School time!

Well, we have started our 2009/2010 school year here at the Cottrell Academy! The kids are doing well and are getting into the swing of things now that we are on week 4. We started a little bit early this year so that we can take a bit of a break when the baby comes in January.

Here is a picture of the first day of school. :)

Birthday Card

They are learning something!!! I just had to post this birthday card to Brianna from Taylor and corrected by Alex. I was encouraged to see that Alex has brought away something from English/Grammar this year! And Taylor learned how to write and get the letters right!!

However, she did make one error. She made an "E" in the word "Fun" instead of an "F". This is how Alex corrected it.

Just as she was taught!! Delete mark through the misspelling and add mark to replace it with and "F"! Wow. This makes it all worth it. Just when I thought they weren't hearing a word I say. :) Good job, girls!!

We're off to a good start!

Well, we've successfully finished our first day of school 2008/2009! We started today and the girls were so excited! Brianna couldn't wait to open her new pack of Playdoh and tools. She had a blast with those. She started her sounds and coloring book, too. She learned the sound of the letter B. She did a great job coloring, and even went ahead in the book when I wasn't looking. :)
Taylor is off to a great start in Kindergarten! She was a hard-worker today with all the things she had to get done. She is so ready this year to learn! She's going to do well. She loves her math!
Alex, too, worked really hard. She is learning much harder things now that she is in the Second grade. By the end of the year, we noticed that she will know how to write a paper! She is getting so big so fast.
Now, Keaton... Well, he'll be a bit harder to teach. He kept grabbing all the girls' playdoh, pencils, books, colors, etc. He's not sure yet how he fits into this whole school thing. I'm not either. I think I'm going to have to figure out some better ways to keep him occupied. :) Morning naps should last a few more weeks, thankfully. That was a big help today.

So, overall, we had a fun morning. We still need to do some reading together from Beatrix Potter this afternoon, so that will be fun. Thanks to God's grace, we made it through!

Can't believe it's almost here!!!

Just opened another box of school books...

I can't believe it's almost school time again! I am getting kind of excited, though. We are trying a lot of new curriculum this year for Alex and Taylor. It looks really good! The girls are going to love it. I think I will really love the Science I chose this year. We will be studying Astronomy more in depth all year - I am so excited! I love that stuff. I told Aaron a nice "going-back-to-school" gift would be a telescope. :) That would be sweet! We'll see what happens...

I'm trying to find some cool stuff to keep Brianna (and Keats, for that matter) busy during school hours. I got some great ideas from a friend (thanks, Shannon!) that I am going to try. I also have a little preschool fun book for her to try, too. She loves it!

I pray I can stay this excited about the year. God's grace will have to be in huge supply (I know He will supply all that I need!) to keep my selfishness at bay and to keep the focus of teaching and raising my kids up for Him! Please do that, Lord!

A few weeks left of summer... I am so very thankful for that, too!