We've talked about it. we've thought of alternatives. we've shared concerns. Now it's time to take action.
Our homeschooling talks started before we were even married. We lived up in Saratoga Springs (Neil) and Ballston Spa (Pam), NY for 6 months during some of Neil's training for the Navy (Prototype). We were fortunate enough to find an incredible church family, and oddly enough, that church family was loaded with homeschooling families... 1 family had 3 kids, and 2 other families had 5 kids.
However, none of these kids fit the "home schooled kid" profile that I had always been told about, and seen. You know, the kid that has absolutely no social skills, and is more excited about picking his nose than interacting with people...the outcast kid at church...and the one who just doesn't seem to "get it?"
These kids weren't like that at all! They were polite, courteous, interactive with both adults and other children of ALL ages - their own peer group, older, and younger. They had an incredible understanding about the realities of life, and the realities about who God is. Other kids liked them! The only thing they were lacking was the irresponsibility, obscenity, and perverseness that is so common these days with kids of ALL ages.
I remember Neil and I looking at each other and saying "Those kids are home schooled?"
As time went on, we met more and more people that had gone through some kind of home school curriculum, and were just as social, if not more so, than people who were not. And they were incredibly intelligent.
Bella has always been bright. I've never really had a plan with her, other than to just challenge her as she's ready for it. That was my potty-training technique, and that's how I've been with her with everything else as well. When she was 10 months old, we were looking at an animal book together, and, as always, I was going over the same animals and the same sounds that we always did, only this time she pointed to the dog and started panting (a sound she could make at that age). From there, we did all kinds of animal sounds, and just kept going...shapes, colors, letters, etc. Whenever she learned one thing, I'd make it a bit more difficult to challenge her. Always repeating everything over and over and over again...
Anyway, there came a point about a year ago that I started thinking about school for her. I started school when I was 2 ( a mother's day out sort of thing), so it wasn't weird to me to think about it. With Balian coming, I thought it might be good. Then I started thinking...
Bella does so well working at her own pace. She's really bright. She learns so quickly. I started worrying about her being bored, and then hating school. Then again, there was the social aspect of it...I feel like for the past year, I've been torn.
Once we moved here, to Granbury, and I was dealing with so many things at once (moving, newborn, PPD, making friends, starting out at a new church) Bella's behavior started to become pretty bad. I know a lot of it was all the changes that she went through. Not just the moving, but mommy being different. We were at home A LOT more than we were before Balian was born...(I still don't think we're really back to our "out and about-ness" that we had before. ) I think a lot of her misbehavior has had to do with down-right boredom. And I, after taking a long break from all the challenging and teaching with Bella, didn't really know where to start as far as how to give some structure to our days and teach her at her level. I would try to teach her something, but I'd get frustrated when she didn't "get it". I was teaching over her head. I was totally lost. and frustrated. I think I just kinda gave up.
For months, we've been butting heads, and I've been like "There's no way I can home school this girl - I'll go crazy! Can we just put her in school this year?"
Then the light turned on. I need help!
A friend of mine told me about a curriculum that she had been looking at called Hands on Homeschooling. Essentially, the mom who made it was a former preschool teacher that decided that she needed to add some structure to days at home with her first child, who was 2 at the time.
Seriously, this may be the best breath of fresh air I've seen in a while! The curriculum is not only bible-based, it's like school and Sunday school combined in a really practical, FUN package, that only takes up about an hour a day for "teaching". Recipes, activities, field trips, Bible stories and memory verses for every week, worksheets (like for tracing letters and numbers) etc. are all put together in a nice, neat little package. Oh, and the best thing about it is that preschool isn't this one big chunk called 2-5 years. Each age has a totally separate curriculum. So the 3-yr. old curriculum is very specifically age/developmentally- based for 3 yr.-olds.
I think this is fabulous.
Where do I sign up?
Well, now I know where. I just have to do it.
My only dilemma is that we don't have an extra room to set aside for school. I know that isn't necessary, but it seems like it would help with focus. We'll figure it all out in time...
If any of you home school and you have some suggestions/ resources, PLEASE let me know! I'm new at this, and I'm learning as I go...heck, I haven't even started yet! And by-golly, I need help!
