What can I say about our family.
We decided with our youngest that homeschooling was the way to go before she was even born. Much discussion was done on how to do this, what our goals were and what it would take to do this right.
Immediately it was decided that I would be a stay at home mum so I could be hands on 24/7. My Husband had only two things he wanted to see done. One was that books become our Daughters favourite toy and that Homeschooling would be her favourite game. Done and done !
As for all the goals and how we would go about doing this ? They flew right out the window ! I began the whole thing by making schedules, setting up a school room and getting all the wonderful forms out there into a file. We have NEVER used the forms, schedules are a thing of the past and the school room is now a library for her books and a playroom for her toys.
We fly by the seat of our pants doing what seems most interesting at the time. We of course cover the " 3 R's " but otherwise it's what fits at the time. Spur of the moment field trips are a way of life for us as well. We are blessed to live in an area that anything you might be interested in is a short drive or sometimes walk from our home. Beauty and nature abound.
We have had our list of critics when it comes to homeschooling and the surprising part is it comes most often from family and friends. They are beginning to understand as they watch our Daughter bloom into an intelligent and polite young lady and they have backed off on the " socialization " aspect.
I laugh at the socialization issue. Our Daughter has a heavier social schedule than most grown adults. From simple visits with friends to organized meetings she is kept quite busy. That I do schedule LOL.
Our schooling has moved from the school room to the middle of our big bed with books piled around us and music playing in the background. You can't get that in a public school. We have experiments in various stages all over the house and art projects hanging everywhere. Our house is our school.
People at times have asked my Daughter why she's not in school when we go out and she tells them all about Homeschooling. Sometimes more than they really wanted to know. Many ask me how I can spend that much time with my child and I am always dumbfounded by it. The simplest answer I can come up with is because I love her. Truth works.
We have Homeschooled now for 9 years and are looking forward to the next 9 years with anticipation. I created this blog so that anyone thinking of homeschooling might realize it's not that hard, it's a natural extension to what parents already do. Your family is closer because of it and your child isn't getting lost in the cracks of the public school system. It doesn't take away from everything else in your life, homeschooling is 24/7 and fits perfectly into any schedule.
We have two older children that went through the public school system and we didn't want to go through that a third time. Had we known more about homeschooling back then, the two oldest would have been Homeschooled as well. Live and learn.
This blog is dedicated to talking about my reflections about homeschooling and don't get me wrong it has it's ups and downs. I will be covering both here. Come back and see what we are up to from time to time, leave a question or comment. This is your blog too.
The only other thing that comes to mind right now is the word "Homeschooling" it really isn't the right word for it. We are Homelearners. School doesn't fit.
