First Day of School...ok, I'm serious this time.

God gave us a fantastic first day of school today. We did have that one dress rehearsal day last week, but that was kind of shaky and it was still August, so I didn't really count it. Today, Alex left bright and early, at 7 am to catch the county bus to his school. The rest of us headed to the classroom to start our school day at 8 am.

I didn't really stress getting every little thing done, but it all got done regardless. Kenzie and Connor went their own ways to work out their schedules on their own. Kenzie had a few issues, like not spending sufficient time on some subjects and not reading instructions carefully enough, but I addressed that with her, and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I still haven't checked her work for the day, which will tell me if she devoted enough time and effort to the job. Connor took longer to do all his work, and he's always been pretty conscientious about his work (we won't discuss the cheating episode of last year; I think he's felt enough guilt over that to last a while; especially after confessing it all Father Jennings, our pastor) but, again, I haven't checked today's work yet. Both Connor and Kenzie have been eager to start school this year, for some reason, so i don't expect too many problems, at least for a little while.

Tay and ty are usually my most daunting projects. They are SO different, not only from each other, but from all the other students I've taught. I have begun by splitting them up this year. I am going to try teaching them Religion, History, and Science together, because they take turns doing a lot of out-loud reading and I want them to get good at reading and following while somebody else (not me) is reading. Then they split up for Math and Language Arts, which is where they differ so much. They either do different things in the same room, or I send one away while I teach the other; depends on the moods we all experience at any given time. Tay clams up, Ty turns on the waterworks. Today, I dealt with both scenarios much better than I have in the past. This is evidence that my prayers for calm, patience, wisdom, etc. may be reaching God's ears. Taylor even practiced piano after he finished his classwork.

Bekah also started some preschool stuff, even though she doesn't even turn 3 until October. Kenzie took that job from me. She had more fun helping Bekah cut and paste and learn some letters and numbers than Bekah did, I think. (It also keeps Kenzie busy until I get time to help with her stuff)

Alex's high school soccer team had their first official game today. They lost, 3-2, but Alex wound up being a starter at Halfback, which I am very proud of. He has worked very hard at the practices, and it seems to have paid off. I credit today's loss with his team's bus sitting in traffic for three hours because of a school bus accident (not his bus) en route to the game, which started over an hour late. Because the team had to leave school a couple hours early, he missed a couple classes for which he had to get today's work last week. Well, he worked very hard over the weekend to get all his work done, without complaint. I have to say that I am very proud of him. I'm going to have to stop grumbling so much about all the upheavals this new school thing has caused us. Alex is dealing with it all very well so far (much better than I).

Well, tomorrow is the Next Day Of School. We'll have to see how it goes.