I'm not going to go all into why we chose to home school our children. Do know that we, both my husband and I, took our decision very seriously and not to offend anyone who I might have taught with back in the day. I have taught at two schools in my county, one of which our children would attend. I love to teach and what better way to continue using my degree and experience than to teach the three most important kids in my life. Enough said. I'm not going to argue or start defending why we have made this choice. It's sad that people even feel it's their place to do so, but I know some people in our world abuse the privilege to teach their kids at home.
I have never been one of those girls who kept a diary or anything like that, but blogging about our home schooling journey- not only keeps a memory of things we've learned about and activities we've done, but also makes me accountable in a way. I'm not just saying I'm homeschooling, I'm showing you that I'm doing what I say I'm doing.
We are using a Christian curriculum called My Father's World and I took a couple of online quizzes and then one website told me what my home schooling style would be called, and another site told me a variety of curriculum that matched my teaching style. That was most helpful! There are a lot of choices these days!
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| Cutting is one of B's favorite things to do! Cutting her hair is a no no though, she found that out the hard way... |
One site that helped me was The Texas Home School Coalition -
http://www.thsc.org/getting-started/ Not only does it tell me what Texas laws are, but also support groups for my area, curriculum help and more! I also joined this association in case, heaven forbid, I need legal representation. There have been crazy things happening in this world we live in with truancy officers and CPS and such.
Another website that helped me figure out what curriculum matched my style of thinking was Mardel. Mardel is a Christian and Educational store that I had never even heard of until I visited a store in Lubbock and fell in love! They are an awesome resource! They sell many different brands of curriculum, but also teaching supplies for the public and private classroom too. They have laminators for use, bulletin board supplies and more! So much more! Love that have Disney bulletin board sets too! This link is for Mardel's
Homeschool Resources for New Homeschoolers.
I also found that
HEDUA - Home Educating Family Association, has lots of encouraging articles and many links to websites and organizers and all kinds of helpful stuff. I love getting their magazine and reading it from cover to cover, over and over.
I want my blog to be a resource, an encouragement to others and and a help. I'm not trying to outdo someone else, or make anyone else feel bad because they aren't doing what I'm doing. That's the beauty of homeschooling I think - freedom. I have a curriculum, but I can use it as a guide. I'm not a teacher who even in public school stuck with what was told for me to do in a week. I sometimes got to everything and sometimes I added a new idea and sometimes I took out an activity. I stayed with the theme and my kiddos were learning, but it really depends on the class you have that year. The dynamics and behavior of the class, sometimes we got lots done, and other times we go the minimum done. Same in homeschooling. If my kiddos are really interested in a topic we might go a little longer and deeper into the topic, but if they aren't, after you learn the gist - move on! If we want to just do 3 days of kinder a week, or 5, or 6 if daddy has class, then we do what works for us.
School should be fun and not just work. I want to be their Mary Poppins teacher who instills and inspires a love for learning and reading. We work together and create fun memories, all the while they are learning for the life they will have one day. If we get invited to go swimming in the middle of the day, we have the flexibility to take a "swimming" recess break and then do school later that afternoon! Kindergarten used to be half a day, back in the day when I was a kid! I remind myself of that fact!
My girls love to work at their desks, and the littlest sister likes to sit on the desk and be in the middle of everything! I found one desk at a garage sale here in town that they hold twice a year and the other at a consignment shop nearby. I paid $15 for one and $50 for the other. They are Step2 desks and are very sturdy. I love the organization they have and that the chair is the right height for them and has a back. For handwriting I prefer them sit in the desk, but we don't do all our work in it. I like to sit outside and do work, or laying on the floor. Even as a public school teacher I said as long as they are learned and doing their best, I don't care where they do their work! If "Johnny" needs to stand and do work with he hops on one foot, and he gets it down and it neat and correct, I am fine with that. Some kids need to move around and not just sit all day and be quiet! I think that with doing school with distractions like little sister and such, they learn focus and that even though there might be distractions around, you can still get work done. Many a student that was in my class had a hard time with that. It's hard as a teacher to keep everyone from talking or to not bother others when working. So sometimes you had to group them to decrease that distracting factor and to separate the easily distracted from the kids who could talk, work and get it done correctly! 
Sometimes we work at the kitchen table and sometimes even at the bar. We like doing the Cuisinart rods on the bar so baby sister can't reach them and mess up our work before we finish! Most of the time they sit side by side, by having the desks face each other can keep littler sister from looking at big sisters answers on some projects. I am blessed that get along so good together and put up with baby sisters antics. She loves to steal supplies and work too! 
