setting up shop (or, in our case, school) and a Boo story

I am officially a teacher. I now know what it feels like to come up with lesson plans, order curriculum books and materials, organize school supplies, and plan field trips. It is hard to believe that less than 48 hours ago we made the decision to homeschool Anderson this year. Since then, I have been busy planning, dreaming and ordering--with Anderson's input, of course! After all, one of the purposes of teaching him myself is to allow him the freedom to question, investigate, and discover topics he is interested in without having to maintain the schedule required in a classroom environment.

In North Carolina, you have to give your "school" a name when you indicate that you are homeschooling. It is wise to choose a name that you are proud to put on your child's school records, so the boys decided on Wingate Hill Academy. This name has significance to our family, but since this blog can currently be read by strangers, I will digress.

Today, we are off to buy a few more things for our school. Once the curriculum materials are delivered, we will be off and running! So, it looks like next week, our school year will officially commence. Anderson and I are so very, very excited. We know it will be hard. We know there may be days we wonder what we are doing. But I am convinced that the joy will far outweigh the hardship.

Bennett will, of course, be a student at our school as well. He will have subjects like play-doh, watercolor, drawing, puzzles, "reading", etc. Since "Boo" has always wanted to do homework with "Bubba", he will probably be thrilled to have his own workspace in our school.

And speaking of Bennett, I have to share the sweetest remark he made this morning. First of all, he has been crawling up in my lap as I sit here at the computer ordering our supplies, wrapping his arms tightly around my neck, resting his head on my shoulder and whispering, "I yuv you foreva." Ah! Be still, my heart! But then this morning, he was upset that he couldn't find Anderson's NC State football. Here he was, all decked out in his NC State football jersey, and he couldn't find his favorite accessory to the outfit--the football. Well, last night, I found a junior NC State football for $8 and bought it for him for his birthday in a few weeks. To ease his troubled mind this morning, I told him I would give him one of his birthday presents if he would have a good attitude. Of course, his countenance instantly changed from gloom to joy. Then, I handed him the bag with the football in it. He peered inside, took a deep breath, and said, "Oh my gosh." (Yes, Laura, I've passed my habit onto him. We are trying to replace it with "Holy smokes", which works 50% of the time.) When he pulled it out, with uninhibited excitement he exclaimed, "This is my favorite football, Mom!" He was so sincere (because most two-year olds are, unless you are forcing them to apologize to their big brother for hitting him), and so elated. And an hour later, he has yet to put the football down.