A Homeschool Journey, Part 9: A Stormy Start to Our Second Year

Kindergarten was complete, and it had been a success. In Part 8 of this series, I related some of the "ups and downs" of our first year of homeschooling. We had enjoyed our curriculum so much that we decided to continue with The Writing Road to Reading and proceed with Ann Ward's First Grade: Learning at Home. To this, we added Lore Rasmussen's Miquon Math (beginning with The Orange Book) and Cuisenaire Rods manipulatives to teach math concepts.

One week before school started, Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. A category five storm, this was a big one. And it was headed straight for us. We learned about tracking hurricanes and emergency preparedness and, since we lived in a mobile home at the time, we had to evacuate and stay with friends. Not only did I have to figure out what to take with us, but I also had to do what I could to prepare our own place for when we returned -- if, that is, we still had a home. In the darkness of the night, when the lights went off and the wind howled outside, we learned to trust God. There was absolutely nothing we could do. Chances were, all of our worldly possessions would be lost. But I drifted off to sleep that night with the comforting thought that the One who the wind and the waves obey was in control. We woke up the next morning wondering what would await us. Thankfully, our home was spared. Trees were down, and many homes had damage, but there stood our place with just a piece of trim blown off. As pictures started coming in of the devastation just a few miles south of us, we thanked God for His protection. A week later, the electricity was restored, and we were ready to begin a new school year.

First grade went smoothly. I learned how to juggle my responsibilities with school work and a two-year-old and, halfway through the school year, a new baby. Standardized testing at the end of the year proved that we were succeeding. Our first grade student had scored three to four grade levels higher than the average child her age. As I considered our plan for the following year, I thought about the possibilities of learning in more creative ways. And so we decided to take the plunge and give unit studies a try. I ordered the Konos Character Curriculum, by Carole Thaxton and Jessica Hulcy, along with the accompanying timeline and orientation materials. And that summer, I prepared myself for a new approach to school. Another adventure had begun.

Be sure to come back for the next installment of A Homeschool Journey!