It's Official......

Well, I did go and visit my first school in our road to finding a quality education setting for the boys, that matches our values and beliefs about education.  Well they are definitely not a match!!  As I sat in the chair for my interview (actually it wasn't an interview, just an orientation to the schools philosophy and beliefs) I was dismayed at the time spend explaining the disciplinary policy, before even finding out about our family, the boys, and our desires for their education. 

As an educator, I had my list of important questions to ask, here's what it looked like: 

• Philosophy
• Education Model/Theory
• Teacher Qualifications/Training/Professional Development
• Parent Engagement
• Sample Lesson Plan
• Schedule
• Christian/Moral Education

Each of these areas, were never mentioned, unless I asked a specific question about it.  I asked about lesson plans and schedules three times, in three different ways, and finally got a response. 

While I am committed to homeschooling our children, I would like to give them a small experience in a school setting as well.  This year would be optimal, as we transition career and professional settings.  Well, the story will continue as I take a look at a public school this month, and then create the plan for proceeding. 

Plan A:  Enroll in public PreK program with developmentally appropriate curriculum and lots of time and materials for exploration and of course, meeting new friends.

Plan B:  Begin homeschooling mornings twice a week, and continue to attend our wonderful Family Childcare Program to supplement our work schedule

Plan C:  Continue full-time at Family Childcare Program.

We will see......

A Pre-cursor to Homeschooling

Well our journey continues......
My full-time grant funded position will end on September 30th, so my plans for homeschooling will either be in full force, or will wait until next year.  One thing that I've learned is that transitions and change happen to us all, but dealing with multiple transitions at the same time can be insane when you pile them on top of each other. 

So while I transition from full-time employee, to full-time business owner with an office space, we've decided to look at a temporary school for our four year old.  He's ready to be challenged, and needs this year to begin his transition to schooling. 


The appointment is set for Monday to look at the school, measure it's philosophy against our goals for his education, and place my white glove test on the school to see if all of my beliefs about how children learn can be housed in one program. 

The deciding factor, lies in how they view active learning environments, spiritual development in young children, and how many learning centers children get to interact with throughout the school day.  The last factor of course is the teacher's philosophy and background in working with children. 

I'll let you know how it all pans out.  If it works, he'll start in September, if not.....well I'll be balancing the start of my agency in full-force and homeschooling in the same transition span.  Happy Homeschooling!

P. S.
My resources are building momentum as we speak.  I can already see that we will need a homeschooling room, or space outside of the home for our weekly lessons and interactions and a few families to share the journey with us.  I'll keep you posted on this as well.   

@home_education