Tag: dual enrollment

Next Level

May 7, 2021

Next Level

Today my oldest daughter graduates. An actual in-person, cap-and-gown graduation for both high school and college. She officially graduated high school a few days ago. But since she was starting college classes, she has wanted to walk her cap-and-gown graduation at the college.

This level for her has been achieved!

AA degree as a dual-enrollment student was her goal. She had to choose just one stole though and liked the Phi Theta Kappa one better than the dual-enrollment one. When she was like, “I can only choose one tassel and one stole,” and was trying to find the best mix, I thought, “what an awesome problem to have.”

I love seeing my children achieve their goals! Step by step, day by day, level by level. Sometimes it is leap by leap!

Christina’s graduation ceremony will be the second I have attended (Anastasia’s kindergarten graduation ceremony was the first.). She is the first grandchild on either side to graduate college (yes, she plans to continue). Her next goal is to graduate Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which she starts this fall. Long term goals include her Master’s degree from Embry.

I’m so grateful to Jesus for the amazing educational opportunities Christina had access to here. I’m grateful for encouraging family and friends. I’m thankful for us always finding a way to make goals happen despite whatever life puts in our way. I’m thankful that my determined young woman understands the power of tenacity and hard work. She’s done so much to pull this goal off!

I’m so happy to be in Florida! I’m so thankful for our American freedoms! This is huge step for Christina will set her up for further successes and the power to achieve any and every dream she puts her mind to.

I’m so proud of my young lady (my first baby) and pray she allows God to guide her steps and lead her forward into all He has for her!

Thank you for reading!

~Nancy Tart

P.S. enjoy every second with your littles, they grow too quickly from one level to the next and soon are adulting right alongside you.

Fresh New Year

Who else is excited for 2019? Who else looks at the new year like a child on Christmas morning looks at presents around the tree?

December 31, 2018

Fresh New Year

“It’s still 2018, right?” asks Kimberly, working on her History.

“Yes, it’s the last day of 2018,” I respond.  Christina pipes in with, “and our Aunt’s birthday!”  (One of their aunts is born on December 31!)

This makes me think: (uh-oh, I just heard two kids say “Mom’s writing another blog in her head.”) Yes, my children know me!

Tomorrow starts a fresh new year.  We are given a new beginning each day as the dawn warms our skies and the sun rises to dry the dew.

In the service industry, all days blend together and all the New Year has meant for me in the past 8 years was a barrage of people calling to order reservations at 1am on New Year’s Day from the Bayfront downtown or 11pm from the Saint Augustine Beach peir (two locations at the times we can never promise) so then it turns into irritated people who don’t understand the simple line, “I can’t guarantee that time at that location, you can try to call us at the time to see where our cabs are.”

I’m so glad today does not involve dispatching!  I’m only answering questions from the school table – awesome!

In 2018:

  • I started working at WGV Gymnastics as a coach (LOVE this job).
  • We closed our taxi company in December.  It feels awesome to be able to shut off my phone and not worry about missing a reservation call!
  • I’ve finished, polished, and published four new children’s books: A Foundling Furball, Alena’s Baby, The Tightrope Dare, and Fibbing Fishermen!
  • I’ve rejoiced with the addition of my best friend’s 10th baby!
  • I’ve rejoiced with my sister who is due about the same time I am!  (They will be close cousins!)
  • I’ve mourned and rejoiced with my family after my Daddy passed.
  • I celebrated the first Christmas ever without him – that was his favorite holiday.
  • Christina achieved CAP rank of C/CMSgt, become Red Cross certified, started officially babysitting, started working as needed at what she calls “my somewhat part time job,” and completed her third college semester.
  • Becky completed her second college semester, bred and raised a few dozen chicks up to “independence” for clients, raised her batches of “babies” (aka Guinea Piglets), joined gymnastics classes (finally finding something to encourage her fitness!), and has taught most of her siblings the Latin terms for every body part since she’s been dissecting animals in her biology labs!
  • Kimberly joined gymnastics classes with her gung-ho attitude and is expecting great things from herself, was gifted a bunny (she’s been saving to adopt one for almost a year but her awesome big sisters beat her to it) and Minuit has never left her side.
  • Jaquline discovered the amazing world of Geometry and everything is now interpreted in shapes or gymnastics skills!
  • Jillian started losing teeth, is studying sketching (she’s getting rather good actually!) and digital art along with Becky, and getting herself lost in the world of reading!
  • Lucas started trying to write his name!

We are all expecting amazing things to come in 2019.  God has paths lined up for us that we may not even be able to see yet – if you’d told me at the start of 2018 that I’d be teaching gymnastics for an awesome Christian boss, be pregnant again, and have no taxi company, I would have laughed.

But (positive!) God knows the desires of our hearts!  He knows I love children, love teaching, and that gymnastics has always been a dream. (Dream job come true?  YES!)  He knows Lucas loves babies and is super excited about getting to “take MY BABY home from church.”  (All the other babies he’s been around are those of church family, so he can’t take them home.)  He knows that rebuilding hybrid batteries is something else I love – tinkering with electronics as Daddy taught me & a niche few offer around here so maybe that will be our main income soon!

I’m about to polish and release a few more children’s books (maybe an entire new series working around my budding illustrators’ work!) and my goal for this year is 12 releases.

Who else is excited for 2019?  Who else looks at the new year like a child on Christmas morning looks at presents around the tree?  I see each day as a gift from God to be opened at each dawn.  I see gifts we can’t even dream of yet sitting there, waiting God’s perfect timing for us to unwrap and enjoy.  I’m praying that certain things are there – which day holds the gift of my child’s birth?  Does a gift in that pile include a property or home of our own?  Is there a gift of being able to read my books before a class, teach a grammar workshop, or tutor another child?  Only God knows what each gift holds.  My Daddy loved seeing the smiles and squeals of excitement on Christmas morning as his children opened presents – I love this part of Christmas morning as a parent too.  I can only imagine God smiling as we open each gift and yelp with excitement!

Enjoy your daily gifts in 2019!  Happy, blessed New Year!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Goodbye Spring!

April 27, 2018

Goodbye Spring!

Jaquline says “goodbye spring!” as we drop Christina and Rebeccah at their final exam.

“Goodbye spring?” I ask.

“Yes, goodbye spring classes,” Jaquline laughs.  “Now we have summer classes!”

I smile.  Yes, today is the final day of spring classes for the dual enrollment students.  Although Kimberly, Jaquline, and Jillian don’t really transition into anything different at this point, Rebeccah is doing two refresher arithmetic courses over summer while Christina gets a week break and jumps into Psychology and more algebra.

For our family, spring classes shifting to summer means transition from every day at the college campus to later classes twice a week.

The transition brings expectation: we “kick summer off” with an awesome event where we are an annual vendor.  Our textbook money and hopefully some residual book sales will come from this year’s participation in the Alpha-Omega Family Fun Fest.  (If you are reading this before 8pm on April 28, 2018, come see us at Francis Field, Saint Augustine!)

We have a family trip planned.  Christina goes to summer encampment with her fingers crossed that she’ll be accepted as a flight sergeant.  Kimberly is training for running in any kid-friendly 3K or 5K Aunt Katy or I find.  She’s super excited to get to run with her sister-cousin!  We are expanding our chicken flock and livestock base.

We always find things to be excited about and wonder what God has planned for us in each new season.

I silently pray for God’s wisdom and guiding hand in our transition and exciting new season we are entering.  Thank you, Jesus, for giving me a moment of reflection!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

A New Step

A New Step in our Educational Journey

January 8, 2018

A New Step

Saturday afternoon we got Christina back from her week-long Civil Air Patrol encampment.

Today, Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, and Lucas are doing school at a stone table on the beautiful grounds of our state college waiting for Christina and Rebeccah to finish with their first class.

My younglings are growing up too quickly for me!

The sweet lady in the college bookstore was very helpful and encouraging.  She handed the girls a copy of the eleventh edition of their Biology… I have the seventh at home (from when I went here only a few years ago).  Honestly, I’m so excited for the girls in this next step.  (But I won’t say that to them; I try to make this as normal as possible.  We’ve treated every step in their educational journey as simply another textbook to study.)  I’m very thankful for the awesome opportunities available to students in our county.  (This is a big difference from growing up when home schooling was illegal!)

I’m remembering them at the preschool level (Lucas: counting pinecones and creating stickmen from oak leaves and pine sticks), kindergarten level (Jillian: reading and doing her math problems), and working through book steps like Jaquline and Kimberly. (I “stair-step” arithmetic and language arts in a progression they move through and they get to pick one, two, or three “study books” from history, science, and other subjects.) Then they get through independent learning in preparation for college or vocation. (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, various social studies, upper level literature studies, etc.)  Now, Christina and Rebeccah are at the next step: dual enrollment (college credit classes!).

The nostalgic part of me wants time to slow down.

The logical part of me is thoroughly enjoying each new step each one of my children take.  I love the baby stage, but I get excited when the baby steps up to dress and feed themselves.  I love the learning-independence toddler stage, but I love it when they discover reading!  I love the everything-is-new discovery stage, (I try to keep that going as long as I can) but that is too quickly followed by the totally-independent-learning stage.  Yes, I get a little sad when they complete their lesson goals without my help, but I am proud and excited as they jump ahead of my goals by making and achieving their own personal goals.

I see the goal of my “teaching” job as helping my students learn how to teach themselves.  This means inspiring a lifelong love of learning, challenging them to reach higher and higher personal goals, and instilling core principles like academic integrity and determination.

I’m sure they will do well.  They love to learn and are thriving in their “adult” environment where their fellow students are all serious about their work.  I have to smile because I feel like I’ve accomplished my teaching goal – at least for these students – they are fully independent learners with their eyes on future careers and their lifelong pursuit of knowledge.

Of course, I will never truly stop teaching.  I’ll be asking, “so, how was school?” even when they call me from their university in years to come.  That thought makes me smile again.

“Jaquline,” says Kimberly, “why aren’t you writing?”

Jaquline is sitting at the stone picnic table, her paperwork on a clipboard, smiling and staring at the sky.  She sighs and says dreamily, “I’m doing my school at college!”

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

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