Originally, the plan was to homeschool Elijah this year for Kindergarten. Then, we heard about an amazing part time classical school through our church here in Bellingham and we were sold. But then, we realized we'd be missing quite a bit of school and meetings this fall with a new baby coming and family visiting. SO...it's back to homeschooling for us!
Let me make this very clear - There are two things I was NEVER going to do in my life:
1. Become a pastor's wife.
2. Homeschool my kids.
The two things stated above are not bad things. I have so many friends who do both and are amazing women. I just never thought I had it in me! Well, when it comes down to it, I don't think I had much of a choice with either of them, and now, I am so so thankful both things are such a huge part of my life!
It's funny how the one effects the other. For us, Dan is very busy on weekends, so if Elijah was in school 5 hours a day throughout the week, we'd have no family time. As well, realizing that Kindergarten really should only be 1-2 hours of concentrated work made me want him home for those other 5 hours of the day. And what in the heck would I do with crazy Lazarus and a new baby all day??? Honestly, I need Elijah's help around here!!
There are more serious reasons why we've decided to homeschool, but many of them are just practical reasons. Who knows what we'll do next year! For now, I'm loving this extra time with my kids and the routine it's given us. Not to mention we're already planning to take 6 weeks off when the baby comes. How fun!!
I do LOVE what my friend has to say about why they chose to homeschool. Many of our reasons are the same but she does a great job explaining them all. I'm really thankful for the other teacher mamas who helped us figure out what to do this year. Even more thankful for the free curriculum and supplies we've been given. So far, we've spent $35 for school this year and best part - no tuition or uniform costs!!
We've been doing school at home for 6 days now. I'm NO expert and am definitely open for suggestions or tips or advice. It's a learning year for all of us, ha!
I wish more than anything in the world that homeschooling was the right choice for us again this year. I'm going to miss the ease and the comfort of having my babies home all day.
ReplyDeleteI thought about you this week as we began our schooling. you're not homeschooling again this year?? well, from what i can tell, it can change from year to year and we are totally open to anything! i do like hs though :)
ReplyDeleteWe're schooling my oldest this year with K12 online. I am totally with you on the whole Kindergarteners don't need to be in school all day and needing flexibility when Daddy is a pastor. Fri/Sat is our weekend and our family lives out of state, so she'd have to miss school every time we wanted to visit. I'm due next week and she starts school the following Monday. I love that with the online school, everything is planned out for me and all the supplies are provided free! It's the best of both worlds for us, especially as I figure out the whole "homeschool" and newborn thing (with a preschooler running circles around us, too!) We'll see how it goes and decide what we want to do next year when it's time to make that decision. :)
ReplyDeleteJen, congratulations on the baby! enjoy the flexibility as you all transition. Have you heard of the "blanket time" for toddlers?? i've been having lazzy stay on a blanket for 20 minutes with a special timer clock (i got it on amazon $20) while i do eli's phonics lesson. everything else is more hands on and flexible so lazzy can join us but that phonics lesson has got to be a set apart focused time. anyways, the blanket works!!!!
DeleteI hadn't but just saw your post about it! What a great idea! I'm definitely going to have to try it! Thankfully she'll be at preschool (at our church with Daddy just down the hall) 2 mornings a week. :)
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