Back to the trenches!

My children and I are very excited to start school this year. We have cleaned up the school room that doubles as a playroom. It got out of hand in there since we had a lot of fun this summer.

We went to our local Black Moshannon State Park a few times and also to Delgrosso's. We went back to visit our favorite place with some of our favorite people in Va Beach, VA. We moved from there just over 4 years ago now and hadn't been back to visit for all this time.
We had a blast. Went to the beachfront one night. Two of my little ones enjoyed the waves for the first time and my son just didn't remember it at all, so it was like a first time for him. My oldest remembered the beach, but not a lot of the people. At church on Sunday she saw a lot of her friends and then she remembered them, but she was very shy towards them. Just a flourish of her personality that's popped out in the last 4 years.
We took time each day to dedicate to visiting old friends. Catching up after 4 years is hard. Thank goodness for Facebook otherwise we wouldn't have been in touch at all.
We saw our old house, it's being rented out now and drove by my childhood home. That was neat. I almost drove right past it for how tall the trees have grown. My dad and I planted them when I was 9 years old at 2 feet tall, now they're nigh on past 100ft.
Needless to say we had a lot of fun, made some memories to last a lifetime and took in all the nostalgia. We'll be doing that again.

Back to school! We just ordered my daughter's curriculum from Sonlight and we are excited to get our box in the mail. It's almost like Christmas to us. The children are up in the attic now taking it upon themselves to pull our the 1st and 5th grade curriculums. We turned in our affidavits of intent to homeschool. We have to part-time register my 2 oldest so they can take the testing with the school, play sports and music. Since we have to pay taxes we are utilizing the perks that would cost us extra money otherwise.

Tell us how your school year is gonna start and what about your summer adventures.

Well into the year!

It's been about 4 weeks of school for us. I am so thankful the choice to homeschool is mine again!
This is my first year teaching 3 children.

My 5 yr old entered Kindergarten. I love it, she wants to do school. I have always missed when that goes away. It's funny how in Kindergarten what they are learning doesn't even compare to what they have to do in 1st. The basis of K is to teach them to read and recognize. But they they're thrown into having to know everything they need to know (basics-wise) for the rest of their student career. WOW! I am truly amazed how the human mind works. To be able to fly through material and the absorption that children have.

My 4th grader is having a difficult time concentrating this year. I'm not sure if it's a "ploy" to get my attention or if he's experiencing a little ADD. It runs in the family so I'm not sure. And well if you give him an incentive there's no problem at all. We'll see how things pan out.

My 6th grader is doing well. She's driven this year. It's only taken her these 4 weeks to get back on track with math. She doesn't retain her numbers well and needs the refresher. She does all her own work and I help her with new stuff and she's done by lunch everyday. I am proud of how if she doesn't finish she goes into the evenings or weekends, even, to finish her work.

My 2 year old, of course, isn't in school, but she's doing a great job in independent play time. We have a set schedule for all this so there are no arguments as to when and why we do things. I am very please with how it's all going this year. I hope you are having a great time schooling so far too.

Socializing your homeschooled children

We were at a volleyball tournament for the 5th graders. Every elementary school in the school district has more than one team and we have a week's tournament. I was talking with a public school elementary teacher today. She was asking about my daughter's school. I told her which team she was on and also mentioned that she was homeschooled. The look on her face was, well, typical. Astonished that I would homeschool my child and have the nerve to mention it at all. What is wrong with her? She didn't ask that, but she did ask me was she socialized enough.

My daughter socialized? No way! She's locked in a tower with only bread and water throughout the school year and I don't let her talk to anyone outside the family! Didn't you know that's how all homeschooled children are!?!

HAHAHA! No that wasn't my answer! I answered that my children are very much socialized, possibly more so than the public school children. She didn't comment further on that part of it so I didn't continue. But we did have a great and wonderful talk about why I homeschool and our structure and the like. The conversation was very nice and pleasant. She seemed confident that I wasn't some lunatic.

But if she were to ask I would tell her that I believe homeschooled children are more socialized because they have the opportunity to interact and communicate with children of all ages and adults that don't always treat them as "little" children. I know most of my peers do not treat my children as though they have to be coddled. By that I mean that in public school the teachers really have to mind themselves so they don't offend a child so much that it steps of the parents toes or the school systems. But out in the un-institutionalized world of homeschool people are people. My children are children, but not in the sense that everyone treats them as such. They are seen as responsible. I am complimented and thanked often when we're out in public for having such behaved and respectful children. Not that they always are, but more often than not they are.

So as for homeschoolers being socialized. Well yes. I don't live in the boonies where my closest neighbors are the bears and birds. I live in a very nice community. And hey, my daughter was there in the public school volleyball tournament wasn't she? Having friends and making more. Knowing a little less than half of the children there from church alone. That was fun to see them.

The average public school child does not socialize much with any other age group other than their own til high school and then it's not all that often. They interact with adults that are constantly correcting them and being only their authority figures instead of their mentors and leaders and confidants.
Homeschoolers are more ready for society when it comes along than the average child in public school.