(get ready for a long post).
I'll start by stating that I never intended to homeschool. LMS was going to go to preschool several mornings a week last year, then would start kindergarten this year. Kindergarten is full day here, so she would be gone the whole day, leaving me with vast amounts of time on my hands :) I could go running without the jogger or biking without the trailer, go shopping without her, have lots of time for crafts and other projects, and so on. It was going to be great :)
Shortly after we moved here last year I started getting the feeling we should homeschool. I'd already narrowed down our preschool choices before we moved, but never felt compelled to make a decision about which one to go with. I've learned from experience that when I get the prompting to do something (especially if it's difficult or something I hadn't planned on) I should pay attention and follow the prompting.
Getting my toes wet
In an effort to learn more about homeschooling I attended an LDS homeschool convention with Mr M shortly before he left on his deployment (where I met a girl I knew growing up who now lives in our state and is planning on homeschooling in a year or two when her kids are old enough) and I attended a larger homeschool convention after he left. I was able to gather lots of info and advertisements for curriculum (too much info, since it was hard to narrow down what direction we wanted to go).
Fall came and LMS stayed home with me. I joined a couple local yahoo homeschool groups and started picking up info about activities and opportunities available.
After Christmas we took the leap and signed up for a play class that I'd seen advertised on one of the yahoo groups. A month or so later we joined a co-op. She was only 4, but since I stayed in the class with her, and it's a small co-op, they didn't mind. At both activities we met local homeschoolers with kids close to LMS' age and we learned more about all that our area has to offer.
LMS exploring the meal worms at play class (they got to interact with them over a couple of weeks, seeing the changes in their life cycle).
During the spring I did some reading. I really liked what I read about Charlotte Mason and her methods, and then I read A Well Trained Mind. I loved it! A Well Trained Mind advocates the Classical education method, which Charlotte Mason is in a less-structured form. A Well Trained Mind discusses curriculum to use and includes lists of books to read kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'll do a post about Classical education and the classes we'll be doing another day- this post is super-long already.
In addition to schoolwork there are lots of supplementary activities. Music, sports, co-op classes and so on are all available for LMS to participate in.
LMS sitting on the ground in blue, playing at the splash park with other homeschooling friends on the first day of school
One thing we really have to watch out for is over-scheduling. This fall we'll do classes in the mornings, then Monday afternoon is our co-op, Tuesday afternoon is play class, Wednesday evening is soccer, Thursday afternoon is violin lessons, and Friday is field trip day (parks, museums, etc). Yikes- that's an activity every single day. While I'm ok with not having lots and lots of free time on my hands, I do still need some time to work on projects and LMS still needs some quiet time each day. We'll see how it all works out.
Next year our Tuesday play class will be switched for a sampler class of music and dancing at the local Irish music school. She's not old enough to attend till next fall, but I'm already looking forward to participating vicariously :) I'm also looking forward to learning Irish fiddle there once I've progressed enough on the violin (I'm taking lessons with LMS).
I've also found some nature study classes she can take when she's a little older. I'd love to be able to do them with her (or even teach her myself), but I'm so allergic to so many things out here that that's not a practical plan at this point.
Benefits
Despite my inital reluctance to homeschool, I've already discovered several benefits- some education-related, some not.
LMS' food issues are still not resolved completely- they're better, but not gone, and if she eats something that doesn't agree with her she still has accidents. Preschool would not have been good, but kindergarten would be way worse. Kids can be brutal. We don't want our daughter subjected to taunts and ridicule because of something she can't control. How damaging would that be?
I recently read an article about dyslexia and realized she's at risk for it- she's got an uncle with dyslexia and another with eye tracking problems (it can be genetic), and some of her words get twisted around (which can be a sign of dyslexia). Now that I know to be on the look-out, I will be super-aware as she learns to read this year. If she does have a problem, I want to find out now, rather than 5, 10 years down the road after she's had issues for years and hates learning because it's so frustrating.
More importantly, though, I get to spend more time with her (she really is fun to have around) and we can tailor her education- spending more time on things that interest her, taking advantage of all the great historical sites out here, and so on.
Mr M comes home for lunch most days, which we all enjoy. This is especially nice since he just returned from a year-long deployment and LMS really missed her daddy (so did I, but I can handle it better :) ). Being able to spend a little more time with him each day is a really nice benefit. If she was going to public school that wouldn't be possible.
There's also a side benefit for me: I get to learn/re-learn with her. I've forgotten so many things because of so many years of untreated celiac. It's really done a number on my memory and I'm looking forward to refilling my brain :)
Logistics
I know lots of families out there with lots of kids homeschool, and from what I've read it's definitely a juggling act. Since LMS is an only child right now I don't have to worry about splitting my time- she gets all my attention. We have started our adoption application, so hopefully our family will be growing in a year or so, and then we'll just take things as they come. One benefit of the younger grades is that they aren't super time intensive, so it's easier to fit everything in and I'm sure it'll all work out when we get to that point. In the meantime, we're going to enjoy the one-on-one attention.
Anything I didn't mention that you're curious about? Leave a comment or send me an email :)
Thanks for sharing. I think dealing with the food and accidents alone is reason enough to keep her at home since kids can be terribly cruel. That classical education sounds a lot like a "Thomas Jefferson" education that I had heard about from some other friends. And let me know what you find out about dyslexia - We've got the same genetics!!
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