Yes, yes, practice trumpet everyday

Well, after announcing we were going to homeschool, I haven't said much about it, have I? Probably because we've been so darned busy. We are homeschooling, but plans have changed a bit. The day we had planned to drop all our stuff in the mail to make us all legal homeschoolers, we learned the virtual public school we were interested in for future years had been approved to enroll students in the younger grades.

Honestly, the decision to homeschool was both invigorating and terrifying at the same time. I was so excited and had so many ideas on how to do things, but frankly, I'm great at ideas but suck at follow-through. If I can't do it perfectly, I tend to get so intimidated I just give up. Knowing this about me, I worried I'd do the same with my kids' education. So, this opportunity arose, and after not much thought, really (although we had talked about the program, which we had investigated months before and were impressed with), we decided to use the public "school in a box" program.

Ok, homeschoolers, I know a public school program, with all its public school requirements and inflexibility, isn't the "true, puritan" homeschool experience even if it is taught outside of the typical brick-and-mortar school. But it does give us much of what we wanted in the homeschool experience. We're very much more involved in their lives. I LOVE seeing how they learn. I have learned so much about my kids, what interestes them, what frustrates them; I get to see their excitement at learning something new, and decipher what stymies them. I'm learning more about not only their own limits, but my own. I know more about what makes them who they are, and that is priceless.

Oh, I've had some very bad mommy moments, and some very very bad teacher moments. I get frustrated particularly with Big Toe, 8 years old, when she doesn't grasp a concept as easily as *I* think she should. That is a problem with the public school schedule - we have to follow a set curricula, and finish it within the week or so, instead of let it go for a bit. Still, I've learned when we hit a stumble (it's usually is during a math lesson), it's time to stop and come back the next day. It's not always easy to do that, as neither she nor I like to give up without it being perfect (remember, perfectionists here)... or start again after giving up, but we're learning from experience it's best to do that.

It was tough at first. We were a few weeks behind by the time we were all enrolled and the curricula came in, and the high-speed internet (Hello, You Tube and Pandora!) was set up. Then there was training Pinkie Toe (three) to let her sisters be while they were working, and let Daddy work with them without a constant need for attention... and training Daddy on how to show her attention while teaching at the same time. We were spending ten, twelve hour days trying to get through the lessons. We were ready to quit, and just go alone. But, we did catch up, we learned what part of the lessons we really needed to do, and what we could let go as just "busy work" (really, Middle Toe, six, knows her colors, shapes, patterns, and simple arithmetic, so does she *really* have to color the highest kite blue four times? Our call - NO!). We've blocked the lessons so all of math is on Monday, Language Arts on Tuesday, Science on Wednesday, etc. For now, the lessons are easy enough to where we don't have to worry about oversatursation or needing to sleep on a concept to understand it better. Later we may need to adjust, but we have enough lee time on Thursday and Friday to spread out if need be.

Big Toe is involved at the local school in GATE classes, so she still has regular contact with many of her friends from last year, as well as semi-frequent playdates, too. We have lots of "socializing" opportunities through our usual activities, and some additional we are making time for.

The main thing is that we DO enjoy this. I love it. The kids love it. Daddy loves it. We can go to a bat talk at night and not worry about getting home early to get enough sleep for an early school day the next day. Big Foot and the girls went to the localish apple orchard to pick a mess of apples for pies, during the school week. I've had lunch with the family a few times.

Nice.

Fun.

Good thing for us.