Truth Be Told

I am sitting at my computer and my mind is whirling around like crazy. I have been staring at math curriculum and reading lists and comparing styles and prices and I...am...about...to...go crazy!!! Ellen is sleeping upstairs and the other three are at a neighbors house probably eating cookies and having soda (snacks we don't have at our house). I think I just figured out why the neighborhood kids don't want to come over to my house!!! Because of my cardboard snacks!!! Anyway, I digress.....

Wait a minute while I go pour myself a cup of fresh brewed coffee......

Alright...I am back.

So, a friend was over a few weeks ago, and she suggested I write a blog about my one year of homeschooling experience. So, after much thought about it, I decided that would be a good idea. Not only for you, but for me. So here goes...

One of the most common questions I have been asked (and I ask myself) is "Why did you decide to home school?" Well, there were a lot of little reasons at first. I didn't like being rushed in the morning. Yelling at the girls every morning to "eat their breakfast...put on your shoes....get in the car....go back inside and get your lunch box" just got a bit too much. Then after being at school for 8 hours, they had homework! After homework...extra-curricular activities. Then

it is a quick family meal, bath time, then bedtime by 8p.m. God-forbid their light be on at 8:01!!! And mind you...there was still some yellin' going on in the evening too.

That isn't what I wanted for our family. I had always imagined relaxing evenings, slow and easy mornings, you know....family time. I didn't like that I was a "mean mommy", rushing them to bed and off to school so they could be their "best" for someone else.

Then we got our assignment to California. We would be arriving in December and leaving 15months later. Joel would be at school 4 days a week leaving us a 3 day weekend practically every weekend. (Don't tell me any different if I am wrong on that....let me dream!) So, why not try it now? The kids are young. Texas is known for its Homeschooling Support Groups. So, we dove in....head first.

I decided to go with ABEKA last year. That is what the kids used at FBA, so I would use that so we would all be familiar with it. We decided we would order it at the Home School Convention so we could get free shipping. It's always good to save a buck or two (or in this case $25). Then, about a week before the convention, someone told me about Classical Conversations. She explained the curriculum to me and gave me the directors phone number. I decided to call the director and within a few minutes, she had convinced me that this program was the one for our family. I told her I wanted in the group and we would sign up at convention.

The following weekend, I headed to convention with Ellen. The girls were still in school at this point and Luke was at Kid's Day Out. I felt like I stuck out like a soar thumb!! Most moms there had a baby (or two) on their hip and a long train of other kids following close behind her....quietly. The one meeting I wanted to go to...I had to leave because my ONE child was screaming her lungs off! But let me tell you! Convention was SO OVERWHELMING!!!

There are so many different curriculums out there my head was spinning! I tried to put my horse blinders on and stay focused. Long story a bit shorter....we ordered our ABEKA and Classical Conversations and we were ready to go!!!

I was worried about taking the kids out of school. Worried that they would miss it. But you know what? They have NEVER asked to go back!!! At least not yet.

We love Classical Conversations! It is a curriculum that uses a classical pattern of the trivium - a three part process of training our minds. The first stage is the "grammar stage" where the building blocks (foundations - grades 1 - 4) are laid. "Logic" is the second stage, also known as the "why?" stage. The final stage in classical teaching is the "rhetoric stage". At this point the student learns to apply the rules learned from the first two stages and use it to express herself clearly and with force. Yeah...I sound like I know what I am talking about, but I have to go back to my reference books and remind myself what I am doing.

Classical Conversations makes it VERY EASY for me. The girls (and I) have learned so much this past year, and I am extremely proud of them. Everything from skip counting, lists of prepositions and linking verbs, dates of historical events, all the presidents, and Latin declensions.

I have learned a lot this year as well. A lot of information, a lot about my kids, and a lot about myself. It was hard to give up lunch with the ladies, shopping alone, and a clean house. We have eaten a lot of pasta and frozen pizza this past year. I have had less showers and more sweating. No more talk-shows...no more naps.

But I am okay with that. My kids make me happy! I have them home with me. No, I am not over-protective. Just selfish. I love to see their faces when they have discovered something or realized the answer to an equation. We still have a routine, but not so rigid and VERY flexible. We all get dressed in the morning and make up our beds. And, occasionally we have a pajama day.

We have good days. We have great days. We have bad days, and then we have "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" days. Don't get me wrong. There are days where I want to throw in the towel and give up. A lot of those. But when the kids point out the Phoenician alphabet, know what the Code of Hammurabi is, know how to find the area of a circle, know the tallest mountain on each continent, and tell me I am the best mommy they have ever had....(that one always makes me laugh)...it's all worth it. At least enough for me to do it for another year.

Books I LOVE LOVE LOVE (even if you don't home school):

The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise

The Core by Leigh A. Bortins

The Educated Child by William A. Bennett

Web- links

Classical Conversations

Peace Hill Press

P.S. Classical Conversations is nation wide. So when we move to CA, we should be able to slide into the CC group in Monterey....if there is room!

MY KIDS