First days

We officially started school yesterday with a first day field trip to a nearby amusement park. I wanted the boys to know that the Oyster school would be fun. Just to be sure we were learning something, we checked out a bunch of books about roller coasters and amusement parks from the library on Monday. We read from them for about a half hour Monday afternoon, and tried to pay attention to how the different roller coasters work while at the park. Honestly, though, we were just having a heck of a lot of fun. It was a really good chance to connect with the older boys, and with my aunt, who kindly agreed to accompany us even though she doesn't like roller coasters. E was an inch short for many of the rides, so we compensated by riding the two coasters he could board multiple times together. I rode some other coasters with R, also multiple times and learned ... that either the rides are getting older, or I am, or both. One of the rides I remember being smooth 20 years ago gave me a headache yesterday. Oh well - worth the price, for a good start to the year.

Today, the boys seemed to be ready to learn. There were points over the past few months when I was terrified of what it would really be like trying to teach the boys at home. They seem to appreciate my suggestions for organizing the day, however, and we had a good morning. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I had both R & E on my lap at the same time, while we looked at atlases, and discussed whatever looked interesting. When they got restless, I sent them outside for "recess", and later they helped to plan, shop for, and prepare dinner.

I am sure there will be down days, but right now I am enjoying the ride.