School Is In Session

The kids (and I) were so excited when the box of curriculum materials was put by the door this morning. We immediately opened it and I organized my binder. What fun! As soon as I closed it, August asked, "So, can we start school today?" I thought I better take advantage of the excitement...so we began.

It was magical having the kids gathered together to read.  I felt like we were at the right place at the right time...like our lives were proceeding according to plan.

August's favorite part of the day was when I told him he could finally write in his First Grade Journal, a binder I put together for him. It's full of blank white and lined pages. The plan is for him to write or draw about his favorite part of homeschooling each day. Today he wrote about the box showing up at the door.

The school year is off to a great start!

Order Complete

It's official, all of our homeschool supplies are ordered! It feels good! No, it feels great! And we're very excited to get started! Next week we're indulging in one last family vacation (when everyone else will be back in school) and then the following week we'll begin.

I'll be traveling to New York City the following week to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart Show, a lifelong dream of mine. I've already told the kids to expect a substitute teacher those days (it'll be nice for my husband to get a feel for our routine those two days).

The next step will be for the rest of the materials to arrive. I'm excited to get the instructional binder together and look through the teaching manuals. I think all of us have a small child inside and love new school supplies and organization in the fall. I know I do. And my house is showing it!

Update:  My husband didn't touch the homeschool materials while I was gone...but that doesn't mean he wasn't teaching!

Never-Ending Summer

Today is a very rainy day, and according to the 7-day forecast, we're in for an entire week of the same. Luckily, we've truly made the most of our summer this year and the great weather Wisconsin has been gifted with. So taking this week off to stay inside will be restful and a welcome calm. I have a few art projects in mind to do with the kids and a couple of ideas of places to take them when we're going stir crazy.

I remember last week Sunday when I woke up and realized it was August already. I immediately felt a bit sad...like summer was coming to and end...and how I would miss it so. And then I remembered that was not the case for my family. Because of homeschooling, summer isn't over until we say it is! And the togetherness, flexibility and freedom summer provides, will actually be with us all year long! That is a very welcome thought for someone living in cold Wisconsin!

We can still hit the beach on hot September days and have picnics even in the snow.  I can't wait to discover all of the other opportunities homeschooling will give our family!

Homeschool ID Cards

I just found out that the state of Wisconsin is changing their system to register your child as home-educated. They used to do a triple-ply form but are now upgrading to an online registration page...that won't be available until the first week in September (although the first time I was told about this by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction it was supposed to be up and running by the first week of August).

Because I'm unable to file with the state of Wisconsin at this time, I'm unable to qualify for teacher discounts at our local Learning Shop store and other book stores. This got me thinking of other ways to start getting the discount sooner rather than later. So I Googled homeschool ID card and found this great site, Homeschool Buyers Co-op, where you can purchase or print (at home for free) ID cards for both home educators and homeschooled children that look like the sample one above.

I'm going to give this card a try this weekend at the local educator's shop...I'll let you know how it works!

Target's Dollar Section

I don't know what I'd do without Target...for so many areas of my life. My husband says that Target love is divided down gender lines. Every single women I know gets giddy at the mention of the store and my husband says that when Target is brought up at work all of the men roll their eyes. Obviously it has to do with spending.

Women are classically the ones to make a house a home, so it makes sense that we enjoy all of the seasonal decorations, home goods, and things we didn't know we couldn't live without, while men traditionally watch the pocketbooks. Both charicteristics are needed and should be appreciated in a relationship. At least those are my two cents.

Anyway, I had an exciting trip to Target Tuesday night. I walked in with the sole purpose of returning a few things and happened to glance at the dollar section at the front of the store. And a light bulb went on...I realized that they probably had just received some new items since it was just past the 4th of July. And I was right!

I headed over there and proceeded to find 27 items I needed. And all were home education-related. I found flash cards, a wipeable map of the United States with facts for each state, dry erase practice boards for printing, cursive writing, and math, some workbooks for my pre-K daughter to do while I'm working with my 1st grade son, a few novels I've been wanting to read aloud to the kids, some math, time, and number bingo games, and more! I was smiling ear to ear when I left, thinking of friends I needed to call to let in on the new shipment secret.

So, if you're looking for some things to keep your children busy for the remainder of summer, or are like me and looking for some bargains to pepper your homeschooling day, check out your local Target store! But shhh, don't tell my husband! (:

It's Official!

Well, it's official...today I notified August's school that he would not be returning in the fall. In place of new school I wrote he will be educated at home. Feels great! Feels scary! Feels overwhelming! Feels exciting! Feels a million things at once. But when I get to the core, I smile...I know I'm doing the right thing for August, for his sisters, for me, and for our family.

The Decision

You know those friendships you see in the movies and on TV? The kinds where women understand each other and are there for each other...no cattiness or jealousy? The kind that are true and real? Well, I'm fortunate enough to have one of those with my dear friend Heather.

Heather is a solid woman who is an amazing wife and an incredible mother to three children...who are great friends to mine. And today, she changed my life.

I was discussing my thoughts on homeschooling with her for the thousandth time (she's very patient). I was telling her, once again, how it was something my husband and I had always entertained doing...especially when we lived in the city of Milwaukee (Bay View, to be exact) and also when we owned a hobby farm in rural Belgium (the city in Wisconsin, not the country). But when we moved to our current town, where the schools are wonderful, we questioned ourselves because homeschooling was no longer a necessity.

The issue has been troubling me more lately because my son August will be in first grade next year...full day. He currently attends kindergarten. He (and another lovely little girl) are the only ones who go half day (2.5 hours) in the morning...the rest of both kindergarten classes go full day. Fortunately, the teachers and children in his class are wonderful and it's never been an issue. In fact, I've never really had an issue with the school. I can't think of anything bad to say about it. Which is why the decision to homeschool has been a tough one.

Heather and I were talking about our town's great schools once again, but then I began, for the zillionth time, telling her the reasons I feel homeschooling is right for my family...here are a few of them:

• We are a tight family with a pack mentality.
• I want our children to not only be siblings, but to be friends...rooted in endless time together in the early years truly getting to know each other.
• I believe socializing children is not done simply by peers their age but by all humans who interact with respect and truly model positive social situations. That can be with the man who works at the grocery store, children at the library and parks, or the single neighbor across the street who shares her abundant homegrown vegetables.
• Our children learn better through hands-on processes they can relate to...unfortunately, lessons like that are the exception in most schools and not the norm.
• Our children are intense individuals who have many passions (movie-making, art, photography, music, and many other time-consuming hobbies).  I want them to have endless fee time to hone their skills and discover their callings.
• We are a Christian family and would like to incorporate faith into their learning.
• My husband and I were both education majors in college, three years each, before we both changed our majors to communications (what a coincidence). So we've learned a thing or two about how children learn and how best to do it.
• I've read a lot of research on education and children's development and have learned that children typically do better in a school environment when they enter at age 8 or later.
• I feel like if I don't give it a shot, it'll be a huge regret.

But most importantly, when everything is boiled down, I've just always had a feeling that it would work for my family. And that is what matters. It needs to be a good fit for everyone involved...including my husband who would have to be understanding that some nights when he gets home from work, there may still be work to do...or I may have to get out of the house for a much-needed break. And he is on board with that.

I was ranting on and on when Heather stopped me and said, "Shannon, I think you should do it. I think that if you don't at least give it a shot, you'll regret it. And this is the year to try since Martha has one year before kindergarten." And just like that she cleared my head and made the skies part. Just like that I knew I was going to homeschool next year.

I instant-messaged my husband and said, "I've decided to homeschool." He replied, "OK - no argument from me!"