Wow....It's Been a LONG Time!

So, I've fallen off of the bloggy bandwagon in grand fashion!  :-)  But, I do think I've had (semi) good reason, as there's been many changes in our home over the last several months!  We realized very quickly after the new school year started that things just were not going well for our 6 year old in public school this year.  He's a very bright kid, and an even busier one!  Apparently, those two things don't mesh very well at the school he was in and was resulting in numerous behavior problems for him, to which he always replied with something like, "But mom!  I finished ALL my work and got a smiley face on it.  So why can't I talk and play when I finish???"

I began praying about how to proceed and finally approached my husband with the idea of trying out K12, an online public school option here in our state.  Much to my surprise, he was supportive.   I took his blessing & ran with it, doing all sorts of research, phone calls, etc. But the more research I did, the more restrictive I found the program to be. Kids are expected to work for 6-7 hrs a day, lots of repetition, lots of computer time, very little tailored curriculum....basically public school, but at home.

So again, I prayed and then went to my husband with the thought of "doing it myself". He was supportive and said he trusted my decisions in regards to the kids' schooling, and that as long as they were learning & progressing as they should, I could handle it as I chose. I pulled out lots of my old school stuff and put together a few days worth of work. The week after Thanksgiving we kept him home for a trial run. By Wednesday he was begging to do "school at home" every day & cried when we mentioned going back to school for a few days. I googled & found a homeschool association and quickly joined so we wouldn't be sited for truancy and they handled everything in regards to withdrawing him and getting him "legal" within about 36 hours. They were fabulous.

Things were definitely a little haphazard and bumpy in the beginning as we muddled through our days, waited on curriculum to arrive in the mail, and figured out what worked & didn't work for us, but we've finally settled into a groove.  We're using a modified version of the Sue Patrick's Workbox system, very much like the one used at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  If you've never checked out her blog, do so.  Now.  It's fantabulous.

Oh, and I also quit my preschool position as of January.  It was just impossible to homeschool my son properly being away from home two mornings a week.  As much as I loved getting out of the house a little bit and enjoyed the extra income I was earning for my family, my husband & I believe that my place is at home for now.  There are only a few precious years to spend while the littles are little, and I want to be the main presence in their lives, teaching and guiding them each day.  It's been a blessing to be able to focus on my family and my home so much and I love every minute of it (or at least most minutes of it! lol)

I'll try to get back here soon and post more details of our homeschooling days for anyone that's interested!


Blessings from my home to yours!
~K