Homeschool, here we are!

I haven't posted on here in quite a while. Last post, I pondered whether we should homeschool or not. I guess that's why I haven't posted. We did decide to homeschool! We pulled our girls out at the Christmas break. It was quite a nightmare! The school relented and allowed us out of our contract for the preschooler. But the kindergartner, not so much. One of the reasons we cited for leaving was financial hardship. That was true, oh so true, but more important was that we felt the kids were not getting what they needed at school and would do better at home. The school offered to put the kindergartner on scholarship so we wouldn't have to pay for the rest of the year. But we insisted on pulling her out anyway. So they made us pay. I can't blame them. We signed a contract and all, and it would be bad for them if other families thought they could jump contract whenever. I guess they made an example out of us.

Either way, we are beginning our third year of homeschooling. Due to a crazy story I made up but can't remember, we no longer have Butterfly, Monkey, and Alligator. They are Beeswax (wish that wasn't so hard to type), Mooshu, and Acorn. Beeswax is in third grade, Moosh is now a big girl kindergartner, and Acorn is a wee preschooler. We also moved to a new state. This one is pretty easy on homeschooling. I just meet with the attendance officer once a year to sign a paper promising to teach my child and to receive a release for said child from compulsory school attendance. Boom. Done.

I choose to record our school work anyway. I know that I could unschool or something like that but that just isn't me. Beeswax needs guidance. She needs written-out goals. Mooshu needs schedule and consistency and predictability. I need those goals, too. Poor Moosh, I'm not much for schedule and consistency but I'm working on that!

I thought about (and tried) homeschooling without textbooks and workbooks. I made up my curriculum for the first year. That's also not me! I've got the education degree, I've got the smarts to do it, but it's just not me! I need a book to help me reach those goals. You give me a spelling book with 36 lessons, that helps me make sure I get at least that much done this year! And we shoot for more :)

Our schooling is all based around The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise. They've got such wonderful recommendations. There are myriad homeschool resources out there. Without a guide, without someone to point you in the directions of resources that might be good for you, it's just too overwhelming!

This year, we also added Catholic Schoolhouse to our schedule. A chapter just opened up near us (I use the term "near" very loosely) and it sounded good to me! I figure, even if they learn nothing, at least they're getting some educational field trips and are meeting some other children. Turns out, I'm one of the main teachers! Oops, I mean, Surprise! And I think my kids are learning some valuable info. Win/win for sure.

So that's the last few years in a nutshell. I've been making all sorts of resources for my kids as we go along. Maybe I'll see if I can share them on here. We'll see!