Ada and the End of First Grade

I have lots that I want to blog about.  To record.  I always have these thoughts crashing around in my brain, so I am going to try to get them onto "paper" in an organized way, but, let's face it, organization is not my strong point.

I am starting with Ada.  Because she finished first grade on Monday, and that deserves a mention on the blog. 

 (dressed for a celebration trip to the splash pad.  She is really excited to say she is now a second grader!)

(oh, you know, just trying to get a picture of all three of them to document our last day of school.  And this is how it goes).

We have come a long way baby, Ada and I.  I think about the sweat and tears that we both put into these first two years of homeschooling, when at times I was convinced that I was doing more damage than good and my child would never read.  It was my first big test--teaching my first child to read--and I was failing, or at least that is how it felt.  And of course God used that, and uses that to reveal sin and idols and all the ways that I wasn't trusting in him and him alone. 

Anyway, here we are at the end of first grade, and she is reading, indeed.  In fact, she really enjoys reading and is reading for pleasure more and more and more.  And last week, she finished her first chapter book that she read completely on her own, simply because she wanted to.  We took a picture, because, hello!!  a big moment for her book-loving mama.  I so hope it is the first of many books she will get lost in over the years.

Ada continues to enjoy school, as Ada enjoys much of life--she is a very happy person--but she is definitely not a perfectionist.  I was a perfectionist when it came to school, so I over and over and over again have to remember that God has created Ada to be Ada and not just a little me.  I pray that he would show me how to best guide and direct her.  I want to teach her excellence without letting my sin of perfectionism get in the way.  Homeschooling is yet another way that God refines me.

Let's see--Ada as a student at the end of first grade--we are still working on being still and focusing.  She is an active little girl--absolutely overflowing with energy--and it is a challenge (to say the least) for her to sit still and pay attention.  But, alas, it is a skill she must learn, so there are times that I allow her to move around and dance and hop while we do school, but there are times that she is required to be still.  I often lose my patience over her lack of self control, and so many days end with my apologizing for snapping at her.  She is so easily distracted, and it drives me CRAZY, but, again, we are working on it. 

It has been a very fun year as Ada really became interested in a lot of the history we were learning.  It has been very rewarding to discuss history with her and look at how, over and over again, history proves our need for the gospel.  We continue to love CC, and the longer we are involved with CC, the more strongly I believe in the classical model of education.  I can get a little intense about it if I start talking about it, so I won't get into it right now ;) 

We have also seen Ada grow as a ballerina.  She LOVES ballet.  She literally sits on the edge of her seat if she is watching ballet on stage, and she has stars in her eyes as she dreams of what her future as a ballerina might look like.  She talks about pointe shoes all of the time, and constantly practices her arabesques and plies and pirouettes.  She also says that when she grows up she will be a ballet teacher.  Ada loves being on stage, and ballet does seem to come naturally for her, so we are also excited to see what the next few years will hold, all while praying that God will help us to see all the ways that he has strengthened Ada (and each of our children) and that we will be good stewards of these little lives.  We always want to remind Ada (and each of our children) that God gives us good things, but God must always be the ultimate thing.

It was a doozy of a school year as we began the year in the midst of a rather difficult pregnancy, a move, and then a newborn baby.  We have limped our way through, though, and gotten it done.  And I end the year with more confidence in who I am and what I believe as a homeschooling mom.  Mostly, I am so very thankful that God allows me to do this.  That for now, I am home with my children and I get to be right here watching as they grow into the people that God has created them to be.