Start of School

So, I don't have any pictures of the first day of school, because it happened so quickly that forgot the camera. Maddie is a senior this year, Ben just started high school, Ellie is in middle school, and Sammy is in fourth grade. Online grades for the year became available today, so we had some "Mom conferences" tonight. After tearing my hair out over Ben's struggles in 7th and 8th grade, I finally found the solution with my nightly conferences. Whenever I see a missing assignment, or an overall grade below an 80 for a class, my and the offending child sit together at the computer. We check their grades in each class, discuss any problems they are having, and make sure their time tracker is filled out. After they complete whatever work is listed in the tracker, they have to let me check it. Once they get all the grades up to 80s and above, they can try it on their own.

I have to give a shout out to Maddie here. Since late middle school she's been very self sufficient with school and grades. Last year she finished the semester with all As, and got a letter from the principal congratulating her for this. She sets a great example for her siblings, and I hope they are able to follow her.

New Start

OK - after a long break, I'm going to revive my blog. Facebook is fun, but it doesn't really keep a family journal the way this did. To start off, here a some photos from a recent visit we made to the San Jacinto Monument.