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

A Meeting to Share

Today, I had the opportunity to spend time with a friend, and homeschooling mom of 10 years.  She shared her experience with homeschooling her two children and continued to reiterate that homeschooling is a "lifestyle".  As I entered her home, quiet music played, the table was set with goodies and we sat and just talked. 



The gift of hospitality, and friendship reminds me to take time to share in small ways with those who enter my home.  Thank you Jenny for opening your home to me today and sharing your homeshcooling experience with me.

Let the journey begin....

Well this is the beginning of a journey as a homeschooling parent!  I've just spent the last two days attending the OCHEC conference.  Oklahoma City Home Educators Conference at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.  This is my second year attending.  The first year was when Jason was 6 months old, in 2007, and now four years later, I'm here again ready to begin.

The vendors just laughed at me the first year, as I pushed the stroller with my infant son in tow.  "So how old are your children?  They asked. "  I just have one, he's 6 months old.  I knew at that point that homeschooling was what we wanted to do.  I say, we because both my husband and I are in agreement to homeschool, our boys.  Now two, instead of just one. 

So this year, I was purposeful in looking at materials, discovering what philosophy we wanted to go with, what curriculum if any is needed for the first few years.  I attended two workshops, both six dvds of the sessions I missed but wanted to attend, and now the journey begins. 

Purposeful Planning
I've shared the first days findings with my husband of 11 years, and now we have to sit down and plan out the strategies and how to approach homeschool the boys.  I'm really excited about what will unfold, and how we will be on this journey for the next 18 years.

I heard loud and clear the importance of character development, bible study, devotions, and understanding your child's learning styles throughout the conference.  The other thing that rang clear, was the idea of habit forming.  I like the concept, so now it's off to discover more of how to begin. 

This is the first of many post of our journey, and will create a manual for other homeschooling families just starting the journey.  Come with us as we share, impart, and discover this whole new world.   Kelly

Next blog:  Why homeschooling?