Tuesday, August 19, 2008

New School Year

It is indeed time to start a new school year. 2nd grade for Elijah and Kindergarten for Isaiah. This year my boys and I are embarking on a journey that is sure to be filled with adventure, fun, and a lot of nervousness. Adam and I decided to enroll the boys in the PA Cyber School program for this school year. This was a decision made last fall/winter prior to finding out we were expecting number 4. At that point it was too late to enroll them back into Evangel Heights - so we talked and prayed and decided to go through with the Cyber School. I will be their teacher this year and PA Cyber gives us the curriculum with all the lesson plans included. Elijah's actually came in the mail today and we are still waiting on Isaiah's and the computers they get.


Anyway, this is what all of Elijah's "stuff" looked like when I took it out of the box this afternoon. Needless to say, I felt very overwhelmed looking at his pile of books and manuals and materials. Then I started organizing it and reading the intro to the curriculum. The more I looked at it the more comfortable I became. I am still nervous, but it doesn't seem like it is going to engulf and crush me anymore. I am very excited now and ready to get started! I also have the help of an instructional supervisor for any questions I may have along the way.

I never in a million years would have dreamed I would be teaching my kids at home, but for now I am ready, able (through a lot of prayer and encouragement) and willing to take on this task. Adam and I decided to do this because we were unsure of how much traveling we would be doing this year. We did a ton last year, especially Adam, and it took a toll on our family. Now we can all go together and what a great teaching opportunity it can become!

Please pray for us as this is a huge change for the entire family. I know the kids will miss certain aspects of being at school and I will need the encouragement. It will also be a difficult adjustment for Adam since the boys will be here all day long now. Since he works from home this may prove to be hard on both he and the boys. I will post updates to let you know how it is going and how it all works out with a 2 1/2 year old tailing along for the ride and a new member joining our family in a few months!

2 comments:

Margie said...

You can do it Bre! If you need any help just let me know, we use PACyber, too. Kelly is doing virtual classes, but I am teaching Emma and Noah. The biggest thing to tackle first I think is to make a schedule! Set aside certain times to teach each of your kiddos and it will seem less overwhelming. One of my challenges is the kids (well, just Julie this year) that aren't in school. Anyway, I'll pray for us both!! :) :)

Amber said...

Hi Bre! I'm really not sure how I found your blog, but I know I started at Pastor Mike's blog. Anyway, I was just looking over your blog, and found this post you wrote about homeschooling. I'm also a first-time homeschooler this year. In fact, I just blogged about our decision to homeschool last week.

Good luck!