By His Grace... The Last Day of 5th Grade

By the sustaining grace of God and the enabling and equipping of the Holy Spirit, today is our last day of 5th grade!

This has been a good year, but a hard year.  We have had many long days, many frustrations over not wanting to do our work completely with excellence... we have had many talks about the attitudes of our hearts, many talks about the privilege of being able to learn, the blessing of having good minds that learn things easily without really having to struggle.  We have had to make ourselves work hard and long hours, and we have accomplished much!  When I sat down and really looked at what all we have learned and done this past year I know it is only by the sustaining grace of God that we have finished well!

By the grace of God.... We have studied 1st and 2nd Corinthians verse by verse, read through the book of Psalms, and most of Matthew.  The boys have memorized all of 1 Corinthians 13, and 75 more verses of scripture.
By the grace of God... We have studied the countries of the Eastern Hemisphere.  We have learned about the land, the climate, the geography, the people, the economy, the way of life, the religions, and the history of the following countries:  China, North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, India, Middle East, Israel, Africa (focusing on Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria), New Zealand, Australia, and Antarctica.  And they have comprised an Eastern Hemisphere notebook with information about each of these countries.
By the grace of God.... I have read aloud 3,968 pages of stories that have carried us in our minds to these different countries where we have experienced life through the eyes of many fascinating characters.
The boys have each read 3,618 additional pages of stories that have given them insight into the lives of people living in these countries in the past and present.
We have read about the lives of real people who have made a difference in the world for the glory of God, people such as Teresa of Calcutta, William Carey, David Livingstone, Mary Slessor, Hudson Taylor, Father Matteo Ricci, and Salva Dut (we are praying for the salvation of Salva Dut; in our reading of A Long Walk to Water, there was no indication that he knows the Lord Jesus Christ, what an impact he could have on the many he has influence over if he could share with them the Living Water of Christ Jesus.)
By the grace of God... We have completed 119 English lessons, 10 tests, and weekly creative writing assignments as well as a research paper.
By the grace of God.... We have completed 120 math lessons, 23 math tests, 12 math investigations, and fact tests at least 3 times a week.
By the grace of God.... We have learned 300 plus vocabulary words... this is not counting science vocabulary or vocabulary words we have looked up during our various readings...
By the grace of God... We have studied Chemistry, consisting of 97 lessons and 18 tests on properties of matter, atoms and molecules, and ecosystems...
By the grace of God.... The boys have been tested on and mastered the spelling of 511 spelling words...

They have also taken art classes for the year, and graced the walls of our home and the homes of others with impressive pieces of art.  They have taken piano lessons weekly and practiced for hours each week.  Their music is a joy to listen to and often brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.   They have practiced countless hours for soccer.  They have played many soccer games, experienced their 1st season of competitive soccer, placed 1st in their league for the season, and placed second in their division at the state cup tournament!! 


Part of me wants to shout for joy and celebrate... another part of me wants to sit down and cry... I am so proud of our boys, of all their hard work, and of the many things they (and I) have learned this past year.  Yet I am also sad that this is the end... the days are flying by faster and faster each year.  I long to hold on to them, to treasure them a little longer, to slow time down just a bit...  Our Lord has blessed our children with many talents and skills.  What a joy it is to watch those talents being developed and honed... may they use each one for and to the glory of God!

I am thankful... for the blessing of teaching my children... for watching them learn and grow... for the sustaining grace of God and the daily enabling and strengthening of the Holy Spirit...

And I am grateful for a break!!  Summer here we come!!