KennedysOnline

First day of school – we made it!

Lots of changes this year for the Kennedy kids!  With our move back the US, we left an excellent, well-loved international school in Tianjin and entered the world of private vs public vs home-school options.  We are delighted to report that a Classical Christian School was within five miles of our new home — a new learning style for our children, but a continuation of the academically rigorous, redemptive world view focused education we began in Tianjin.  Noah, Mia and Hannah began at Veritas a few weeks ago, and with the exception of a few expected transition bumps and bruises, are faring very well!

Veritas did not have space this year for our fifth grader Zach, so he and I plunged in to the wild and wonderful world of homeschooling.  Together, we are attempting to learn Latin (via DVD and workbooks), complete Math 5, introductory chemistry, world history from the 1600s to 1850 (the golden age of European exploration, and sadly the destruction of many of the cultures and civilizations in their path), literature read-alouds, geography, spelling and vocabulary.

A favorite coffee shop close to Veritas – across the street is a great old park for wandering/reading/discussing our latest studies

We are enjoying the flexibility of our schedule – reading “The Secret Garden” at a beautiful park, or taking along a camera for “art class” in the woods.  Zach’s photography skills continue to mature – we will display his latest portfolio in the next post.

(Zach took this picture over my shoulder during our read-aloud)

This school year, with its myriad of changes and transitions, has begun well and we are so thankful … we are not thankful however, for Latin noun declensions … yikes!