got it"....to try more than one angle until it "clicks". 

I am very thankful that God has allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom and to homeschool our girls.  It has always been our conviction that God would have us to homeschool.  I could never bear the thought of sending my girls to a place where God is not allowed, where foul language is used regularly, where drugs are a problem, where evolution & humanism are taught...  I could go on, but I won't.  Thank you, Lord, for the freedom to homeschool.  I pray that it will not be taken away.