Homeschooling (part 2)

Max had been attending a wonderful middle school.  He was in band, playing the trombone, theater, and all the other fun classes that come with middle school.  He was well liked by teachers and students and seemed to be enjoying himself. 

However, for a number of reasons that are more related to school policy and things from his 5th grade year that were continuing to haunt us, we decided to homeschool him this year too. 

Again, we put much thought, prayer and even had Max make a chart of pros and cons.  Nate and I also weighed our options together separately.  We all came to the same conclusion (well, quite honestly, I am SUCH a band geek and LOVE public school for the most part, that I was the one having a really hard time with it....maybe it was also having both kids home - could I do it? would I be ruining his future life because of one year at home - would he learn what he needs to?!)  Anyway, like I said, we decided to go for it -- for a year.  Like I mentioned with our decision for Elise to homeschool, we will evaluate again for each year (but secretly, I'm hoping they can go back to school next year - BUT of course, what would be best for each child?) 

Sooooo, I'll go over some of the perks and positive points I've found about homeschooling. 

1. First of all I am impressed by the subjects they each have.  They each have spelling (which our previous principal did not encourage because "why even bother when there's spell check?" - what?!), math, reading, science, geography, composition, grammar, poetry, computer skills, and then Max has history and art/art history, while Elise has Social Studies and art.  
2. Not only do they study these subjects, but most of the time the subjects are coordinated in some way. (i.e. - Reading is about Rome at the same time History is focusing on ancient civilizations).  
3. I can teach them other things that I've wished they've been able to learn but haven't so far and they can choose things they'd like to learn in addition to the subjects they have.

• I'd like their penmanship to be better
• They both want to learn a language
• Max wants to learn about computer programming
• Being able to fit into their schedule things that normally would make the entire family super busy (learning an instrument, or sewing, or cooking, etc.) Those are all things we've done during the summer but it's nice to keep up with them.  

     4. I was a teacher, but I did not want to make up my own curriculum!  So, I was pleased to find that there are on-line public schools.  The K-12 public school was too large and would have had to find my own co-op.  Some friends at church told me about the homeschooling group in Leavenworth, KS that is done through the public school there.  It was only $50 per child (but my fee was waived both years because I told another family about it and they enrolled too)!  Basically, for both years, I've gotten all the text books, plus lesson manuals, key checks, tests, handwriting papers, art papers, and all their other material for free!  (The "other material" included math compasses, wires, beakers, thermometers, iron shavings and magnets, measuring scales, and tons of other things to help with science experiments.)

     5. The fact that we get together with our co-op every Friday for P.E. from a P.E. teacher, get instructional learning about a yearly theme from certified teachers, and get to go on themed field trips once a month is another thing I really like about homeschooling. 

Will we be doing homeschooling for the rest of the kids' school careers? Probably not.  Are we currently enjoying it?  Most definitely!

On a hike with some friends (we were trying geocaching).