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Friday, August 27, 2010

My favorite time of year!

Not too many years ago, this was the most depressing time of the year for me.  While most of the other parents were rejoicing in the new school year, I was mourning.  I hated sending my kids back to school, hated having to get back into an artificial schedule dictated by the school. . hated losing my kids again after a summer of fun.

But now I love this time of year!  We've had a great summer, and we'll continue the fun as we segue into a new school year--together.  We'll build on what we learned over the summer,  and we'll read new books, begin new subjects. . .what could be better?

Yes, we'll be back on a schedule--but it's one that works for us.  There will be reading and writing and assignments and math and labs and the like, but think of the learning!

The best thing is that we get to do it together.

I love homeschooling.

A new year in the homeschool

If you're not a homechooler, you might be surprised to see what the house of a homeschooler looks like this time of year.

I'm making a sweeping generalization here.  I know lots of homeschoolers work year around, and there wouldn't be much difference between April and August.  But in our house, there sure is.

This year, I made a point to clean and organize our school room early.  Our sweet little room is ready for the students; new books are on the shelves.  I've been pulling all of my teachers manuals and poring over them, making plans for all the bright and shiny empty weeks of our school year!

We're tackling quite a few subjects this year.  Catie is studying World History, along with an accompanying literature course, Shakespeare, biology, French II, Geometry, Geography and English composition.  David is also doing World History, Shakespeare, general science, 5/6 grade math, grammar and writing, geography and Spanish--oh, and they're both doing some art history, too.

As a homeschooling mom, every year is a new canvas.  We'll start out strong, and some new things will work; others might not, or they might need to be tweaked.  We begin the year with high hopes.

A few weeks into the school year, our neat schoolroom will look different.  There'll be books laid out, writing on the white board, papers in the teacher's inbox.  Kids will be curled up in chairs reading or sitting at the kitchen table doing math pages.

That's what homeschooling looks like.