What We've Learned this Year

When it comes to school work with Emily, there have been days when I felt like we haven't been as focused as we should be but then I realize how much we've gotten done.  It certainly is easy to accomplish a lot more with one child than a classroom full of them!



* She finished two grammar books.
* She has read the following assigned books, as well as been able to discuss and analyze them.  This list doesn't include the many books she reads on her own, just for pleasure.

•  The Hobbit
• Little Women
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• All Creatures Great & Small
• Murder on the Orient Express
• The Yearling
• Song of the Trees
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
• Let the Circle Be Unbroken
• The Best American Humorous Short Stories

* She has finished her writing book and is now doing assignments that I give her.
* She has 4 lessons to go in vocabulary
* She completed one level in spelling and is half-way through the next
* She has completed 23 lessons and has 7 lessons to go in pre-algebra
* She has extensively studied the Civil War, the Reconstruction of the South, the age of extremes that followed and is now starting on World War I.
* She has studied scientists and the scientific method, earth science, and we are now onto environmental science as part of this.



This doesn't include physical education, health, practical arts, music and art that we have done as well this year.  

Now that is just the academics.  Other things I've learned...

♥ Forgiveness - I've had to do a lot of asking that of her.
♥ How to juggle housework, writing a book, and sewing while educating my daughter.
♥ Patience - not just with school work but with dealing with Emily's health issues almost the entire year, patience in the midst of very hard financial struggles, patience with one of the longest winters and bleakest springs I can remember in a very long time.
♥ God provides all the time.  He has shown us over and over how much He cares for us and that has been a great lesson for the whole family.
♥ How to deal with stress and discouragement and still keep plugging away.


So even with my weaknesses and failings, I think it's been a pretty good year!