And they are leaving for...

the weekend.  That's what it looks like with the amount of baggage they are carrying.  But no, they are going for a day of classes at The College of the Sequoias.  Nathan is taking mostly computer classes, so he has his books and laptop.  Lorissa is taking a drawing fundamentals class, so she needs her pencils, sketch pads, and drawing board.  They both take a lunch and snacks.  Plus they have an extra long day, because they need to get there early to find a parking space.

School Started!

We officially started the school year August 3. It was a typical Monday: laundry and getting the house back together. It was also an atypical Monday: Renee's 14th birthday, first day of school, me frantically trying to finish the paperwork I needed to do before the start of school, and sweet potato and peach casserole (the requested birthday dinner) instead of potatoes for dinner.

We each have our box of books. This year Lorissa and Renee are doing Bible, Classical Astronomy, Physical Geography, and Spanish together. They have a Speech class with Petey and Jerimiah Tiemersma.

Lorissa, Margaret, and Renee

Lorissa is a junior and Renee, a freshman. I remain the primary teacher, Keith, the principal, was at his paying job at Cigna on opening day of Trinity Christian School (TCS), our homeschool.

TCS has only half the students it had compared to the years of peak enrollment from 01/02 to 06/07. It also has no enrollment in the elementary classes for the first time since 96/97 when Nathan was in kindergarten and Janine in 2nd grade. Janine was in TCS for kindergarten in 94/95, the first year of TCS. She went to Central Valley Christian for her 1st grade year.

Back to School

We started school on August 4 and then took August 7 and 8 off. We enjoyed a visit with Linda, Rebekah and Jonathon on those days. We had a full week, and now this week we are planning a short camping trip, so more days off. Keith is taking some days off for Janine's final days at home. She returns to Covenant College on August 26.

Was it worth starting school and then taking so many days off already? I think so, we have put in 11 more days than we did last year at this time and we usually get spring fever. We would rather be outside when the weather warms up in May. It was a short summer of only 2 months off because of our late start last year. And now days off are already stacking up!