They say your first year of teaching is the roughest. And, given that last year was my first year of teaching LuLu at home (regardless of where she is or isn’t enrolled), I have to say I agree.

Today is the first day of school around here (never mind that temperatures are still triple digit). Kay scurried off early this morning to her first year as a high school junior. And her mom had a couple of moments of stark realization that there will be only one more “first day of school” for her until she’s gone from my home. A sobering way to start a Monday!

But overall, the first-day-of-school jitters around here are greatly minimized over what life has been like in the past. When LuLu was still receiving services from the public school, we had to rise in the dark to put her on a bus at 6:15 am! Since she’s not a morning person at all, she either left agitated or completely drowsy. Then I waited with trepidation as about every 3rd or 4th day I got a call or email from school about some type of issue (or crisis). For months toward the end of her time there, I was actually having anxiety attacks every time the phone rang during the day.

Last year, the anxiety was a different variety. It was from scrambling around trying to figure out what curriculum to use, what teaching methods were most effective and making sure I was on track with grade level standards if LuLu was able to do grade level work. Unlike first year teachers in actual school systems, I had very little guidance and no one but myself to make any decisions, other than those people who I sought out (like teacher friends, a paid educational consultant or other moms from a homeschool listserv).

This year feels much different. First off, we’ve moved the classroom to its own space down in the basement, instead of sharing a corner of my already cluttered office. It’s big, it’s legitimate, and we’re still organizing it all. Oh well, it doesn’t hurt for LuLu to be a part of deciding where and how things should be placed. First art assignment will be painting the new desk that Super Dad built for her from a bar the previous owner had left.

Today’s first assignment…the dreaded “What I Did Last Summer” paper. In keeping with her new status as a 5th grader, and the need to emphasize writing goals, it is a four-step writing process paper (outlining, draft writing, proofing and editing, then final draft). After a little bit of teeth gnashing (not much), LuLu understood that this was a week-long project, and not something I expected her to do all in one day. She eagerly started in on her outline, only to get derailed by a memory of an event this summer that triggered a trama…and off she went.

But then, a small miracle occurred. She pulled herself back on track and finished her outline. So, tomorrow…it’s step two.