Promotion Day!

Tomorrow is the big day! Promotion Day! Our children will have their official evaluations and pass on to the next level. As homeschoolers we don't deal in grade levels all that much. If the truth were told, they are probably way ahead in some subjects and a little behind in others. Isn't that life? For me personally, I would soar in Writing, Reading ability, and History competence, I would do pretty well in Biblical knowledge and Speech ability, and I would completely stink in Math and Science. Science I am enjoying more than ever as an adult because my children have such an amazing teacher (Mrs. Catie Frates) and she makes Science fun and interesting for anyone, even if you think you don't care for it. Math, however, I can't imagine that I will ever soar beyond balancing my checkbook and I am grateful that Stan is a finance guy and I don't even have to do that!

My older two children take after their mom. They soar in the things that I excel in. Though they have a much stronger appreciation for science than I ever did in school - a good teacher makes all the difference. Math is not their strong suit, though they struggle through and do well in it. That is the difference with homeschooling, we don't move on until they understand. So, where I was forced to move from concept to concept with little or no comprehension, and I immediately dumped any piece of knowledge that I had after the tests - they will know what we have covered and they will understand it. I would rather that what they do know stick than that we cover a bunch of material and they lose it all after a test.

The younger two children so far seem to take after their daddy - the finance guy. Lyndsey and Graham both have a real propensity for numbers. They can do their math in their head and they seem to really enjoy it. Lyndsey also really likes science and art. She doesn't care much for reading, but she is very capable and we are hoping she will begin to really enjoy reading soon.

All of the children have some musical ability, which thrills their mom! I have always wished that God would grant me the gift of singing - but He hasn't done it. Maybe He knows I couldn't handle it and would puff up with pride. I love music. I love to listen to someone sing and I love to sing along. However, no one within ear shot wants to hear it when I sing along. The old saying in the South is, "You can't carry a tune in a bucket!" That's me! My kids seem to have gotten the gift though, and I am thrilled. Joshua has a real talent on the piano and Bryce and Lyndsey are the singers. Graham is trying out a little bit of all of it until we figure out what his talent is, but he is showing a real ear for the music.

Anyway, our school year will be officially over tomorrow and after Convention we will move on to our Summer Learning schedule, which will be more laid back. Those of you who know me are laughing, because "schedule" is a word that I use really lightly and if we got anymore "laid back" during the "real" school year, we would just read and play all day! :) Anyway, one of these years I will actually stick to the schedules that I always make in August. But, this summer we will keep up with some Math review and we will be reading books from the Starting Points cirriculum which is an upper level Worldview course. Graham will be learning to read. We will also be reading through the Narnia books again with the younger ones and I have started reading the Elsie Dinsmore series of books to Lyndsey. They were some of Bryce's favorites at her age. Summer here in Florida is HOT and it keeps us in the house more than any other time of year. We like to spend our January days at the beach and our July days in the air conditioning. So, we get a lot of reading and catching up done in the summer, with some early morning trips to the beach thrown in for sun and exercise!

I just wanted to say how proud I am of all the kids for their hard work this year. We are so thankful for the calling God has placed on our family. Homeschooling is not always easy, but nothing worth having comes without a cost. However, I can honestly say that it is the best thing that could have happened to our family. Even on the hard days, the blessings are all mine. We have met and become friends with some of the most godly people in the world, people who are willing to sacrifice their own free time and their own careers for the sake of the little lives God has entrusted to them. Men and women who are determined to train up their children in the way they should go, no matter what. They keep me going. I love it, I love my kids, and I thank God everyday that He led us down this path.