The researching has continued as I dive a little bit deeper in the thoughts of homeschooling. I'd like to say that we are 100% committed but until we sit down with our boys and discuss schooling at home, it's not written in stone. Matthew also made me promise to research homeschooling groups in the area. He has concerns about socialization and it is my duty to put those to rest.
The hardest part of the researching is over, we have decided on the curriculum we will use for each of the boys for language arts and math. I have chosen not to use anything formal for history and science. Instead, we will pull our ideas together and choose a topic each month to focus on. I want the boys to be as much a part of the process as they can be.
I've already decided that we will have a four day school week, leaving Fridays open and available for field trips and fun! I've mapped out that school will take place in the morning for two hours and in the afternoon for an hour or two, so a total of 3-4.
The office downstairs (which currently houses "big boy" toys) will be magically transformed into a learning studio. Well, probably not magically, since I don't have ownership of a wand, but one can daydream. Ideas are brewing, slowly, but they are taking shape. I sat down with Matt the other night to talk about moola and how much it will take to budget for supplies, furniture and curriculum. Ready? $1200. Ugh. I already have a third of it saved and so we will be pinching many pennies to come up with the rest. In the meantime, excitement has already started blooming, slowly pushing out doubt and intimidation.
A new chapter is about to begin.
LA program : Sonlight
Spelling for Tyler : Sequential Spelling
Math for Benny : RightStart Math
Math for Tyler : Life of Fred
P.S. We gave each of our sons a learning/personality test through KOLBE and that is how I approached picking a curriculum for each.
3 comments:
awesome - very admirable. I love the Sonlight curriculum. I'm testing out the pre-K for Ava and love it. No shame in scrimping and saving in the name of quality education! :) best of luck.
you won't regret right start math. i've used it for 3 and it's better every year. they far surpass the oldest who did not have it, because we didn't want to spend the money!
also, you must know that socialization is a joke. find a family with older kids who homeschool and let your husband get to know them. we often have friends who say, ' before i met you i thought homeschoolers were misfits/socially challenged/insert fear but your kids are so great.' i'm not trying to brag, 'cause we're not that unusual.
Good luck Molly. We LOVE homeschooling. There are days that are hard and sometimes the weight of being the main educator for my children feels heavy. There have many times that I have said "Maybe we should put them in public school." But I had an epiphany last month while attending a homeschool conference (yeah, I'm that big of a nerd), and I vowed that I would not say that again just because of hard days. I know the answer for me and my family, and it is self directed education. So it took me 2 years, but I am finally all in.
We LOVE Life of Fred for math. Many of my friends have amazing homeschool rooms. The way our house is set up, I opted for a playroom and we do most of our school at the kitchen table or family room couch. I have a large armoire in the family room that houses all of our "school supplies". Thrift stores have largely supplied our homeschooling cabinet. I've also stumbled upon some great homeschool swaps that have helped. I love the Charlotte Mason and Thomas Jefferson Education philosophies. TJED really spoke to Dustin's entrepreneur personality.
We meet with a group 3 Fridays a month. We've been really blessed to live in an area full of homeschoolers. We have 10 families in our ward that homeschool. It's a great support because we aren't the weirdos but people homeschool for so many different reasons and in such vasts ways that it was really important for me to find other families that had the same values and philosophies as our family. This is bay far my favorite article on socialization. He is bold but honest http://stephendpalmer.com/public-school-homeschool-socialization/
I really enjoy having my children home with me. I was thinking about it the other day, and realizing that it is my babies and toddlers that make the days so hard and busy (but I love babies and toddlers). My school aged kids for the most part are a joy to have around, and my two oldest boys are best friends. I'm so grateful they spend their days with me, by my side. I appreciate their companionship and honestly their help too. If I need one on one time to help a child, I can send another one to play a matching game or cars with the babies. I love that our schedule is our own. I love the relationships that are forming. The two main goals for our homeschool are to build good relationships and to love learning. Okay, sorry I totally rambled. I'm excited for you, I know you'll be great at it.
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