On My Homeschool Wish List

Thinking about homeschooling next fall has me perusing blogs, websites, catalogs, books and more trying to figure out what our curriculum will be. It's scary and FUN! I think we've narrowed down a core for math, history and language arts (more on that later) and now I'm trying to find things that we can tie in to the core or have as add-ons. I stumbled upon these fun journals by Anna Miriam Brown

and I think I want to get the travel dreams one for sure for Zoey since she loves learning about different places and travel and this would be a good way for her to journal while discovering a bit about the areas that interest her. I also want to get her the Creative Girls journal as well. It might be fun for some random journaling. I like that it's "library based" as she will be spending some time with me at the library when I work evenings next fall. Might be perfect for those days where she doesn't want to read or have specific research that she has to do. 

Another book from this same series is this one on multiplication. Zoey's struggle area is math and it's one of the reasons we're excited to homeschool, so that we can have a fresh start when it comes to math and hopefully relearn a few things to build a stronger foundation. We are hoping (I am pretty sure!) to use Math-U-See as our official math curriculum but I was thinking this workbook would be a nice addition for some "extra" work in place of drills or computer games, etc. I like that there is repetition throughout the book which is what she needs in this area.

I'll share more of what I'm thinking in the way of curriculum and what else is on our "wish list" as I have the time. 

Our Homeschooling vs. Public Schooling Pros and Cons List

Ever since Zoey started to come home from school talking about the possibility of homeschooling I have been the one saying things like, "Won't you miss your friends?" or "You really like drama club, wouldn't you miss it if you were homeschooled?" just to get her to think a bit more critically about the decision since it's a pretty big one. I prompted her to create an ongoing list of what she thought the pros and cons would be and this is what she came up with on the evening that I mentioned the idea to her. 

PROS:

• a good lunch (time & recess)
• wouldn't have to get up so early
• could spend more time on learning and projects
• no older kids being mean
• more science!
• own pace at math
• no state testing or time spent on preparing for state testing
• more after school activities
• more subjects!
• flexible schedule
• meet other homeschoolers and foster those friendships
• field trips!
• learning in a way that makes sense to me
• spend more time with Leo (our dog)
• see more extended family
• spend more time with mom and dad
• I'd be more relaxed, less busy
• wouldn't worry about sick days
• could do more interesting projects and spend more time on them
• wouldn't have to be on the computers as much
• wouldn't worry about teachers losing my work or quizzes
• could act my age easier at home
• less peer pressure
• I could bake and cook, learn how to balance a checkbook
• get to go to the library more
• could school in the summer
• have classes outside!
• more time to explore my world 
• volunteer opportunities
• become more of an independent thinker and more confident
• less germs! less sickness!
• wouldn't have to worry about boys throwing things at me or calling me idiot (or other names) :(
• school would be more fair
• wouldn't have to worry about fitting everything in my locker
• won't have to carry my heavy backpack all day
• wouldn't have to sit in uncomfortable desks/chairs
• wouldn't have to worry about getting the last of stuff (heaviest gym weights in gym class, science projects, etc.
• I could read what I want!
• I could do book reports!
• wouldn't have to worry about lice as much, pink eye, etc.
• get more exercise!
• more fresh air
• wouldn't have to change in front of everyone in gym class

CONS:

• I wouldn't get to be in drama club
• no chocolate bar fundraisers (this we all will miss!)
• no Mrs. White (art teacher)
• would miss school party days but they have less as we get older
• having a packed lunch (but I didn't have time to eat it all anyways)
• anticipation of the first day of school

We intend to add on to this as the days and months go by until she feels the list is complete. It's a pretty impressive list to say the least and as a parent it's interesting to see what it is that concerns her the most about homeschooling vs. staying in public school. 

Deciding to Homeschool

Let me be the first to share with you that I never thought we would homeschool. My husband is a public school teacher, his mother was a teacher at a technical school, my sister teaches at a well known university, I have amazing friends that are teachers, I myself loved attending public school as a child and teen and truly just didn't even think about homeschooling as an option for our child until she started coming home from school talking about homeschooling...and asking if she could be homeschooled. 

[I had our specific reasons for homeschooling typed out but for the sake of privacy and in honoring those amazing teachers that she has had along the way, we are going to refrain from sharing those reasons here in this space. If you would like to talk to me about our reasons or email inquiries feel free to do so! The biggest reason that we are homeschooling now is because we simply WANT to!]

We are doing this!

We are all so excited and hopeful...I can't even tell you the energy that we are feeling here in this little house of ours. We are going to finish out the rest of this school year since we really only have about three months left but we are using this time and will be using this coming summer to gather our resources, and figure out our course of action for this coming fall. I feel like we've been thinking about this path for about three years now and it just feels like the right plan of action has finally presented itself. Am I terrified? Yes! But I am equal parts excited and honestly, if I wasn't feeling terrified than I would be worried that we weren't taking this idea of homeschooling seriously enough. I want the best for her and I am going to try and deliver it in a way that makes sense to her as a person and as a learner.

We are already slowly starting to change over our basement into a school room and I am looking over different teaching styles with Zoey to see what would be a good fit. The best part of all of this is that I know her! Inside and out and we already have an amazing relationship and an honest one. I know she is a hard worker and an eager learner. I can't wait to dig in to different materials with her.

This is our honest to goodness journey...I can't wait to share it with you!