Back To School!!

Well, we have been rolling along finding our new groove with this year's school schedule. It has been good to get back into a schedule where everyone knows what they are doing.



Summer was absolutely the best summer we have perhaps ever had, but even good things must end or they aren't so good anymore. It was getting long, and we were all getting antsy and tired of swimming by the middle of August. We said our goodbyes to the precious children from Ukraine on August 27th. It was hard to say goodbye, and it just seems like so many of them belong here now after three months. It is strange at church to not see the ones who worshipped with us each Sunday. The precious girl (my girls' best friend), whom I mentioned earlier in the summer, just fit so perfectly into the family (our very good friends) who hosted her. I have actually never seen such a perfect fit so quickly. She looks like them, acts like them, and loves like them - it is so obvious that this child has found her family. Their hearts were so tightly knit together, which is wonderful, but it made her leaving more painful than I ever seen as well. Three months is a long time and then to have to leave. We would appreciate your prayers that God will smooth the path and remove the many obstacles so that this child can return to 'her' family forever. For their privacy we are not sharing their names until she actually gets home - hopefully within the next year.



We started homeschooling Katya, Nastya, and Benjamin on Sept 2nd and it is going very well. I have been absolutely exhausted because the start to school always seems harder until everybody (including me) gets the systems and routines down. Allee and Jadon started their school the same day and of course that means lots of homework, parent/teacher meetings, orientations, etc. So, we have been running like crazy. But back to homeschooling - it is really going well. I am blessed to have three very enthusiastic students this year. The girls are such hard workers, and I am amazed to see how much progress they have made over the summer while we weren't doing much official school. Spelling is really improving, and I think that as we start some speech therapy it will also help their ability to discern between the vowel sounds. If you can't hear/say it correctly then it is pretty difficult to spell it. Katya loves to read and to write letters to her friends and family - both of which are helping her language to improve rapidly. She is currently reading the Little House on the Prairie books and definitely comprehending them. We are trying hard to foster the same love of reading in Nastya - she enjoys reading animal and horse books. The girls' vocabulary is improving so quickly. However, that still proves to be the greatest struggle. For example, we are reading The Story of the World, and it is challenging and very time consuming to explain because so much is not understood as we read. I have to take it slow and explain - they do get it but it takes longer. The funny thing is, Ben is listening too and is just soaking up soooo much! He has the entire geography of the Fertile Crescent covered :) So, I figure that even if we only get through half or three-fourths this year that is still great. And most importantly they love it. We have slowed down on math - we will be finishing fourth grade Saxon by Spring Break or so. They are slowly getting closer to grade level. Nastya especially excels at math and comprehends very easily. Now if we could just get her to show the attention to detail that Katya shows :) I guess each has their own strengths and weaknesses - as do we all.



The most exciting thing about our schooling this year is our coop class on Thursday. We are doing these classes called Classical Conversations. It is really amazing and has proven to be very motivating for each of them. They are learning a LOT and are even taking a writing/grammar class that is teaching them the parts of speech and all about the English language. I really struggled about whether they were able to handle this yet, as it is pretty intensive, but I can already tell that it has been the right choice. They are just soaking it all up, and in the Foundations class they are memorizing these awesome history timeline cards, scripture, learning to give short presentations, science experiments, and lots more. It is really impressive and the greatest part is that they are so motivated by the other kids in their class and are making some great friends.



Anyways, to sum it all up, it is great but hard. The greatest part is that all three kids are just really enjoying homeschool right now. Nastya would like to be done faster so that she can play but she still enjoys most of it. Benjamin is engaged and learning the same thing along with us as well as learning to read. And Katya is always happy to do as much school as I will give her :) She has to work a little harder to undertand new concepts and perhaps because of her age the language is more challenging, but she works so hard and with a great attitude. It is just very time intensive for me to teach them, and thankfully, I usually have the time necessary to do that right now. I do believe that they are slowly becoming more independent, but at least this Fall semester they will require my constant help. Anyways, one day at a time!