learn with joy

Today was our first day of school. Yes indeed, we completed a very successful first day. I am not really sure how my babies have grown into a first grader and a third grader, but somehow the time flew. It is nice to have a routine again. The new chore chart was implemented and eagerly worked through. New school supplies were oohed over and quickly broken in. Lessons were completed with much excitement and ease. Our theme for the year is LEARN WITH JOY. I like it. It was easy today to learn with joy...we began with decorating our work boxes and much of what we covered in math and language was review. The thing is, our goal is to learn with joy even when it's not easy, when it's downright difficult. That's the great thing about homeschooling. When it's easy we can celebrate and when it's challenging we can take our time and make sure new and unfamiliar things are understood. A school bus drove by this morning, the girls did their morning chores while I made fresh laundry detergent. Some kids had a moment of silence this morning, the girls and I read a Bible story and studied Proverbs 15, then focused on verse 15b "a cheerful heart has a continual feast." Some kids had recess today, my girls had a healthy snack and a bit of recess while I hung the laundry on the clothesline. Some kids sat in desks in a beautiful classroom while they learned, my girls sat at the table to write, laid on the floor to read, and lounged on the deck outside to have a science lesson on magnets that somehow meandered into a lesson on germs, tomato worms, moths, and the purple tongues of giraffes. I'd say today was a success. Now, I must retrieve the laundry off the clothesline, start dinner prep, and take my girls for a walk.
xo ANG choose joy