School starts!

Well, school started this week, Thursday to be exact. I’m in the teacher mode again, fun fun. Since the homeschooling company didn’t sell me all of the books in their curriculum, I’m having to invent, something I have had to do before and never enjoyed it. However, I have prepared all of the weeks between now and when we leave in May, so I think this time it’ll be easier to persevere.

And how are the girls doing? Well, hmmmmmm, must be honest and say that I didn’t start off slowly, but jumped right back into it, all subjects, full speed ahead! Poor things. They really need a better-trained teacher. Actually, they’re doing pretty well. Eli has been more resistant and complaining than Emily, but that’s typical. She’s also faster and brighter, but Emily endures more and doesn’t complain half as much.

This past week we got a letter from a church, and a 7-year-old girl (in 2nd grade) wrote a letter to the girls. It was apparent that she had written her letter without copying it, and her spelling was perfect, and she was using complicated words (she spelled ‘favorite’ perfectly). When I showed it to Bryon, he and I thought of the same thing; there’s no way Elizabeth could spell as well as this girl, let alone Emily. What are we going to do to get them up to speed for the fall???

Knowing Spanish of course outweighs perfect English spelling, but try explaining that to the school system, or try convincing them that my kids are intelligent, if they can’t pass basic entry level exams. Will we continue to home school them? That’s an option… and I’d consider doing it, if we got involved in a church that the girls could really have a social outlet. We’ll see as time goes on.
And Andrés? He’s not learned Spanish, and probably won’t. When I speak Spanish to him, he asks me to speak in ‘inglés’. I really want him to learn Spanish, yet most of the time I forget to talk to them in Spanish…I have to get into the habit if we have any chance of continuing in the States.