So far, so good.

Noah's been at CEC for a little over a week now. It's going really well! I think we're all maybe a little surprised at how smoothly and positively it's going. ;) To be more specific, here are some of the random thoughts I've had over the past week:

• Yay! So far we've managed to get the boy out the door on time and with minimal fuss...showered, fed and with everything in his backpack. The fact that we've made him responsible for making his own lunches and checking that he has everything makes this even more happy. We've basically just made sure he was awake (which sometimes took multiple checks, lol), fed him breakfast and reminded him of the time to get out the door. (And, the younger two have generally been up and ready to go by the time Noah leaves, which bodes well for our homeschooling plans.)
• All homework has been completed and turned in on time so far. (The school's PowerSchool system enables us to see all the assignments and due dates, though I've been working on just talking it through with him.) It helps that he has a free period in the middle of the day that he can use to finish up assignments or get ahead, though there really hasn't been enough work thus far to fully utilize this.
• The boy actually requested and is routinely wearing a watch. He realized that, though there's a clock in every classroom, it's helpful to know when he's arriving at the school and such.
• A non-stick skillet makes making eggs soooo much easier in the morning. ;) Don't ask me why, but we didn't have one for some reason. Scraping the pan we'd been using after making eggs did *not* inspire us to want to make eggs often. But. Ten dollars later and we have a relatively quick, easy and considerably cheaper breakfast than the steak/sausage/bacon that Noah would prefer.
• Pretty darn happy with myself for having established the habit of debriefing with the boys. For the past five years of Options/LEAP, I've taken boys out for a snack after picking them up that one day a week. During that, they'd take turns going through each class with me...telling me what they'd done, whether they had any work, if they'd had any problems, etc. For the moment, it's second nature enough to Noah that he comes home and goes through each of his classes with me, knowing already that "fine" or "okay" is not acceptable as a response. ;) (I love that the boys share this stuff with me! For someone who's used to seeing them all day and knowing pretty much everything that they're doing, this makes it easier to feel good about the necessary letting go.)
• Silently stoked at how well Noah appears to be doing in his classes so far, particularly in his two math classes. He had pre-tests in each of those classes and feels fairly confident in his performance. In Algebra 2, they also had some timed problems just for fun and Noah finished first in his class for half of them (and second for the remaining half). This earned him the right to skip half of that day's homework but he still went ahead and did all of them...all on his own! (If you knew the issues I've had with Noah regarding self-starting, you'd see how freakin' awesome this is. It's lovely to see him realize that he actually is good at this stuff by other people's standards, too.) 
• When he shared this stuff with us, Nathan kindly pointed out that perhaps Noah should be thankful that he'd had such a wonderful teacher (me!) leading up to this. ;) (Thank-you-very-much! ;) Honestly, it's just a relief. I think all homeschoolers have moments of doubt...wondering how our kids will "stack up," whether we've actually been making a difference.) 

Whew. I'm breathing so much easier. :) I know there will still be challenges ahead, but it's lovely to start out on this note...

Comments

[CarrieH]

Glad its all working out. Nothing is quite a stressful as sending our babies out into a new environment and having faith that it will all be okay. My oldest starts college next week. To say she is stressed is an understatement. My normally confident, capable child is actually worried she won't be able to find her buildings for her classes and that she won't know anyone. Of course, she's always gone to local schools where she knew everyone and all the teachers knew her. Change is good, change is exciting, but change is also pretty scary sometimes. Sounds like your son will flourish where he is, although its hard as a mama to watch from the wings.