"plant a seed and watch it grow"

There is nothing more rewarding then to see my daughter figure a problem out(regardless if it's English and finding a noun or verb.. or a Math problem.. or sounding out a "big" word all on her own..) and she looks up at me with such excitement in her eyes.. and a BIG smile on her face (something I might add I would miss if she would be in public school) and say to me "Mommy, I did it.. I did it all by myself!" How great is that?? Since we started home school (yes.. in just a short amount of time.. but just comes to show how fast things change in such a short period of time) my daughter has picked up on a lot.. for example.. before we started home school she never knew.. what a noun or verb was.. how to add and subtract .. how to write a sentence..that a verb is a word that tells what a noun is doing.. what a long hand and a short hand means on a clock..knowing her left from her right.. able to memorize spelling words and sight words..and have me verbally call them out to her and she can spell them with out any help..The list could go on and on.. But my point is.. I am teaching her all this..In ways she understands.. and is able to sponge it all up..and I feel very proud of myself and her, because I know how well she is doing.. She is already way ahead of all of her old school mates.. (I know this, because we have been working on a whole grade level work book higher then they were in her old class room in a public school)  So, when all of her old school mates are starting the new school year at the beginning  of  the first grade level my daughter will be over half way done with 1st grade work and beginning of 2nd grade! :)  

Well, that's all for now.. Feel free to comment if you want.. but only if it's nice :)

Able to relax before we start.

Like this morning.. I woke up at 7:15.. A little before I usually do (only by like 20 minutes).. I came down and was able to relax a little..My daughter even woke up and was able to sit and relax next to me.. Instead of our old morning routine.. had to get up when I wasn't ready to get up.. some mornings only have about 15 minutes to myself..(if I didn't get up at 6:30am) Then at 7:15 I would go in to the kitchen and fix my daughters oatmeal in the micro wave.. and then go up stairs and wake her up.. and fight with her to get up and get dressed.. ( it would usually be a fight every morning..) then rush down stairs.. and have her eat and while she was eating I would make her lunch for school..Then get her shoes on.. Brush her hair and teeth.. then we only had 5 minutes before we had to leave.. Bottom line is.. We had to rush..but now.. We can take our time.. We still start at 8:30 in the morning.. but I allow my daughter to sleep until 8 o'clock instead of waking her up at 7:15.. Usually she will wake up before then.. but on her own time and she is much happier in the morning. She has time to take her time and eat and not have to be rushed.

So in our day.. We start at 8:30.. we finish around 11.. then we are done with our school work for the day.. Then I fix lunch.

I then do any chores that need to be done.. I make myself stay busy in the afternoons..Like today.. I need to wash laundry..Wash dishes.. go to the bank.. buy groceries.. put gas in the van.. etc.. I also have to get things ready for my daughters birthday party with our neighbors this Saturday..

I can honestly say that I keep busy..Get my daughters school work done..and what a "Stay-At-Home-Mom" should do in a day.. I feel very accomplished at the end of my days.. We are all very happy..

Well. That's all for now.. Feel free to comment if you want.. As long as it's nice :) 

"our classroom is just where ever we happen to be.."

This morning we knew we had someplace to go.. so we just got up a little later then we would normally.. We got up a little after 8:00 this morning..(Well, I was up and awake before then..and took my shower) My daughter on the other hand just woke up when she wanted.. And came in to her dad and my bedroom as I was getting dressed.. and climbed up in to our bed and laid back down.. After I was dressed I sat on the bed with her.. and we played, and talked about things.. and then of course, woke her dad up.. (Oh well, he had to wake up anyways... Like I said it was after 8 o'clock in the morning)  I had her get dressed and tell me what she wanted for breakfast. Then I went down stairs and told her once she was done to come meet me down stairs to eat breakfast.. Anyways, Since we were not able to start our normal time of 8:30.. We took her work with us..I dropped her dad off at a place to get what her needed to get done.. While waiting in the van for my husband to come out from his meeting we got started on her school work.. It helped pass the time.. and It also help us not get to far behind on our schedule today.. Once we got back home, I told my daughter to go up to our "class room" and sit at her desk..We finished our work, and then had time for art before it was time for lunch. She loves the days we do art projects. This is what she made today as her art project.. (she gets to pick out what she wants to do and she is able to make it her own..)

 

Well, that's all for today.. I will write again soon, Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment.. as long as it's nice :)

An inside look at our "class room"

Our awesome calender :)

My daughters All Star wall..With all her GREAT work :)

Her "sight words" from last week..She knew them very well.

My Kindergarten girl is working on 1st Grade work..And is not struggling with it..Her mind is a sponge :)

Her Handwriting book

Working on her Math..Yes this is 1st Grade level.

Working on telling time and the Value of money..Already :)

Working in her handwriting book

She is working on Verbs.. again this is 1st Grade level :)

Her "sight words" for this upcoming week..PS.. she already knows them.

"find the ending sounds"

She knows what Nouns are..

Again.. finding the ending sounds

She was able to spell these words all on her own..and found all the vowels in each word :)

We are still working on some Kindergarten.. Such as practicing her hand writing.. and sight words (which she is getting a lot better at..and it helps her reading skills, too.

Well Thanks for reading.. feel free to leave comments.. as long as its nice :)

Homeschooling.. and Why I chose to go that road..

So, Yes.. "The cat is out of the bag".. We are homeschooling. Here is my story..And maybe even help others understand and answer their question.."WHY?"

This is something I have been giving a lot of thought for a long while. I started to think about it when my daughter was in pre-school and she was about to start Kindergarten.. I toyed with the idea..Even debating on if I would even be able to or not.. I thought.. "could I do this?" At times I would think.. "No, don't even get started.. you will be in way over your head.." It wasn't until my daughter actually started in Public school in Kindergarten (which keep in mind this is just recently.. since she is 5 and will be 6 on the 19th of Feb.)I started to reproach the subject about homeschooling again.. I started to do research..Asking questions to people who have already been homeschooling. The thought entered my mind.."What if I do start this.?. Where would I even begin?..How would I know what to do..? How would I know I am doing things right..?"

Well, I found a form of a group of ladies from all over that helped me out greatly.. and answered all the questions I had..Sent me to websites for my state. Read all the requirements I would need to do in order to have this all work out.. I felt a lot better about things now that I knew what I had to do..And.. How to get things started.

I did talk to my daughter (and try to explain it in a way she would understand what I was asking her) I asked her how she would feel if we would do school at home.. and explained to her that she would not be in a big class room with other kids.. or have to go to big school.. and told her if we had school at home that it would just be me and her. She shook her head and said she would like that..

How I made up my mind and made my final decision to homeschool..

I  started to see how my daughter was coming home telling me things.. that I know she didn't hear at home..(for example she came home one day and told me "mommy, let's touch tongues..")  I know that is something she didn't hear or see at home. Another reason is.. I know she was not happy.. She would wake up in the morning and ask if she had school today.. and I told her yes..and she would say.."oh, dang it".. or something along that line.. Her homework was also getting fairly easy for her.. There was no challenge,really. Also..at some points there are some weak points where she would need a little more help then others..and the teacher is not able to just sit one on one with her to explain it to her. Where we live the school district is not the greatest..However, I would have made this choice regardless of the school.

Homeschool is not just a cup of tea.. and you can just have school on the days you want..Umm, No.. there is a little more to the picture then just freedom ..I looked up the state requirements for where we live (in North Carolina to be exact) IF you homeschool, you may start at anytime of year you want. (if you pull them out of school in the middle of public school, like we did I would just say go until May or June until the school year is technically over for the summer for public school) For our us here in NC (this is how it or near to it in any state) you have to have "school" 9 calender months (equivalent to 180 days) Some may choose the traditional school year calender from say August to May/June depending on starting date.. and some may choose to follow the year-around calender school year.. Which totals the same amount of 180 days.. That's just up to you what you want to do.. You may homeschool at any age. But once the child turns 7 years old they have to be registered with the state.. and you have to come up with a school name (the name of your homeschool) and let them know your address.. your name.. and the name of your child of the age of 7 and older. Like right now I will not have to do this until Jan. 19th 2012.. That will be a month (30 days) before she turns 7.  Once they are 7 (keep in mind this may vary by state.. I am just giving you info on my state) they will have to be tested by the state to make sure they are "up to par" on their grade level..and to make sure they are learning what they need to ..

Phew..that was a mouth full.. but something very important to know..


We only just started homeschooling, but since we started I have already started to notice a big difference in my daughters attitude. She is a lot happier. We are actually working on 1st grade curriculum.."What.. a kindergarten student already working on 1st grade level work.. wouldn't that be to hard for her..?" Actually, No.. Unless if she is showing signs of struggling or she is just not getting it ..Which then we wouldn't be working on it already..However, She is doing wonderfully with it.. Her mind in like a sponge. She is learning things I know she wouldn't be learning yet in public school..So in a way she is already above grade level..I say.. if she is doing stuff she already knows.. and not challenging her mind then what good it that? Time to move on..You don't have to be a genius or even a college grad. to teach your child on your own (some states might require you to be a college grad. to be able to homeschool..but that depends on the state you live in.. for this state you only need is a high school diploma/GED.)

Our day in a nut shell..
I usually wake up before my daughter does.. I use the time before I go wake her up  to go down and watch TV.. get on Facebook.. etc.. At 8:15 I go in to the kitchen and make my daughter's breakfast..Usually by that time she is already awake. Then she goes down and eats her break fast.. By 8:30 am we begin our school day.We begin with her weekly sight words. I have her write them and find the vowel in each one. After that we work in her hand writing book.. Once she finishes that I have her work in her work book..(see photo below)

This book has all 5 subjects she needs

Once she gets through her sight words, hand writing, and all 5 subjects in her work book it is nearly 11:00am.. So you can see.. It's not just work for 30 minutes and your done..There is work they have to get done..Just like if they would be in a public school.. Once we are done with school we able to have lunch together..and we work on dishes, laundry or whatever needs to be done..(you got to have time for the not so fun things too.. ;) )

Fun facts about Homeschooling:

1. You set your own schedule what works best for you.
2. You don't have to send them away to a school and have no idea what goes on in school..and if they are being honest about what goes on.
3. Your child gets one on one time(which is good especially if they do not learn the same as other kids do.
4. Every day can be a PJ day if you feel like it (most of our days are)
5. Take a family vacation on a "off season" (when it's cheaper to go)
6. If you move you don't have to worry about  all the paper work and "up rooting" them from their school work.
7. They don't have to miss school if there is a "snow day"
8.  You can take week breaks if you want..If you have something else going on(such as family coming to visit.. having a baby..they get the flu.. or just want to take a break) you can do so with out waiting for a "school assigned break" or summer.. Just keep in mind though.. It is good to take breaks every once in a while.. but just remember they do need to have 180 days of school and unless if you want to do school during summer you need to not take to many breaks..;) 

If you are worried about them making friends.. and have social activity.. The answer to that question is.. There are always homeschool groups you can join in your area.. I joined one, and I am looking forward to going to the first get together.. And best part of all is.. there are 5 kids in the group already who are homeschoolers that are my daughters age.. and 3 out of the 5 kids are girls..Which is awesome :)  What goes on in your child's life is up to you..  So.. Sit down.. think for things you already do in a day.. and how much time you have to do school work.. and it should all fall in to play.

Homeschool is not for everyone..But if you have been thinking about it.. and know you want to do it.. but not sure if you can.. I hope now since you've read all this you might be able to make your chose a little easier :) And I also hope that if you might have been close minded on the subject of homeschooling and didn't think it was such a great idea..I hope it helped shine some light on it for you to realize its not such a bad thing to be different..


Well Thanks for reading.. and I hope to get some feedback.. You are welcome to leave suggestion,support, encouragement..etc..As long as its nice..:)