What Mamma learned.

I am glad that we started a week early, on a whim, and tried out all of our subjects. It was nice to feel no pressure when easing in to a new schedule. A friend of mine even suggested taking one subject a day and adding on to that. A test week is a good idea. There are also some things that I need to think about for next year....
Tip: Try out a lesson or two from your books (if possible before you buy) to make sure that it fits your child. We had one book that was great in content and stated that it was for six-fourteen, but seems like it may be at a grade four level because of the vocabulary. I will keep this book for another year. Our science has this same multi-age format, but in contrast it works great because it has been clearly sectioned out according to age.
Instead of this book, which was a character building book to teach my kids about faith and servanthood, I pulled a kids bible off the shelf for now and may continue just reading from this. I am amazed at what I get out of this too. I am seeing grace in the simple old bible stories that we learned as kids. It hit me that sometimes we learn in part and there is value in learning things in stages. This may be obvious maybe in education, but this is ringing true for me in faith too right now. The story of Cain and Abel is an example. It hit me that the story in which Cain is kicked out of Eden, is still a story of grace, and not just of bad behavior as I remember. God answered Cain's cry, even as he was receiving consequences, and God marked him so that no one could harm him. It was great to be able to teach this story in whole and talk about it in the van. This is what I am trying to impart in my kids lives.... Learning with grace.
Anyways, we are in. We are homeschooling. And as the days come in waves, hard and easy, we will be glad that we have this opportunity. The more that I seek out what I want to teach my kids, the more I want that impact to come from home.