First Day of School

Today was our official first day of school. The children have been begging me to start school ever since we bought our school supplies.

Here are some of the reasons why I absolutely loved our day...

Our morning devotional brought such a great spirit into our home. There is such a wonderful feeling in any home when the gospel is being studied together. I feel really thankful that the kids and I get to study the Book of Mormon together this year.

I love the feeling in our home when everyone is learning. After devotional, and an overview of this year, we cleaned out our binders and bookshelves, and got them ready for this year. Then I gave out a few easy assignments. As the children began studying, there was a feeling of anticipation, cooperation, and happiness.

I loved watching Jace working on an art project and including Andrew. Seeing Jace sweetly teaching him patiently was one of my favorite moments of the day. I know he'll be a wonderful Dad someday.

I smiled when I heard Spencer and Mallory almost simultaneously call to me: "Mom, I just got 100%!" Spencer had just finished a math lesson, and Mallory had just finished her Rosetta Stone Spanish lesson. It's not the fact that they got perfect scores that made me so happy, it's the fact that I got to share their excitement with them.

I was happy to hear piano music fill our home again while each child practiced the piano. There hasn't been much...er...practicing...over the summer.

Having Mallory read a chapter from her reader to me was really a thrilling moment for me. She struggled so much with reading over the last two years. Recently all her hard, hard work has finally "clicked" for her, and reading is finally easy. Every time she reads lately, I just feel like cheering for her.

I felt really grateful to have my kids enjoy a healthy "school" lunch. And, I must admit, I was super thankful that I didn't have to pack lunches for every child this morning. But, I will be packing them on Fridays when we go to Idaho Falls for gymnastics, so I'm not off the hook completely.

To sum it up, I loved being able to help one child with their language arts book in the school room, admire the little boys' coloring pictures, then walk through the kitchen to see another child doing their math lesson, listen to one of them playing the piano in the living room, and then see Abby concentrating so hard on her building block project in the family room. There were plenty of moments of chaos as we organized the school room, and a few moments of frustration when I felt like no one was trying to be "on schedule", but I even learned so much from those times in my day.

We finished up our school day by taking Aliysa to seminary (this was her first day there) and playing at the park until it was time to pick her up.

So, that was our first day. This year we will be studying American History (with a unit on American Government for Aliysa's high school curriculum), Biology (Aliysa will be studying lab biology with a homeschool group of friends), and the Book of Mormon. We're excited to hear Bob and Aliysa's input on the BofM from seminary. We'll also be attending gymnastics classes every Friday.