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Lorraine
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Joined: July 06 2007
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 3:28pm | IP Logged
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I'm so thankful that our first day of homeschooling went pretty smoothly. We began the day with mass and then had a 1.5hr of work period in the morning, followed by a field trip to the science center afterwards. Please kindly remember us in your prayers for continuing "smoothness" throughout this week, and hopefully this year (I know it won't be smooth everyday, but I can always have hope  ) Thanks to everyone who has given such wonderful advices and support. Sorry, I don't have much advices to give out  , but I'm sure I'll have many more questions!
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Blessings,
Lorraine, mom to dd (12/02), ds (11/04) and ds (06/08)
Small Things with Great Love
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Land O' Cotton
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 4:27pm | IP Logged
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That's wonderful for you to have finished a smooth transition into your first day! Your children will be blessed by the lessons they've learned from you today.
I too, hope for smooth-running days (they don't happen very often here). I think maybe we all need the bad days to appreciate the good ones.
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Vicki
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 6:45pm | IP Logged
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Lorraine, I love that you started with mass and fit in a trip to the science center! It always helps to keep 'em busy!LOL!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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helene
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 6:46pm | IP Logged
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Dear Lorraine,
I hope your First Day went well. From your post it sounded like it went swimmingly. This was supposed to be our First Day too. It didn't quite come off. I had a child up vomiting all night and half the morning (last sick child HOPEFULLY) and started our well-planned school day by making an emergency trip to the Stop and Shop to get all those fun stomach-bug recovery items like popsicles and Kool Aid and such. My husband took some of the kids to Mass at this time. My oldest, Lucia, babysat. I returned home to even more laundry and a husband leaving (me) for work. How could he go and leave me like this? He promised to pick up a pizza on the way home and left. The yellow school bus laughed at me maniacally as it sped by the house.
Everyone healthy had bagels for breakfast. My two oldest girls cleaned up the kitchen without being asked. My oldest started high school today for the first time. She is in ninth grade and we are trying a boxed curriculum with Mother of Divine Grace this year. Maybe the rest of us could postpone school for one more day, but she could not. She has an amount of work to complete daily and must stay on top of it. She joyfully and dutifully began her new studies with a grateful heart at a desk in her bedroom. I literally had eight loads of laundry to do, including some very very gross items from the night before. My boys hauled loads around for me wherever I needed them to be. My oldest son put lots of laundry away and offered to take the 1 year old outside to the swing and to play ball for a VERY long time. I began my slow climb to the top of Mount Laundry. I forced myself to put everything away right into the drawers and not let anything sit until, well....later. I just did not have enough laundry baskets to even hold all the stuff! Every bed I passed in the bedrooms was calling me to come and have a nap in it (I am ten weeks along). I ignored them as best as I could and kept my nose to the laundry piles. Every diapered child decided to poop at the same time. I guess that was convenient. My sick daughter begged me for juice again, and then tossed it, again. I washed her pretty blue comforter and hung it on the line. Something peaceful and sensible about the sight of it billowing in the wind and drinking in the sunshine has been a consolation to me all day. My 10 y.o. sat by her side and read aloud to her from Kaya, an American Girl book. They read until they finished the book. Emily then drank a little juice and kept it down. The morning sped away. Four loads done. I dropped the rest of it for lunch.
The olders made lunches for the youngers. We were wise enough to use paper plates. By this time Lucia had completed half her high school subjects and was pleased with the results. My oldest son, nearly 13, requested a math drill sheet to get ready for tomorrow's Real First Day. He got every last one of them right. The baby fell asleep on the livingroom floor. I let him be and we tip-toed round him. He does not transfer well, not even with special ops. Emily, my sick girl, slept on the couch. We all had jellybeans. Emily ate a popsicle. I began the laundry again. I sighed wistfully at the beautifully made and pinned-up school schedules that stared at me from the fridge every time I passed by with a laundry basket.
A couple hours later I gave in and took a brief but delicious nap on the couch in the basement while Lucia did her math with a teaching tutor CD next to me. The middles watched PBS upstairs. The baby woke and I asked Josef to whip the kitchen into shape for me once again while that LAST load of laundry runs through the dryer. And I took this moment to check email....hey, why not? Who needs to cook? My darling husband is bringing home a pizza!
So I guess it was a disaster of a First Day..............but not really. A little bit of unplanned education DID happen here. And more importantly I realized, maybe for the first time in a long time, that my children are turning out to be wonderful people. They are people I want to be with. They have become cheerful helpers, pitching in with a joyful spirit of service whenever they see the need arise, without prompting. They live and breathe their Faith. They love their friends and family and all of God's Creation. Their interests are all wholesome and studious. They are self-motivated learners. They are spiritual thinkers. They are tender-hearted children of God. What more could I want?...............This afternoon as the bus passes by again on its return trip I will be the one laughing.
Tomorrow promises to be a better day for us. But I hope you had a terrific First Day. Anything would be better than mine!
Much love and success to you and your family on this wonderful/horrible homeschooling journey,
Helene
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Happy Mom to five girls (20,17,13,11and 4) and five boys (19, 15, 10, 8 and 6)
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 7:55pm | IP Logged
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Helene! That is such a wonderful story of love and family! I know it was awful for you, but it is beautiful from here!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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marianne
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 8:46pm | IP Logged
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Wonderful story, Helene! Your family sounds so nice.
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Lorraine
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 10:36pm | IP Logged
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It is inspiring, Helene! Thanks for sharing. I often feel overwhelmed just with the two kids. I need so much more patience and self-giving love!
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Blessings,
Lorraine, mom to dd (12/02), ds (11/04) and ds (06/08)
Small Things with Great Love
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Meredith
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| Posted: Sept 05 2007 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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I love hearing all your first day stories, yeah!! And Helene, my heart goes out to you and your sweet family, it's all part of the home education adventure right Many blessings for a quick recovery for everyone!
Thanks for sharing!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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helene
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 7:19pm | IP Logged
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Thanks, ladies, for your encouragement. Since that bad first day we have had three very good days of full school........but one more stomach flu casualty. But we really, really think it may be over now! And let's hear it for wonderful weekends in which to rest and regroup (and clean up!)!!
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Happy Mom to five girls (20,17,13,11and 4) and five boys (19, 15, 10, 8 and 6)
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: First day of homeschooling
