Ahhhhhh! Can you believe it? Remember that post I wrote back in February about homeshooling? Well, we are officially on board! That post generated so many helpful comments and suggestions, that I knew what was tugging at my heartstrings was meant to be. I’m so thankful to have you all to discuss them with. :)
This will be a serious commitment, take up much of my work time since I have 2 businesses from home, but I believe it’s the right thing to do, and what’s right for our family. I am willing to get over my selfish desires to be kid-free on some of those “hard” days, and I am actually looking forward to TEACHING my children. Whew, I have a lot to learn. And a lot that I’m sure I’ll call my mom about. :)
Many people do it, and do it successfully. And after all, this is just kindergarten. We will take homeschooling year by year and evaluate how everyone is doing. If mommy and child are just terribly pathetic and miserable, then we will re-evaluate. We won’t be damaging Emma’s social environment or development because really, how much socialization do you need at 5 years old?! She can socialize with her crazy 2 year old sister is what I say. ;)
Curriculum:
I am pretty sold on ordering the Sonlight Curriculum. I feel I need everything laid out for me especially during this first year. I can’t write lesson plans every day and know what to do, so that’s why I want this spelled out in baby steps for me. Sonlight seemed like a happy medium between having some of the work done for you, while also being able to work from home, which is what I do. My friend Ashley from The Handmade Home uses Sonlight, and I’ve bothered her enough with hundreds of questions, but she has really enjoyed it thus far so if we completely fail at this, I blame her. :)
For the Homeschool Room:
Well that’s up in the air still.
Do I use our gameroom and dedicate part of it for the classroom, or do a full out classroom in the extra bedroom upstairs? Is it necessary to have a computer handy and tv? If so, then we should be in the gameroom. I can always add that stuff in the spare bedroom, but I don’t know if we really need it up there or not?
My thinking was that it would be good if me and Emma could do school in the gameroom while Ellie hopefully plays and occupies herself, but again, that’s a gamble. You don’t know how she will be from one day to the next. ;)
The thoughts of making the spare room into a fun homeschool room excites me, but I want my husband to have a place too that he can go and work in peace. So that’s why I am wondering if the gameroom would be sufficient if we dedicated half of that room to school.
What say you? Clearly I need help mommas.
xxoo,
Decorchick!
For our family-currently five school age and a baby- I have found that we enjoy a more central location. The one time we had a school room, we always seemed to migrate into the family room anyways. The main issue is storage, storage, and more convenient storage and of course some table space for proper posture to practice handwriting and draw. However, I find I prefer to most of my one-on-one time on my comfy love seat. It’s just where we always end up. I have a portable box with the basic flashcards, books, a pencil bag with a couple pens and dry erase, etc, one of those page sized dry erase boards, and other essentials that I use everyday. It is tucked back into a bookshelf the rest of the day. The rest of the school books and major school supplies are in shelving in the nearby laundry room Behind closed shelving. We also have a long hall that goes to the kid’s rooms and that is where we have the timeline and maps. That way we have everything up where we can see it all the time, but it doesn’t interfere with the main living area. I just can’t handle having my whole house look like a school room. That’s just what has worked for us. It’s so personal. With only one kindergartener, you may be able to get away with one box and a shelf. You will get your own style and method that works for you and then you can share it with the rest of us. Congratulations! I’m so excited for you embarking on this adventure. Don’t stress too much and enjoy this special time with your little gal.
Yay! How exciting! We homeschool, as well, and love it! We have our hard days but the benefits of homeschooling completely outweigh them.
What works for us is being close to the kitchen. It’s easier to grab snacks and prep/keep an eye on dinner. I think being near a computer is helpful. There’s a lot of days that we hit up Google to check facts and research topics a bit further.
We started with Sonlight and I am so grateful that we did. It was just what I needed to help keep my sanity while building my confidence in teaching until I felt like I could branch out to something a little more teacher intensive. It’s a great program and you will learn a lot!
Just take each day as it comes and try not to worry about if you chose the right thing to do. You will not regret spending these precious moments together. I promise!
You will love Homeschooling! This was our first year doing it..I had a 3rd and 6th grader to teach. Sometimes the road had bumps, but we made it thru it. I am looking more forward to the next year of it. I feel better prepared for it and know what works better and what I want to change,etc. We just school at our dining table, a desk in our family room..it all works. Wish you all the best in it! Enjoy the time with your kids!
Congratulations! We just finished our 8th year of homeschooling our 14 year old daughter. We began when she was in 2nd grade, so that means she’ll be in 10th grade next year!! It seems that every year is different and has its own challenges, but every year is rewarding. My daughter and I just attended the Great Homeschool Convention, which is a great time of encouragement and revitalization for me, and a time for her to hang out with her friends and attend some faith-strengthening teaching. All that to say, you CAN do this, and it will be very rewarding for you and your relationship with your children!
I was homeschooled from 4th-12th grade and I can say that homeschool was one of the best things my parents decided to do for us kids! You mentioned something about your daughter not being around other kids… Well there are TONS of homeschool support groups and co-ops out there. Especially in Houston! I was involved in a couple and I have friends who have kids that are involved with some sort of group/co-op. My mom has been a retired homeschool mom for over 4 years now and she still keeps in touch with her friends from the support groups.
Just a thought :)
We are in our sixth year of Sonlight and I just finished the kindergarten core with my youngest. You need a table to write at and a couch to read on. You will use the computer very minimally. We school at our kitchen table and have storage places for our books which are out of sight. This changes with each move we make (military), and while I would love a room just for school, the kitchen works just fine. ENJOY!!
As a homeschool mama of three boys aged 6-14, I find that even when we had a designated homeschool area, we were never there. My teen prefers to do school work sprawled on the family room floor. My middle son and I do most of his school on my bed, and my youngest and I do his on the floor or bed in his room. One of the best things about homeschool is that you DON’T have to follow the traditional classroom model. Figure out what works for your family. Where is there great natural light? A comfy chair or couch? I also have a pretty laid back approach to kindergarten. Make learning an adventure. Read out loud. Take field trips. Welcome and have fun!
Welcome! There are a number of us bloggers that homeschool. I always love to see it another blogger homeschooling their kids. We have a homeschool/craft room that is centrally located in the home so if we require the TV for a video, it is close by. The computer is located in our homeschool room. We use Oak Meadow Curriculum. The choices out there are endless. There are lot of events always planned within the home school community so check out your local area. When we first started homeschooling, we used our dining room table but that meant packing everything away when meal time came around so that wasn’t much fun. It’s nice to have a dedicated space but not necessary. I find my kids like to do their reading on the daybed in another room quietly while the other may be working on math, etc. Enjoy the journey. Don’t stress to much. There will be days where you will feel you didn’t accomplish much and that’s okay. Just remember life itself is learning.
Congratulations! It will go great!
Wahoo! We homeschooled K-2nd with our son and loved it. He is in school now because we moved away from home 2 yrs ago. I thought it would be good for him to meet kiddos that way. He has done very well in school and has made a lot of friends. That being said, we will start our little girl out at home just like we did with Jake.
As far as room I would start in the game room and make half of it a school room. You could always go upstairs if needed.
We homeschooled our kids for 15 years….K-12.
Planted 2 in college and one in the military.
It was the best decision we ever made, for them, for us and for our family.
I wish you nothing but luck and grace from God and can’t tell you how wonderful it is that
you have made the sacrifice to do this for your kids.
God Bless you all!~
Homeschooling is so prevalent now that there are local organizations that hold regular field trips which provide lots of opportunities for socialization. Whew! Longest sentence ever :)
So glad you decided to homeschool. WE love it. I am pretty organized and anal and love having a room dedicated to all the school stuff. i’d say start where it feels the best for you. i cant wait to hear how it goes!!
I don’t know how I missed your first post. I too have a soon-to-be Kindergarten. I just went and read your original post and it’s like I could have written it myself! HA! My biggest thing is that if I sent him to school, he’d be with someone who doesn’t love him like we do for more hours than with us. It’s crazy to think of letting my 5 year old out of the house for almost 8 hours a day! WHAT! And then homework on top of that. We are 95% sold on homeschooling. My husband will actually be the one doing it because I went back to work last year. It’s funny how God works things because I think he’ll be better at it than me. :-) We’re also considering Sonlight because it’s laid out for us. Good luck to you!!! I’ll be following along your progress. :-)
I’m a retired homeschooler – my son is a homeschool graduate & now married. We started at the kitchen table, then a few years later turned a spare room into a class room then gradually dropped a classroom al together. We found that we had ‘school’ everywhere. When he was younger, whereever I was working he would work. When he was older he liked to work in his room or on the couch in the living room. I think you shouldn’t go all out on a room until you learn how your daughter works best. You’ll try a few methods before you find her fit & it will change some as she grows.
Congratulations! I never dreamed I would be homeschooling my 3 kids, however, we just finished our 7th year. We have never had a homeschool room/space and we have managed just fine. We tend to gravitate toward the couch for subjects we do together then scatter to different rooms for individual subjects. We have an open floor plan, ranch home so all living areas and bedrooms aren’t too far away from one another. I agree with Jen Y and suggest waiting to commit a whole area to homeschooling until you see how your daughter likes to work.
Congrats! I have upcoming Kinder and 6th grade.We are going on year 4 of homeschooling and we love it! Some days are tough but the good days are so much more! We take it year by year and every year my girls say they want to continue to stay home. We have a classroom. We started in the spare room down stairs but I wanted more space so we moved upstairs to the game room. We don’t always do work upstairs. Sometimes we are at the island/dining room table. Sometimes the living room or outside on the trampoline or at the library/barnes and noble. We purchased our desks and book cases from IKEA. We have a TV in the game room as well but its rarely used. Because my husband is in the IT field we all have our own laptops. Makes it easier for me to dish out work and teaches them how to care for their own items Responsibility). Many days we work at the dining table because its easier for me to make meals while the work and if I need to answer any questions or explain something then they don’t have to run downstairs to get me. I wish you much success in your first year!
I am so pleased you’re starting out with homeschooling and you have the perfect attitude, make sure to remind yourself that it’s time to reassess if learning loses its ‘fun’ factor.
I spent 9 years in state education in the UK, 9 years of preaching that learning is fun when the environment and materials are stimulating but more than anything relate to the real world around the child. So many children were chastised for not doing this or that and so much frustration was dished out when something was not correct by the end of the unit. Madness!
We learn incredibly complicated processes, like walking, because we want to – work on that principal. Remember too how encouraging, joyful and full of praise you were for every small element of progress and how you were not frustrated when bottoms hit the floor day after day; how you learned more about your own child by watching her try and succeed. That’s the way you should approach homeschooling too.
Routine, relevance, joyful encouragement, bucket loads of praise and no limits to how many times something can be attempted – just the way you have been since the day they were born. Good luck.
We are now entering our tenth year of homeschooling. My oldest is going to be a freshman (how did that happen???), and we have used Sonlight from the beginning. We spend most of our time at the kitchen table and on the sofa in the family room. Best wishes as you start this journey.
So happy you decided to homeschool, if I was stable financially, I would have. My son hated school, not the work, the environment, attitude and behaviors of the teachers and the kids were mean, I had to bring him to and from school because he got migraines and headaches from the schoolbus, he would come home and sleep after school and not wake up until the next day. He quit 2 months into grade 10.
If I had the means he would have been a happy, well, adjusted kid but I was working part time because of the schoolbus issue and that made it hard.
I could hardly wait until you “build” your homeschool room! You are building one right? hint, lots of blackboard painting ideas out there!
Hi Emily,
I just wanted to say that I am proud of you for thinking outside of the box and considering all your options. I think it’s great that you made a decision that is best for your family, even in the face of criticism. I support any Mommy who carefully and thoughtfully makes choices to better her children.
Very best of luck to you – you all will do great!
Hi Emily, I’m a fellow YL Dist. We are starting a blended program this fall with my youngest (7) and hoping around Christmas time for my other son (9) to follow. We are checking it out for the first time this year and praying it goes well. Never thought I’d be a homeschooler but I’m actually looking forward to it. Good Luck to you and thanks for posting so I can learn from all these other people as well. Tina
Good luck with homeschooling, I am sure you will enjoy the fun experience. I personally did it for a child for more than 5 years and the experience was fun learning and teaching. Will be waiting to read about the first session, Hope you will share it soon :)
Congratulations! You are about to embark on a wonderful, happy, frustrating, rewarding, imperfect journey! We have three children we’ve homeschooled all along, the eldest of whom just graduated and will be headed to college in the fall. I am ever so thankful for the freedom to homeschool that we still enjoy in this country. (We need to guard it closely!) We’ve found our children have become vertically socialized, not horizontally socialized, which is a huge benefit. And one of the most rewarding aspects of schooling at home has been witnessing the process by which my children discover their individual talents and creativity, and allowing them to pursue those interests on a daily basis.
So excited for you!
As a mom who home schooled for eleven years, after Waldorf kindergarten and first grade, I can say it was the best choice we could have made. My son is now a rising junior at a top state university, double majoring in aerospace engineering and physics with a certification in business as well. He loves to learn, which is the best thing I could possibly have taught him, IMO. And no, his socialization never suffered. This is the constant concern of non-homeschoolers everywhere, and it’s just not an issue for diligent parents. Children who have plenty of interactions with people in all walks of life will learn to deal with everybody, not just their age peers. My son volunteers for admissions regularly, where he is very popular because he chats with both parents and prospective students easily. BTW, we used the Sonlight curriculum extensively through about middle school, although we went much more academic for high school (had a lot of math and science requests!). Their literature based approach makes things fun. Congratulations on your choice, and I hope it works as well for you as it did for us.