Our first day of school, for those of us still enrolled at the Upcott Homeschool anyway, was spent in D.C.
I can count educational field trips as days of school.
D.C. has been all chopped up , fences put in ,and extra walkways added since we were there last. So, it seemed that we had to walk forever to get from monument to monument. We went to all of them that we could walk to. I didn't remember that the Jefferson Memorial was across the river, so just took a picture of it from the bridge.
This was the first time that Terry and I had seen the WWII memorial.
I thought this was so cool the way we were all reflected in the wall where the Navy men were memorialized at the Korean War Memorial.
Mikayla's first day at the university. Classes didn't start for another few days.
I believe I can fly! Spread your wings, my precious girl!
Mikayla madly shopped for textbooks online in the hall of her dorm. The hallway has the best wifi signal. haha.
I only cried twice. Once, because Terry reminded me of something Mikayla had done as a little one, and once because we all gathered in a family group hug while Terry prayed right before we left to head North. I would've been fine, but he prayed too long! So, you see, both times were all his fault.
Our second day of homeschool was spent at Cowpens, S.C., a Revolutionary War battlefield and museum. I had left the camera in the car during that tour. Our third day of school was at Gettysburg, which had my son, the Civil War buff, in his glory.
He especially loved hiking up Little Round Top to find the 20th Maine memorial.
If you look closely, you will notice that Terry really enjoyed this field trip as well.
Alana enjoyed the museums at Gettysburg. She remembered reading about the little girl who wrote to Mr. Lincoln to ask him to grow whiskers, and we found a display about this in the museum.
Our fourth day of school was spent at a living history museum, Old Sturbridge Village. This is so much fun to see people in period dress acting the parts of the villagers. We met a tinsmith, a farmer, a hunter, the minister's wife ( she was awesome! lol.),and the stagecoach driver, and a few random villagers. We even got to take in a Punch and Judy show.
Alana's first day of the 6th grade. I asked her what her favorite subjects are so far this year. She said Reading and Science. This amazed me, because Reading has always been her hardest subject. She seems to be doing so much better in this area. To use her words, "It isn't as much work to read as it used to be, and the stories are better in sixth grade." Well, HALLELUJAH! Hopefully, this continues.
Nathanael's first day of Tech school dawned wet and dreary, so I took a picture of him in the car before he went in. He has enjoyed his first week of Building Trades. He is still doing his regular high school subjects at home, and he says his favorite subjects so far are Biology and Literature. Both of these subjects are completely mom taught this year. Meaning, without the help of dvd's with prepared lectures. Hopefully, I can keep just enough ahead of him (his brain amazes and challenges me everyday!) to make Biology work out well for him. I have very good material, but I have to study more than he does, and I dread the dissection lab work. Thankfully, we bought him Geometry done with a tutor on the computer, and online World History. That's not all he's doing, but you get the picture.
And so, the Upcott Homeschool has already logged 8 days of school for the 2012-2013 school year, Mikayla is happily enrolled in the University of her choice, and Terry and I are holding on for dear life. Because these years with our "big" kids are just flying by. praying every hour for God's power in each of their lives.
"...He that hath begun a good work in you, shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
