the beginning of a new journey

Around the Engel home, anything new or special is celebrated with food. :) So on our first day of homeschool, we had a special breakfast with yummy food and school-y decor to start it off!



We prayed prayers of thankfulness and also for God's guidance for this year, and then asked the kids their goals for the year.

**Savannah's goals 1) Learn to read 2) Have recess! :)
**Camden's goals 1) Listening 2) Letters like "ostrich for O" :)

Then we centered our homeschool on the following verse:

~~Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.~~ Colossians 4:2

This was the beautiful sunrise on our first morning. God's creation is amazing!



Here are some pictures of the Kindergartner!



K for Kindergarten!



A look at the school space and the main curriculum:



The laid back kindergartner in her assigned seat:



The preschooler in his assigned seat:



Little sis joining in the teaching:



We even got to "kick off" school with a fun soccer clinic with friends from Savannah's Lincoln Christian preschool class last year.



Now for some Q&A:

How and when did you decide to homeschool?
The desire has been on my heart for a number of years, but recently the Lord laid it on Tyler's heart to check out for our family. We researched and asked questions for a few months and decided in July to go for it! I'm excited to walk this journey with our kids, teaching them not only curriculum but also the ways of the Lord, hand in hand through our ups and downs.

How long will you homeschool?
As long as God leads! We intend to continually evaluate our family and determine what route is the best for our family at the given time. I certainly love the idea of structuring our family "our way" and being a direct part of their learning. After learning the classical model at the practicum, Tyler joked that "it won't be long before our kids are smarter than their daddy!"

What curriculum are you using?
We are part of Classical Conversations which is a model of classical education focusing on memory work divided into 6 subjects: timeline/history, geography, math, science, Latin, and English grammar. We also have additional curriculum for reading/writing and math. So far I am thoroughly enjoying learning along with my kids! We will meet weekly with our community where Savannah and Camden will be in age appropriate classes, participate in a fine arts project/lesson, a science project, and practice oral presentation skills each week. Maryn will be in nursery onsite, and I'll switch weekly sitting in on the classroom time between the two.

A journey it will be. A Heavenly Father who will teach me and instruct me as I teach and instruct them.

Thankful.