Goodbye Teaching

  Yesterday was our last day of school, and I really can't believe it. Our first day was over six months ago, and though it's felt long in moments, the time has flown. I remember the questions and worries I had in the months leading up to it... How can I possibly teach four kids when I've never taught one? How in the world do I plan a school schedule? How can I help them learn things that I've forgotten? But here I am at the end, and God has somehow enabled me to do that which was so intimidating before.

  There have been plenty of moments when I've blown it; when I've let fear or impatience rule. There have been long days. But I can say without hesitation that I have loved it, and I'm not ready to give it up. I'm not ready to say goodbye to these kids. I'm not ready to stop being their teacher. There have been plenty of frustrations on all sides, I know, and hey... if you're a 1st, 6th, or 8th grader, school is school. But my goodness, we have had fun. Laughing over creative writing assignments, naming the neighbors' puppies after the explorers were studying, imagining life on the international space station during Astronomy, reading through 4 out of 7 Narnia books (Miss Lindy had a bit too much fun with the voices sometimes!), and sometimes just pausing to be silly (this teacher is admittedly not always the most... uhh... "grown up" individual)... so many wonderful, wonderful memories, and a little blog post can't possibly do them justice.

   Now it's time to go home, and Shannon will finish the remainder of the school year. I posted this after the first week of school. It's amazing to look back on all that has happened, and to see how God has provided so faithfully. When He calls, He enables. His grace is indeed sufficient, and has been sufficient for me.

Early on Eli offered to take "school photos." There were some nice, normal pictures... but this one is my favorite!

Kyle's science book always instructed us to use safety goggles during experiments, and we decided to try it for this one... After all, you never know when water, pepper, tissue paper, and chewing gum will blow up and blind you forever.

The girls and I studied Astronomy... here we are making "craters."

Art was one of my favorite subjects to teach. One day I had them do pictures in complimentary colors, and this was Kyle's.

Another science experiment: making a model of Mercury. It was supposed to harden over a few days... ours sort of melted instead.

We would always pause to watch the helicopter arrive on flight days.

Sophia and I spent most of the morning working one on one. This little first grader is becoming quite the reader, and I am blown away by how much she has learned this year!

Kyle's math... he very kindly made a slight adjustment to a name in this story problem. Thanks Kyle!

Charlotte's spelling test yesterday... *sigh*

And So It Begins!

It is now Saturday, and we have made it through our first week of school! As my mom said, I guess I am now a second generation homeschool teacher. For months now I have prayed about teaching, and the first two and a half weeks in the village were spent in preparing. It was a daunting idea, and I knew I could never do it in my own strength. Now here I am, one week in, more convinced of that than ever. I can't! Even if I could get us through a school day, I couldn't help them really learn anything. On day one I prayed that Jesus would keep me depending on Him and not let me get too comfortable. I know it's only week one, but so far so good! I knew that there would be challenges, and I'm certainly able to see many of them right now. It will take wisdom, patience and endurance, but I know that all are found in Him. Amid questions and moments when I wonder how in the world this is going to happen, I find that I have joy in it. It's satisfying. I know that it's the work He has given me to do right now, and I'm truly happy. Real contentment and joy come from walking in His will. I want to seek His strength to be faithful in teaching with excellence, but more than anything, I am praying that as we go through each day, He will live through me to show these kids (who have come to mean so much to me) His love, which is patient, kind.... (1 Cor. 13) I want them to see Him in me. This is only the beginning of this adventure! Your prayers are appreciated more than I can say, and it means so much to know that there are many faithfully praying in the days ahead. 

And because blog posts are just more fun with pictures...

This is the school room in the very early stages of organization. Scary!

Here it is the day before school, posters all over the floor, and still in need of benches

Our little first grader, very excited to learn about planets!

One more sleep until school!

The posters are up, and it looks so nice! The one on the right is my favorite- it's like a mini thesaurus. Looking at it makes me realize how much I love words.

Students and teacher on our first day

Hard at work!

A misprint in the history workbook resulted in Hala cutting Leif Erickson in half. We all had a good laugh over that one. Good thing we have glue sticks!

We finished our week with our first art project. I think I had as much fun as the girls!