School Supplies

I love school supplies. I especially love brand new school supplies, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the crispness of pristine composition books, and the sound of a just opened box of crayons. My orders for books, curricula, and other supplies have just been submitted to Rainbow Resource Center and Shop.com. There is a twinge of excitement knowing that in a few weeks packages will be arriving in the mail. This year we are psyched to be studying Medieval times - Renaissance, and Geology and Space. What could be more fun for little boys to study than knights and castles and planets and galaxies? Because we only just finished reading tonight about the fall of the Roman empire, I have decided to begin school the first week of August. I'm hoping that an early start will take some of the pressure off later in the year when we feel the need for an extended holiday.

Last year was a difficult one, homeschooling only added to the difficulty and stress, but this (academic) year is "brand new with no mistakes in it". I feel free to focus my attentions on more complex tasks and even have the capacity to plan ahead once again. The divorce created a foggy haze over time so that, in the beginning I could see only one day at a time. Eventually, as it lifted, I could look a week or two into the future and schedule things, but more than a month ahead was just inconceivable. Now I'm thinking through the school year, scheming my next birthday party and even anticipating next summer's family reunion and beach vacation (Lord willing). I can hardly comprehend that a year has passed since my trip to Japan, that my baby daughter is now finally potty-trained, that my seven year old son can draw better than some of my former 7th grade students ever could, and that my 5 year old son is writing me letters to tell me about his feelings! So even though I felt like in many ways I didn't accomplish all I had hoped to over the past year, under the circumstances, we did quite well.

While we won't have all the fresh workbooks, colored pencils and crisp texts yet to begin next week, we do have plenty to keep us busy until all the packages arrive.