I find myself spending more and more time researching educational activities to do with Abby now that our outdoor playtime is rather limited. I get sucked into reading about curriculum and content standards, looking at pictures of various classroom set-ups, and assessment options. It's really enough to make my head hurt. It's hard to believe that I have until September 2015 before I really need to be worried about this.
I have been working on writing out exactly why it is that I want to homeschool because I think it's very important to have clear reasons and goals for everything you do. My primary reason for wanting to homeschool is that I am a control freak. There. I said it. Now, can we move on?
Our state does not regulate or monitor homeschools, which is both a blessing and a curse I suppose. This just leaves me with more options. Options are good, unless you have a hard time making decisions. Funny, I can order a coffee like no one's business, but choose a homeschool curriculum? No way. This could determine whether or not my daughter likes to read, or paint, or play piano, or none of the above. It could determine whether or not she gets into Yale, or even wants to go to college at all. This is HUGE. To me, this decision is bigger than buying a house in the right school district, or choosing the right outfit on picture day, or the right dress for senior prom. This is one of the millions of decisions I have the opportunity, or blessing, of making that will undoubtedly affect my child(ren) for their entire adult lives.
No pressure, right? Eeek. What happened to cloth or disposable, homebirth or hospital, vaccines or no?
If I were rich I could purchase the best pre-packaged curriculum on the market and it would provide a day by day plan of what we're to do. I could buy all of the expensive equipment and materials she would need to be an A+ student. I'd mail in samples of Abby's work and that would be that.
Since I am far from rich, that's not really an option. So, I could fly by the seat of my pants and teach what I feel like teaching when I feel like teaching and when she feels like learning it. I can spend countless hours online searching for free printable activity guides and even more time collecting materials for projects that might "someday" take shape. I guess I would just cross my fingers and hope that I cover everything before she's 18. This method seriously appealed to me at first. Teach what she wants to learn? What an interesting concept. I could dive into this more and go on and on about how and why I think it would work best, but I'd really just be trying to convince myself, so I won't.
The option that, at the moment, seems to be the most attractive to me is enrolling in a virtual academy or a distance learning program. Most of them are free public schools. They pick a curriculum for you, they deliver them to you, they coach you through it, they assess the learning, and they hold you accountable. It sounds so simple and sublime. Is this a homeschool cop out? Will it provide enough flexibility in lesson planning? Will it nurture her interests or teach to a test in a different setting?
I just don't know at this point. Thankfully I still have some time to figure it out.
I have been working on writing out exactly why it is that I want to homeschool because I think it's very important to have clear reasons and goals for everything you do. My primary reason for wanting to homeschool is that I am a control freak. There. I said it. Now, can we move on?
Our state does not regulate or monitor homeschools, which is both a blessing and a curse I suppose. This just leaves me with more options. Options are good, unless you have a hard time making decisions. Funny, I can order a coffee like no one's business, but choose a homeschool curriculum? No way. This could determine whether or not my daughter likes to read, or paint, or play piano, or none of the above. It could determine whether or not she gets into Yale, or even wants to go to college at all. This is HUGE. To me, this decision is bigger than buying a house in the right school district, or choosing the right outfit on picture day, or the right dress for senior prom. This is one of the millions of decisions I have the opportunity, or blessing, of making that will undoubtedly affect my child(ren) for their entire adult lives.
No pressure, right? Eeek. What happened to cloth or disposable, homebirth or hospital, vaccines or no?
If I were rich I could purchase the best pre-packaged curriculum on the market and it would provide a day by day plan of what we're to do. I could buy all of the expensive equipment and materials she would need to be an A+ student. I'd mail in samples of Abby's work and that would be that.
Since I am far from rich, that's not really an option. So, I could fly by the seat of my pants and teach what I feel like teaching when I feel like teaching and when she feels like learning it. I can spend countless hours online searching for free printable activity guides and even more time collecting materials for projects that might "someday" take shape. I guess I would just cross my fingers and hope that I cover everything before she's 18. This method seriously appealed to me at first. Teach what she wants to learn? What an interesting concept. I could dive into this more and go on and on about how and why I think it would work best, but I'd really just be trying to convince myself, so I won't.
The option that, at the moment, seems to be the most attractive to me is enrolling in a virtual academy or a distance learning program. Most of them are free public schools. They pick a curriculum for you, they deliver them to you, they coach you through it, they assess the learning, and they hold you accountable. It sounds so simple and sublime. Is this a homeschool cop out? Will it provide enough flexibility in lesson planning? Will it nurture her interests or teach to a test in a different setting?
I just don't know at this point. Thankfully I still have some time to figure it out.
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