Well, kindergarten has officially commenced in the Anderas home. And I'm happy to report that Mary Clare, myself, and Elisha all made it through our first day with great success. It started with surprise donuts from Daddy (as seen above), and any day that starts with donuts (in my opinion) has to be a good one ;-).
Last night was very surreal for me. Phil and I have been talking about homeschooling since before Mary Clare was even born. And I've been researching curriculum, philosophies, and methods for years now (I'm a planner, what can I say?). I've spent the summer carefully crafting our year together, and I'm excited to get going! I'm also keenly aware of my own weaknesses and dependency on the Lord to help me with this blessed work we are stepping into more formally now. During our devotions this morning, MC and I talked about the word "attentiveness" - how that can relate to learning from me, the mom, but also from God. Proverbs 4:20-25 says, "My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart....let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you...". That is my prayer for the moment. That our eyes would be fixed on Jesus, our Lord and Savior. And that He would be the True Teacher in our home this year.
In other Anderas family news, I'm happy to report that Phil has also begun writing his dissertation! Big year for our family...kindergarten and finishing the PhD, both Lord willing. When we were at Duke, I remember some grad students who had a blog about "homeschooling the doctorate". That saying stuck with me. They said something like, you can't homeschool a PhD, but you can homeschool while doing one. Let's hope so ;-). The Anderas adventures continue....and without further ado, may I present our sweet kindergartener on her first day:
