T- Minus 2 days and counting...

In about 38 hours or so we will officially become a homeschooling family! We've read the literature, attended the book fair's and conferences, joined a co-op, bought curriculum,bought more curriculum, rearranged the entire house so that we have a dedicated space and probably a million other details. But we're not complete with out the follow though, which will come on Monday 8am sharp.

I have to be honest, by daughter has so much faith in me that I'm terrified to mess this up. She's not at all upset about not attending her school anymore and is so excited to break into the 2 (yes, I bought two) science curriculum kits that she can barely wait to begin...such a strange little genius.

We recently had the eldest evaluated and not at all to our surprise she was found to have attention issues (for lack of a better term ADD (not ADHD) but the real concern was her IQ score. She has superior intelligence that is measurable, but the test administrator said she "contests that the test didn't adequately convey her IQ because of her lack of focus." She contested that is is much high than the genius level score she received.

I'm so glad we're pulling her from the traditional classroom! It also feels a bit like I've been brought this little person in serious need of medical attention, handed a scalpel and have been left to figure this thing out by myself. Thank God for heavenly intersession!

My out-laws put it so gracefully when they asked what I was going to do when I "ran of of things to teach her." You know. When I teach her "everything I've learned.".... Seeing as it took me a while to learn it all I'm pretty sure I can handle second grade, even at the genius level. :)

At the same time we have gotten a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder for my son and upon further investigation, my genius with "ADD" also has this problem. Good times! No really, I've come to expect much worse so this was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  The baby has learned how to climb onto the counters and bar-high table. Lord help me come Monday.

So that's where we're at right now. I will post the curriculum and materials list in my next post.

So last Friday was the "Home School Book Fair" and my first experience with the tangled mess a curriculum fair is. I of course brought my husband and children with me which was my first of many mistakes that day. Even though I've done my home work, know about 90% of the curriculum I'm going to use, understanding that I will be buying more than I need, probably buy as we find great deal and purchase second hand from friends in our co-op...all that being said it felt like attending one of these was necessary evil. We picked up a few things and I was able to really look over the math program before actually ordering it, which was very useful, but over all not worth the cost of admission or frustration.

I know my hubby will NEVER do that again with me so I'll attend the Catholic curriculum fair in July with my home school mentor and co-op mommies. I may even stop at the salon for some pampering on the way home ;)

The Teacher Mart near us closed their store front so I was able to get a lot of those wall posters (that my kids love) to work with along with some geography, history, and social studies curriculum. Got everything for 40%. Goodwill had a $30 book shelf that worked great in my youngest daughter's room. Part of our plan is to make sure the kids rooms are able to contain the mass toys/books/randomness that is constantly spilling out into the family room and ...well, everywhere else.

I also made a point to conference with my daughter's first grade teacher about my plan for next year and get her advise on where we should take it from here. There's a whole lot of information on line about what to do for K, 3rd, 8th and ACT/SAT prep but anything in between those is sparse. The challenge come when you have a kid like my eldest that is really self motivated and intense parents like my husband and myself. As parents we don't want to get over zealous and education is certainly a life long marathon, not a sprint to the finish line. So pacing ourselves will take effort.

I hated the three years I was "homeschooled". The details of that story are less than flattering so I will keep them to myself, but the moral of the story is homeschooling is not for everyone. So while I personally think that our public schools are...well, I guess it's really what they are NOT that bothers me. In any case, while my opinions of our public education are inadequate at best, I completely recognize that it is a better option for some than homeschooling.

There is an enormous pressure on parents to have perfect little citizens or none at all these days. If we lived in my dream world mothers would be able to spend there time at home and dad's wouldn't have to commute 45 minutes to work everyday. But we don't live in that perfect place in my made-up world and good thing too. It's really rather dull sometimes and the Cleveland Indians always win the World Series.

I digress...back to homeschooling. It is not considered "conventional" education and while that is laughable, it is the opinion of the times we live in. Both my husband and I had to grow into the idea of homeschooling our children. The day my husband told me he had every confidence in me that I could homeschool them, well I just about fell out of my seat, but I knew in my heart this would be the path we choose.

You see right now we are finishing out the year at a private Catholic school that we have been very pleased with up until this point.  It is a thirty minute drive each way at least twice a day and staying involved there eats up most of my time. Our life has become all about "the school" and not about the family.

Additionally my son, has a pervasive development disorder and is very far behind other three year old children. A little boy in my daughter's class has a very similar disorder and it has been heartbreaking to watch this little boy struggle in class this year. The kids at this school are very loving and treat him well but they know he is different and it's a struggle for him. It broke my heart when my daughter came home and told me how she was proud of him today because "he cried quietly and that was brave of him".

That sealed the deal for me. My son will stay home and we will give him the time he needs to catch up with the other kids. If he never catches up than we will make sure he has what he needs here to cope and leave the rest to the grace of the Lord.

I'm not sure if other folks in my position would be offended or not at my reasoning but it really makes no difference to me. My daughter is so excited to be homeschooling and I want to document this bold, new venture for her, for me, and for anyone else that may be considering diving into this type of life.

My priest, Father Jim, said it best, "God is the Master Teacher. Mothers and father (soul) responsibility is to reflect the love of the Father at all times."