homeschool

I've heard a hundred homeschool experiences that all lead to the conclusion homeschooling is like raising kids; 
it takes time, patience, and lots and lots of screw ups. 

Most publications practically encourage a homeschool mom to just jump in wherever they're comfortable and prepare to make changes daily, monthly, yearly... it's an ongoing process that molds itself per family, per student, per teacher. 
And that's one of the reason why I love it so much. 

I recently attended a four day homeschool conference. I have been waiting years to be close enough to the starting line to justify the time and expense of getting so involved. 

I was like a kid in a candy store in the vendor hall with over 100 programs laid out on tables, grade by grade, before my eyes and finger tips. 
It was like meeting celebrities I'd known of for so long as I feasted on curriculum after curriculum.

And then I heard David Hazell speak in a workshop called "Combining Classical Education, Charlotte Mason, and Unit Studies with a Christian Perspective." 

Where I'd placed a single star by all the other workshops I had chosen to attend, this one had a star AND a heart next to. It was the one I was most shocked and thrilled to see available. 

Someone who was not only thinking what I was thinking, but enough so to present on the topic!?

It turned out to be even more straight from God•awesome•miracle•mega exciting. I honestly cried when I learned that Mr. Hazell and his wife have created an entire K-12 curriculum based in and around their brilliant master plan, tried and true through their own nine, grown up, homeschooled children. 

I'm excited about combining this incredible curriculum with our favorite Math-U-See program for what we are calling your "Kindergarten year" beginning this fall. 

As far as our state is concerned we won't be able to legally call you a homeschooler for another two years! Your fifth Birthday will miss the cut off by 29 days which would have put you first entering the government educational system at almost six years old. 

Great head start for such a spongy, intelligent, fully reading, adding in the hundreds place, story writing, spanish soaked, lover of learning.

The good news is that we have the legal right to let you learn and grow at the exact pace you are wired to do so, and you have been doing "school" for two years already; Pre-school two years ago and Kindergarden this year just past. And the jump start you do have will allow stretching time and space for the future. 

I'm so anxious to get this next year's schooling mapped out for us that I jumped the gun a bit and bought the entire MFW Kindergarden curriculum. 
After investing a couple of days in learning and revising it accordingly I was sad to find that it isn't quite the right for you. With letter recognition and writing, sounds, very early stages of math, and even some shapes and colors reviews throughout, we're pretty sure it would be holding you back more than we are comfortable with. 
We're pretty sure it would tick you off, actually. :)

So, we are ordering the FIRST GRADE curriculum. Still with the plan to begin Alpha/first grade Math-U-See as well as incorporate some of the relevant and just plain fun Kindergarten material from the MFW we have now. 


We will call it "Kindergarten" for your sake. I'm not exactly sure how this all works out in the long run with the state not recognizing you as a schooler until 2012. I don't think you can legally begin first school on paper in first grade in a second grade curriculum???

But you can be as smart as you are, and you can master and excel as quickly as you do. I just don't know how that all works. Yet. (AUNTIE PAM!) 
I have plenty of resources to confer with between now and your graduation, so I'm not too worried about it. 

  

Beginning time lines, experiments, Bible reading, copy writing, narration, unit studies... I'M SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER!!! 

There will surely be more. More than you will care to have documented. More about my excitement, our choices for your next steps, and lots more detail about where we are heading for your 2010-11 school year!!! 

We are just wrapping up THIS year and I am this silly about next year... it's gonna be a long summer. :)