First Day of School

Since our move it has been really hard establishing a routine or planning very far into the future because with every weekend we think maybe we will get word that our wait is over and our house has sold. With that news we can finally decide where we are going to live and hopefully get plugged in (kids activities, mom groups, etc.) As fall quickly approached I was having a REALLY hard time deciding what to do with Brendan. He's 4 now. Time for school. All of his friends here were signed up for preschool by the middle of summer and I was really torn whether to enroll him, have him skip this year, or start homeschooling. Part of me really wanted to enroll him in school. I'm stressed out and a two and a half hour break every day sounded kind of nice. Plus, Brendan really loves being around other kids. BUT, my heart was torn because for some reason this whole homeschooling thing sounds so great to me. I get to teach them, I get to watch them learn, and I get to protect them from finding out the things I don't want them to find out until their older! :) I read a lot and researched a lot and finally decided we were going to homeschool!

I chose a curriculum that really stood out to me called Sonlight. It is literature based which means that they do a lot of their learning by reading "living" books rather than text books. It is also Bible based and offers complete packages with instructors guides, online forums and lots of resources. In the meantime, Brendan's friends have all started going to preschool and, as expected, he wants to go too. We've been talking about the difference between his friend's school and his school and that he gets to have Mom as his teacher!

All of our school supplies arrived on the doorstep on Friday morning. The boys went through the box and looked at all the new books. Brendan was so excited to start. It was tough holding him off until Monday.

Monday finally came and we had our first day of school with total success. We have a memory verse every week, a character trait every week and then daily we have storybook time, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Handwriting and Math. (All of this at a preschool level of course!) I'm sure you can tell by his face that he is thoroughly enjoying himself. Wyatt participates too, at his own level. He likes reading the books with us and doing a little coloring, but he does a lot of hopping around from one thing to the next. I think the best part about it is that it really is school we are doing, but we are having so much fun together, and it is nothing but a joy to give Brendan an instruction and watch him learn before my very eyes. He's accomplished something, and he's proud, and I got to watch and participate too! I feel really good about my decision and I think we are going to have a really fun year learning together at "home"....wherever that may be. Maybe tomorrow our classroom will be in the backyard!

Note: For all the homeschool skeptics out there. I already have a plan in place to make sure that my child is properly socialized and never bored or stuck at home! Soccer teams, playdates, field trips, gymnastics, Sunday School, etc, should give him plenty of activity, interaction with other kids and even other adults!!

Just look at the pictures! The first day of school was a total success!!!