First Week of School

Well, the first week of school has come and gone already. To tell you the truth, it was a long week. After having so many days of summer fly by, it was a bit draining to endure such a long week. Don't get me wrong, we definitely had many highlights throughout the week, but I will be glad when we get more into a groove of things.

Kyra started out quite nervous for her first day of school. The poor child is becoming more of a nervous nellie as she gets older (between the genes of her dad and mom, she is doomed). So we prayed together shortly before her bus arrived. We prayed that she would like her teacher, that she would make some friends, and that she would enjoy her time back at school. Then after our prayer, she seemed to look refreshed. She gave me one last hug, and when the bus arrived, she quickly found some old friends and rode off with a big smile on her face. I knew that she would have a fabulous day, and headed down my driveway already anticipating her long winded stories that she would tell.

As soon as I opened the door, Katie was waiting for her turn for school. This little girl has been anticipating school for some time. She has been eager to start her time with mom, and repeatedly asks when it's her turn to paint (apparently that's what she wants to do most in school). I had set up a "little classroom" in our basement complete with a big table to do arts and crafts, a fun calendar, and a bucket of supplies (which of course included the paints that she so anxiously wanted to use). So, we got Andrew his breakfast, straightened up a few things, and headed downstairs to begin our first day of school.

Like I had mentioned before, I too was a little nervous for our first day of school (not for Kyra, but for myself). I was mostly concerned for how Andrew would do during our time together, but also concerned for how effective of a teacher I could be to my own daughter. Well, Andrew did great. He played with the many toys in the basement he wasn't too familiar with (since we don't go down there that often), and only managed to tamper with the DVD/sound system one time. Then we broke up for a snack, while I put him down for a nap and continued my lesson with Katie. And Katie did really fabulous too. She did cry once when I tried to show her the correct way to hold scissors, but I kind of anticipated that being a challenge. At first I thought she was crying because she just couldn't do it right. Then I quickly realized, it was because I took the scissors and cut HER paper. Of course she wanted to do it all by herself. But we let it go, and agreed to work on it another day. Otherwise the day went very smoothly. We sang songs, worked on learning a Bible memory verse, focused on learning the number 1 and letter A, and read books.

All in all, our first week couldn't have gone smoother. Kyra really likes her teacher and raves about how nice she is, although she is definitely tired. I think every day all day class is going to take a bigger toll on her then I thought. Yesterday, she said: "Mom...I like school, but does it have to be every day? I don't ever get a break...it's just school, school, school, soccer, and church (repeat)." It will be a big adjustment coming right from summer, but I know she'll get into the groove. Katie enjoyed puzzling ordinary household items together to make the letter A, and spending one on one time with Mom. She has really been an eager beaver, and was even disappointed to find out we weren't "doing" school every day. I was also pleased that our few discouraging moments didn't ruin her anticipation to learn new things. As for me, well I am quite tired from the week as well. I will definitely have to do some altering when it comes to the curriculum I had planned for Katie. And I've had my moments of ambivilence of teaching my own daughter (even going so far as to thinking...there's still time to enroll her in a preschool class!) But we all just need time. We need time for our bodies to get back into a schedule, time for our emotions to fall into balance. And I know we'll have a good year (even if it might be a tough year) because God is in control and will give us the rest we need to take on the new school year.