Homeschooling journey

I remember telling my mom back in 2001 that I wanted to homeschool my kids someday.  Little did I know that I was still eight years from having my first child. 

I have been praying about homeschooling.  And as time came closer and my child grew older, the thought of homeschooling brought out some insecurities.  

How cool would it be to have a tiny school house as this?

I had fears like:

• I can't teach her. 
• There is too much on the line. 
• I didn't have what it takes. 
• I'm not smart enough. 
• I didn't like school so what makes me think I'm going to like this?
• What if I totally mess this up? 
• The program I want to get her in fills up to fast and I don't have a chance. 
• What am I going to do with the twins during homeschooling time? 

And on and on...

I've come to learn that those fears and insecurities are totally normal.

With a lot of prayer and my husband's full support I went with my heart and decided to take on the challenge of homeschooling my daughter. 

The program I have been interested in called Classical Conversations (or CC for short) actually had few openings!!!

I felt this was God's push for me to homeschool.

I love CC's mission statement:

 "To know God and make Him known."

We are on our eighth week of CC and this program has been perfect for us. I go to school with her on Mondays. 

She has seven kids in her class. Her tutor totally rocks. (She's called a tutor because I am the teacher!)

I have really enjoyed being apart of her class time. 

She was learning about a crayfish here. Her face says it all.

We do school at home (or outside)Tuesday-Friday; usually 10:30-2;30. We are pretty flexible. I have found this works better than having a super ridged schedule. 

I have found a good rhythm. The more I stick with that, the better it is.

I'm kind of geeking out over laminating, copying and printing out stuff. So if you need anything copied or printed off I'm your gal!  :)

Geography has been amazing. This cycle we have been learning about includes Africa, China and India so far. 

She can locate rivers, mountains, seas, deserts and cities on a black and white map.

She has been able to read bible stories and gets so excited when she hears of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee because she knows where that's at.

Math is going well.

 She catches on pretty fast. This math program has blocks to help her get a visual and I've seen the math light bulb go on in her mind using these blocks.

 I wish I would have learned with blocks like this.

Daddy (aka  The principle) made us a chalkboard! These boys have been doing really well during school time.

And then she teaches them what she has learned from my lips. Man, that will keep you accountable. 

 There have been a few days when nothing seem to go as planned and no one is up for the task. I found out that getting frustrated gets us nowhere, It's during those times that I just decide to ditch the routine.

 So we'll pop popcorn, drink yummy drinks and READ. She reads to me and I read to her. I make sure she reads at her reading level and a bit above her level. 

We also do a lot of sketching and drawing. We've been working on 3D images.

She will pick up paper anywhere and make up a picture for us. I hope her love for drawing continues.

Every Monday she has to do a presentation at school. She can not wait until the next Monday when she can do her next presentation.

One week she talked about her pig "Oinky" that she wants to have some day. Yes, she drew that picture with only a tiny bit of help from me.

I know if I make a picture of something I'm studying I retain it better. So I'll have Ruby pick something she'd like to draw. Here is her animal cell.

                                           

This is a little clip of her doing the timeline song. It's a pretty amazing song!

It's from creation until recent day. This is a song I catch myself singing throughout the day or Ruby will wake up in the morning singing about the Hanging Gardens or India's Gupta Dynasty!

During her phonics I'll read my daily devotional out loud. I love when she ask questions about it.

On special days the principle shows up with yummy hot chocolate with extra marshmallows of course! (I know the principle preeetty well :) )

There have been days I've caught Ruby snuggled up in her bed with a pile of library books. 

I hope she continues to love reading.

Oh did I mentions she's learning Latin. Before this I'd had never heard of a declension.  I'm thankful it's all done to music. In fact, most of her work is learned through song. 

Genius, I tell ya!

This last week she started learning the tin whistle. She will learn how to identify basic rhythms. pitch, scales, theory and simple songs.

As unsure as I was going into this, homeschooling has turned out to be much better than I thought. 

It's a perfect fit for our family and Ruby and I have grown so much closer. It has challenged our relationship and made it better.

I love being the main influence in her life right now. I love seeing that light bulb go on when she gets something.

I love knowing how she learns best and learning right along with her.

I'm there during the tears and the silliness. 

I'm thankful that I'm in tune with her enough that I know when I can push her in subjects or back off.

And I'm thankful that there is more than one way to educate well.

So far this year, its been good!