one l michele
02-07-2008, 11:23 AM
I was not "born to homeschool". The thought actually never crossed my mind until one day when going through the mail, in it were Kindergarten registration papers for my oldest. Gasp! At that time I had a 5, 3, and 1 year old and was simply enjoying the moment we were in. I freaked out. My initial reactions, was two of my children have anaphylactic food allergies, how could I possibly safely send them to school. Then I started thinking about how I was blessed by being able to stay home with them and witness each milestone, why does that typically stop when a child turns 5? Educational milestones are just as priceless.
So I began to research homeschooling. I was not confident in my abilities and had never known anyone who had done "this". Extended family said "You are thinking of what?" and dh was very concerned about how I would teach what public school kids learn at home and the big sports issue. I only had 8 months before public school was to start to sort this all out, while doing everything else a mom does with three little ones. We decided to comprimise by using a state cyber charter that used Calvert. We would get a "public school" education that dh wanted and I would be educating my boys at home. We did this for 2 years, then dh accepted a job in another state, which didn't offer cyber charters. DH agreed for us to homeschool traditionally, only because we are in a high regulated state and the boys will test yearly.
This is our first year homeschooling traditionally. After using Calvert with ATS, meaning we had to do all of Calvert, then supplement parts we didn't care for (like learning how to read), this year has been such a breath of fresh air. It's not that we didn't like Calvert, Calvert is very good and I credit it for giving me the structure I needed at first and teaching me how to teach. Juggling mulitple levels of Calvert though is challenging, as that means you are teaching science, history, etc. twice and different topics in those subjects. With Calvert we simply "did school", this year we have branched out to enjoy the learning experience. I was quite worried about not having the paper trail this year, as dh looks over the boys work at the end of the week, and Calvert was heavy on paperwork. Dh really hasn't said much this year about school and I have learned to be selective with what I say, meaning focus on the positivies of what the boys do and not the curriculum options, when a material isn't doing what I want it to, juggling kids, paperwork for the state, etc...
Last night dh tucked the boys into bed, my older two have been staying up reading in bed at night and also reading to their little brother when he asks. (In addition to what we do during school, which includes read alouds for everyone & independent reading.) When dh came back down and said I was really doing a good job with the boys. Then he continued to discuss their newly found passion for reading, how innocent, yet mature they are for their age, and their love of learning. He said what ever you are doing keep doing it, it's obviously working.
It was wonderful to hear!
So I began to research homeschooling. I was not confident in my abilities and had never known anyone who had done "this". Extended family said "You are thinking of what?" and dh was very concerned about how I would teach what public school kids learn at home and the big sports issue. I only had 8 months before public school was to start to sort this all out, while doing everything else a mom does with three little ones. We decided to comprimise by using a state cyber charter that used Calvert. We would get a "public school" education that dh wanted and I would be educating my boys at home. We did this for 2 years, then dh accepted a job in another state, which didn't offer cyber charters. DH agreed for us to homeschool traditionally, only because we are in a high regulated state and the boys will test yearly.
This is our first year homeschooling traditionally. After using Calvert with ATS, meaning we had to do all of Calvert, then supplement parts we didn't care for (like learning how to read), this year has been such a breath of fresh air. It's not that we didn't like Calvert, Calvert is very good and I credit it for giving me the structure I needed at first and teaching me how to teach. Juggling mulitple levels of Calvert though is challenging, as that means you are teaching science, history, etc. twice and different topics in those subjects. With Calvert we simply "did school", this year we have branched out to enjoy the learning experience. I was quite worried about not having the paper trail this year, as dh looks over the boys work at the end of the week, and Calvert was heavy on paperwork. Dh really hasn't said much this year about school and I have learned to be selective with what I say, meaning focus on the positivies of what the boys do and not the curriculum options, when a material isn't doing what I want it to, juggling kids, paperwork for the state, etc...
Last night dh tucked the boys into bed, my older two have been staying up reading in bed at night and also reading to their little brother when he asks. (In addition to what we do during school, which includes read alouds for everyone & independent reading.) When dh came back down and said I was really doing a good job with the boys. Then he continued to discuss their newly found passion for reading, how innocent, yet mature they are for their age, and their love of learning. He said what ever you are doing keep doing it, it's obviously working.
It was wonderful to hear!