And Here Comes Kindergarten!

April 20, 2012

Let’s call it week 0.5 – we got a whole two days in before The Geek and I were taking turns “worshipping the porcelain god” with the stomach flu. YUCK. We have Thing Two to thank, as he shared his stomach flu all over us, literally, on Easter!

Here’s the few snapshots I got of our 2-day week before the stomach flu hit us. I guess in a way it was nice to “ease” back into school after a couple weeks of breaking!

I’m making excellent use of our pocket charts now!

We hunted for things around the house that began with the letter J, pictured are “jackets” and “jelly.” It was an activity HIT! Who knew something so simple would be so much fun?

Thing One began his A Reason for Handwriting K Workbook.

We began Math-U-See. They thought watching the “bald guy” on TV was a funny treat.

The Solar System appeared on our staircase.

Thing One began learning to read!

So, what are we doing for Kindergarten? Well, lots of things. If any of you know me (or The Geek) well, you know we both have real issue staying inside the box. That being said, I suppose you could label us as “eclectic” homeschoolers, overall. So, of course our K curriculum is coming from all sorts of different places. For the “basics” of K level work I am actually following (mostly? lol) an actual manual/program/curriculum.

Linking Up to…

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Homeschooling in My Living Room, Part One

April 9, 2012

Some Background on our Choice to Homeschool

We live in a medium sized two bedroom apartment. The bedrooms are upstairs and there is a fair sized, very open, kitchen/dinning/living area downstairs. The “school room” is my dining/living room, and after 7 months of schooling I have finally given up on decor for adults. A painting on the wall? Why would I want to hang a painting when I have this super nifty pocket chart filled with a rhyming Letter A Poem?! Needless to say, when we rented this apartment we had no intention or desire to homeschool. In fact, I was basically of an anti-homeschool philosophy.

Admittedly, it was a hole-filled and emotionally driven “philosophy” based on the biased experiences of my upper teenage years: I happened to date a homeschooled boy who broke my heart at the tender age of 18 (when of course I knew everything and therefore homeschooler = the evil lying spawns of Satan, hahaha!). I eventually became amazingly thankful for this teen heartache – because God had saved for me a much more amazing man, who would become my husband (but that’s another story).

After paying for a year of Private (2-days a week, for 3 year olds) Preschool it was becoming increasingly hard to figure out where the tuition would come from the following year. Honestly, even though I never desired to homeschool, I also never planned on sending my kids to Preschool. I have always viewed it as a waste of money for stay-at-home-moms. But we sent Thing One because I felt pressured from several places to do so, and I caved.

But because we have chosen to be a one-income family, preschool was one unnecessary budget item that we couldn’t see the sense in hanging on to…as the medical bills kept piling up last year (thing One was born with a Bilateral Cleft Lip & Palate and surgeries 5, 6, and 7 were in 2010-11).

He loved school so much that I couldn’t take him out and then do nothing “schoolish” for him at home. It would be confusing to start and stop and then start again for Kindergarten, right?

That is when I cried.

And then, I laughed (maniacally?!) at the irony that I was going to homeschool my kid…but only for Preschool (hahaha, now that is worth a laugh too cause here we are getting on to K level work with no plans for public school anywhere in sight!).

As the summer months went on and I read, and read, and researched, and read some more and researched some more and even more…I cried and laughed again.

Because I was beginning to feel like this was a choice God had intended us to make all along. And I was excited. Wait – I was excited to homeschool? What the…?! Friends, God has a REALLY BIG sense of humor. And He sweetly served me a nice big slice of Humble Pie on the whole homeschooling hatred issue. After all, what did a 19 year old girl really know about homeschooling based on her bad boyfriend? NOT MUCH!

So I took the plunge. Or rather –We took the plunge.– The Geek offers his full support, as he was never anti homeschool to begin with. For the record, we are both public school kids who went on to graduate college (where we met) and as for The Geek, he went on further for a Masters as well. So we’re strong advocates of a solid education (not that BA or MA or PhD makes you well educated…but don’t let me start on that issue, because I’m bound to offended someone).

…moving on…

At the risk of furthering what is quickly becoming a novel, I’ll simply say God showed us that we would give our children a solid education…only we would literally be giving it ourselves…and giving it at home.

It’s a big leap from “only preschool” to “all the way, unless God leads us otherwise.” But big leaps –of faith!- are what God is all about, isn’t He?

Do I question this path? EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

But not because the boys aren’t learning or because I am not enjoying teaching them. I question and I fear because of my own lacking trust in God’s bigger picture of my life. It is hard to realize that as some of my friends “get their life back” as they send their kids into elementary school…I won’t be “getting my life back” – because God’s called me, and I’ve accepted His call to give my life wholly over to my children’s educational needs. It sounds daunting when I write it out like that, but it is such a blessing at the same time. I question God’s calling out of the feelings of inadequacy to “teach them the right way” that my fears let into my heart.

Thing One has finished up his PreK curriculum and is more that ready (and willling) to step up to K work. (Did I mention I’m a fan of year-round schooling? Well I am, even in the public setting.) So, now we begin our venture into “real” school grades – it really “counts” now! And oh, do I find the fear overwhelming me at some moments (or days)!

But God (and The Geek) are quick to remind me that teaching them “the right way” is a myth. The important things are that they learn. And that they learn at the pace best for them and in the learning style most personalized to their needs. Some thing no public or private school could ever offer them.

So I pray. I stress. I hope. I worry. And I am trying to trust wholly in God’s plans for our little family.

And that’s really all any of us can do, right? God knows best and He will provide the tools for His plan.

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Getting Ready

August 9, 2011

Over the last month I have been gathering and readying all of the supplies we’ll need to begin our adventure this fall. I have the first 5 weeks ready to go in the file cabinet. The others are planned, but not printed and all that jazz. I didn’t know how I would go about this homeschooling preschool thing, so when I found an actual “curriculum” I have come to understand it will not be cheap to print and laminate all of these weekly activities. So we’re doing it as we go, or as the money is available. The nice part is that I know all of these things I can use with Thing 2 as well, when he is ready, so it is really a good investment. And I could even pass it all on to someone after Thing 2 is finished! And the cost is certainly less than private preschool + the gas to get there. Where we were sending Thing 1 was quite the drive, and the school has since disintegrated due to internal issues…so good choices all around! I am SO thankful we weren’t depending on this school for the fall – God works in mysterious ways!

Start Date: September 5, 2011 – We’re beginning on Memorial Day because Jon has the day off and he will get to participate in our first day! I think it will help to have an extra pair of hands around while I decide how everything will settle out. Plus, Jon wants to be involved as much as he can, since he works.
Curriculum: We’re going to be using a variety of materials, but the base for our preschool will be a combination of The Letter of the Week Preschool Curriculum and the K4 Pre Kindergarten Curriculum, both by Eric over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. These are both FREE but you can purchase them for $10 if you don’t have the time or patience to download every single file separately. Well worth the cost for busy moms.
Bible: We are going to have a Bible Time element to our school day – but it will be separate from our school day activities. We will do this portion in the evenings after dinner so that Jon can take the lead in this area. Basically we’re just going to read a Bible story each night, but for now that is really all the boys are ready for. We are also going to do some kind of Bible craft/activity during the week that will relate to our storie(s).

Thing 1: Since he was in traditional Preschool last year I have to figure out exactly where he stands. I have a fairly good ideas just from observing him in normal activities (not intentional “school” activities, but learning in every day play). He knows his ABCs (uppercase) very well. Lowercase, not so much – except for the “easy” ones that look like the UC. When the LC looks different from the UC he gets stuck. He can count to 15 without help, but after that misses a couple before getting to 20. With help he can count up to 30 and beyond. I thank my ami crochet projects for that, when I am working on something that needs counting I often have him count out loud with me, this frequently goes up to 30 and 40 stitches. Our biggest challenge will be that he gets frustrated very easily – so making sure he stays calm and is having fun will be key. While he is ready and wanting to learn new things, his impatience can get in the way – if he doesn’t get it the first try he tends to shut down and give up.

Thing 2: Is not quite 2 yet (he’ll be 22 months when we begin), but he tends to be more advanced, in some areas he is right with Thing 1, in others he passes him. Thing 2 can identify a dozen or more UC letters and can even put some correct sounds and words with them – without prompting! Funny that he is going along so well with letters but his numbers – not so much. I will be doing some “Tot School” activities with him, but mostly I think we’ll let him at some of the same activities as Thing 1 and see what happens! I have some specific stuff ready for him – some tot books, matching games, counting games, learning the letters in his name – things like that. I think Thing 2′s biggest challenge will be his want to be just like Big Brother – and sometimes he just can’t do the same things!

And the Journey Begins

July 8, 2011

Never Say Never…and if you do, be prepared for a swift smack in the face.

Ever since high school I made firm declarations that there were some things I would NEVER do. One of those things was that I would never homeschool my children. Why? Because I knew what happened to THOSE kids: they were “weird” – quiet, dorky, sheltered, geeks, whatever term you want to use – and I didn’t want my kids to be THOSE kids. But I carried the filters of a teenager (who’s heart may, or may not, have been broken by one of THOSE kids, lol).

Truth is, that was just one small peek into the lives of homeschooling kids and their families – one which I now know, thankfully, is NOT the norm. ☺

So, with a slightly heavy heart and surprising excitement, I have begun weeks of research into the whole concept and life style of Homeschooling. BRAIN FREEZE – the amount of resources and information is overwhelming, but in a way, that is a good thing.

You may laugh, but all this thought and inner turmoil has only been over doing PreK at home. I know, it’s not even a “required” grade – but oh so important to be ready for Kindergarten (especially if it’s not at home). I don’t know how it will go or if it will “work,” but I do know when I decide to do something I do it to the fullest. We are also doing a Co-Op at our church, mainly because my biggest fear is that if I Homeschooled, then my kids won’t get enough peer socialization (because this was what I saw in my teen years). I had NO IDEA there were such things as Co-Ops – awesomeness! (More about ours and the “requirements” of families involved in another post – it is a bit overwhelming, but not more than I think I can handle.)

So, we will try this out and see how (and where) it goes. Thing 1 is going to be 4 in August and his little brother Thing 2 will be 2 in November. Thing 1 did have half a year of “traditional” PreK earlier this year. He loved it, but I don’t think he was learning things I couldn’t teach him myself. The only reason we sent him was because my best friend was the teacher. I felt pressured to send him, from all sides. I don’t know why the majority of the world thinks PreK is so important – if it was, why isn’t offered for it FREE like regular grades? The price was high – in tuition, gas, and time.

The wannabe teacher in me is SUPER excited (it has long been my dream/goal to teach, but that would require another degree, which isn’t possible right now because I want to be home with my kids while they are little). I find myself thinking excitedly to the future – and then I have to stop myself and say “this is just a trial, it might not be a good fit for you or the kids.” But I would hate to have to say I failed at teaching my own kids.

Yet…at the same time I have been being excited about Homeschooling, I keep thinking a lot about what I have been saying for the past year or so: “when the kids are in school full time I can _______.” And I am realizing that by being excited about the possibility of Homeschooling past PreK means I won’t be able to finish that sentence.

…and I am still not 100% sure how that realization makes me feel.

…and I have NEVER been (and still am not) Anti-Public Education. In fact, I think Public School is great because it offers so many teaching opportunities for parents and kids. So many conversations that might not be as meaningful if they were not faced with secular issues on a daily basis….I could go on and on, but I suppose that would be worthy of another post, lol.

ALL IN ALL – I am excited to give this PreK and Tot Teaching my all. Part of me hopes it goes further, part of me is unsure (the selfish “me” part, I am sure!)