#3 Reason to Homeschool

When I decided to homeschool, I wrote a list of reasons why I was choosing this journey for my family.  One of the items on the list was that I wanted my children to have the ability to remain children as long as possible, something I knew would be increasingly difficult if they were in a traditional classroom each day.

I want my children to build a solid foundation before going out into the world.  I want them to be who they were born to be, not waver due to peer pressure at an early age.  As a result, I have two daughters who are passionate about nature, science and Star Wars and a son who enjoys cooking, art, and playing dolls with his sisters...along with all of your other traditional girl/boy interests. 

When August was two I purchased a boy Bitty Baby for him.  I was pregnant with Martha and I thought he'd enjoy having a baby to take care of alongside me when his little sister was born.  Since the day he arrived, his baby Max has been played with and well taken care.  Over the years, as we've purchased American Girl dolls for his sisters, August has questioned why they don't make a boy doll ("They could start an American Boy division of the company," he says).  And so this year, when he asked again, I started my hunt to find a boy doll.

Henry, an 18" boy doll by Gotz I purchased from Pottery Barn Kids ($89), joined our family this Christmas and August is thrilled.  Along with the doll, he received custom-made boy clothes for Henry and a bag to keep all of his gear in.  My husband is making Henry a bed for August's birthday next month.

I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to hear all three of my children playing together with their dolls.  Lanie, Kit and Henry have had tea parties and lightsaber duels, gone ice skating and fishing, and played house. I cannot wait to see what their next adventure will be! 

This is why I homeschool.

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! (: