First Day of School Pics!

This was our first day of homeschooling – ever – 4 years ago! The beginning of our journey!  

Alexander was beginning Kindergarten and Alexis began Preschool.

Then we moved to a new home and began Kindergarten and 1st grade!

 

 

 Then last year was our 3rd year of homeschooling.  (previously our children did virtual school – as you may note the computers. But now we use a new curriculum and they attend a class with other homeschoolers once a week.) This was 1st and 2nd grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 And then this past Tuesday – our 2012-2013 homeschool year began!!!  Alex caught me in the bathroom fixing Lexi’s hair – a typical morning ritual in our household!

 

 Oh my look how grown up they are *tear!  This year they are entering 2nd and 3rd grade!!!
 

 

I savored our first day of school – it was so fun!  And looking at these pictures just convinces me all the more that I must treasure this time with them – because I’m going to blink and they’ll be 18 wahhhhhhhhhh!

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you to day are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

 
Whether your children attend a public school, a private school or are home schooled, Deuteronomy 6 applies to us all – our job as moms ultimately is to teach our children to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and strength! It is our job to impress this on their little hearts as they sit at home, as they are traveling to different activities, as you tuck them into bed at night and as they wake up in the morning! I want to encourage you to evaluate your time this fall and be sure that this is a top priority over all the other busy busy busy things on your to-do list!
 
Have a great school year!!!

Walk with the King!

  

31 Comments

  1. Oh this is so wonderful! I love how you make it special by doing your daughter’s hair and dressing them in nice clothes. It does make a difference in how you feel if you are dressed for the day! I started teaching school as well on Tuesday. I teach at a private school and do not have any children, but I love following your blog! Hope you didn’t have any catastrophes that day! LOL!

  2. Love the pictures. Enjoy your school year. Ours doesn’t start until after Labor Day. 18 does come way too soon. Tomorrow morning I drive our oldest daughter 6 hours south of us and a different state to begin her freshman year of college. I will have one less at our homeschool. Tons of mixed emotions.

  3. These pictures are great. Today is my daughter Alyssa’s first day of school – senior year of high school.. How can that be I remember the first day of school pics of the little girl going on the school bus with a big smile. My other daughter starts her second year of college next week and my baby is going to eigth grade in a week!! Your are so right cheerish every moment because they do rush by. Blessings to all our little ones and big ones!!!

  4. Amen to all that you have said about training. My daughter starts her Senior year today and I have not regretted a moment of the time I have spent nurturing her. God is good and we are blessed! Thanks for sharing slices of your life and pictures.

  5. I love how they are holding hands and hugging each other in some of the pictures. You can tell they are good friends as well. A rare quality. So sweet Courtney.

  6. Love this, Courtney! We’re starting our FIRST year of homeschooling next week. So excited and nervous at the same time, but I can’t wait and neither can the boys. Caeden will be in Kindergarten, and Logan will be in preschool. It’s overwhelming to think about, but we feel it so strongly impressed upon our hearts that we KNOW God will guide us and help us because we know that He wants us to do this. Love the pictures! Blessings to you and your family 🙂

  7. I love seeing these pics every year! Wonderful! My babes are doing kindergarten and first grade this year – I’m nervous, but excited!

    So the backpacks, do you keep their individual school supplies in them, do they like using them even though they are at home? I think I might try backpacks this year…

    1. Hooray for Kindergarten and 1st grade! Such sweet years! Have fun!

      And about the backpacks, they do have their individual supplies – including scissors, markers, crayons, pencils, erasers, tissues, ruler – you name it – it’s in there lol! They do like them – the key is to manage them. They have to be cleaned out and reorganized about every week or it seems little messy monsters appear in the bottom of the bag! ha!

  8. Thanks for sharing Courtney! I am so sorry I haven’t been diligent about taking first day of school pics but I have already decided it starts- consistently- this year. I have a 6th, 3rd and 1st grader this year and we homeschool and do CC like you guys too! One question, are the pics they’re holding in this year’s picture printables from somewhere online or did you create them yourself? Super cute!!!.

  9. I’m new to your blog and am loving it! I really like the hair combing that you do in the morning. I’m always telling the kids that we should get ready for the day, be dressed and have our hair combed even if just for ourselves, not just when we are going somewhere. 🙂 how early do you get them up so they can get ready for the day and you can start lessons somewhat early? And if you don’t mind me asking…how did you do your daughter’s hair in that last picture? It is so cute! My daughters would love that hairstyle!

    1. We have breakfast at 8am – devotions right after breakfast and chores till 9am. Then we start school at 9am 🙂

      And her hair – it’s so simple – maybe I should make a video 🙂 Just part it like you are going to do pony tails then start twisting at the top of her head and go down to below her ear and put a rubber band in right at her ear. Then I curl the pig tails and that’s it 🙂

  10. It’s amazing how they grow from year to year..Alexis is as big as her brother 🙂 My son will be entering 3rd grade in our local school district. This year he goes to a new school where he’ll spend the next 3 years. Seems like he was just starting kindergarten!

  11. My daughter turns 20 this October and for the last few years I have really missed the back to school excitement. It goes by so fast. *sniff* We were up at Walmart last night and I bought a bunch of ‘school’ supplies for the Colossians study (and general bible study) – Hubby thought I was nuts – but it eased the ache – haha .

    1. Angie, you never get too old for school supplies! lol. As a first time homeschooling mama, I’ve been ridiculously excited about buying teaching stuff and all that…way more excited about those new school supplies than the boys. I also do the same things for Bible Studies, etc. 🙂

  12. Your children are so beautiful Courtney. Treasure these photos! I can’t wait to start taking pics like these when my boy and girl start school! My daughter will go next year and my son 3 yrs later.

  13. I need to apologize for my unthoughtfulness regarding the comment I wrote. I wrote it in self righteous pride which I am struggling with. I’m sorry!!!!! I’m sorry for pointing my “Christian” finger at you. Your house is beautiful and I’m sure you are serving God with it. I would delete the comment but I can’t figure out how. God bless you and your fam.

  14. Oh … the memories your post brought back!!! We used to homeschool … now the babies are all grown and out of the house *tears* I used to spend the summer putting together the curriculum and never regretting one single second. We even made a monthly newsletter. It was so much fun … well atleast I had fun =D I love the idea of the kids having their backpacks on for their first day of school pictures. It is so awesome!

  15. I love how you incorporated the signs with their grades! We did that for the first time this year. My baby started Kindergarten this year, so similarly, I’m reminded of how fast the time goes by…and we can never get it back.

    Have a blessed school year!

    Charmin

  16. Oh, help me! We just started our first year of homeschooling two weeks ago and I’m already ready to break down. I have a 2nd grader and a preschooler and a one year old. We homeschool 4 days a week and he attends Spanish and Art class once a week with other homeschoolers. Somedays the amount of work is just overwhelming. I feel overwhelmed and I’m trying to protect him from all that, but I know he feels it too. I feel like I’m just failing him by not guiding him better. It’s such a crazy learning curve. ARGH!

  17. I posted this First Day of School link on my Facebook. And so now it’s a ‘memory’ and every year I review it and reflect on it, and a lot of other things too.
    And wow, time really does fly. Whether or not we’re having fun. It’s gone before you know it. In my opinion, a simple and average life is worth more than people can imagine. But I guess in order to truly understand and appreciate it… you’d have to experience the opposite end of the spectrum. Through it all- so many trials and tribulations, some triumphs too-
    God never changed.
    At the end of the day, He was the only “constant” in my life. Even if I’m not in church on Sunday morning-
    He’s never stopped loving me.
    He’s never turned on me, even if I wasn’t living right. He has always embraced me. I haven’t done anything really bad either. So, that might’ve helped. I don’t know who introduced us – It wasn’t a mother, father or any siblings, heaven’s no! So for whoever and where ever they are- I graciously thank you. I’ve been very blessed by knowing God. And now my kids know God.
    But all that glitters isn’t gold. My life has been chock full of hard times, bad experiences and a lot of sorrow, plenty for any 10 lives put together.
    Try your best to do your best. That’s all anyone can do.

    Thanks btw, for the annual Memory….
    To be –
    Mindful.
    Respectfully

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