August 6, 2009 - Day 1
Deacon is really excited about homeschooling this year. I admit I'm a bit nervous myself. I hope he continues to keep his enthusiasm for it and God gives me the strength and knowledge to teach him and raise him properly. Today was our first day and it took almost the whole four hours to cover everything and make sure he will retain it. I thought it would take much longer than that and the four hour guideline was just that, a guideline. We learned a lot about Christopher Columbus today and all of his lessons except for math follow a unit theme. This unit is on Columbus. I learned that Deacon really doesn't like subtraction. I think he may actually hate it with a passion. I almost dread division. He also isn't a big fan of having to write neatly, as his previous teachers didn't enforce penmanship. I'm hoping it will become second nature to him before long. He can write very neatly, but he is still in "hurry, hurry, hurry" mode and wants to rush through writing things out. Commitment....I pray that God helps us to stay committed to this course and to excel in it throughout the year and the years to come. P.S. Deacon loves his independent reading time and the books about Columbus in this unit. I think he may end up taking after me in that respect. I'm not a huge fan of math, but I love anything to do with literature. And if you were wondering, he has chosen Junie B. Jones smells something fishy as his independent reading for now. Between you and me, if Junie B. were a real person I think she would be Deacon's best buddy.
August 7, 2009 - Day 2
Second day of school and all is well. I just have to keep reminding myself and Deacon that we aren't in a hurry, that there's no rush. This isn't homework that is due tomorrow. We can take as long as we need. He gets frustrated very easily, but I hope we can work that out together. He drew a rug in art today. You should see it. It looks like a box of Crayola crayons and he is very proud of it. That is what he had chosen to sell in the bazaar. We learned more about Columbus and our spelling words with a long i sound. He amazed me with his spelling today, he was able to spell everyone of them without looking! We added telling time and rounding to the nearest 10 in math today. He loved the rounding, he said it was his favorite. Our bible verse for this unit is commitment. We are learning how Columbus and his namesake Saint Christopher showed their commitment to God and how Columbus wanted to be a Christ-bearer and take the word of God to those people across the Western Ocean who had never heard the good news before. Saint Christopher was a Giant Syrian who a hermit lead to God. The hermit had told him to build a home by the river and because of his size and the raging waters of this river, he could carry people across on his shoulders to keep them from drowning and God would be grateful and smile down on him. He did this and one night a child came to his home and asked to be carried across to the other side. Saint Christopher got his staff and started carrying the child across, the further they went across the river, the heavier the child became until he felt like he was carrying the whole world on his shoulders. When they got to the other side, Saint Christopher told the child that his weight had nearly drowned him and that he had felt like he was carrying the whole weight of the world in that one little child's body. The child told Saint Christopher that he was indeed carrying the weight of the world and the Christ child as well. The child told Saint Christopher to plant his staff in the soil by his home for proof and in the morning it would bear fruit and flowers. When Saint Christopher awoke the next morning a date palm had grown where he had planted his staff. Saint Christopher showed commitment in continuing across the river even when the burden became too heavy to bear. We are trying to be committed in our lives just like Saint Christopher. Commitment to God above all else.
Deacon is also keeping a journal. I can't wait to re-read it when he is grown. His even has pictures he has drawn in it.
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