School...ugh!

My Dad laughed the other day about our decision to homeschool...why? Because I HATED school. Here I am planning on becoming my children's 'teacher' and I absolutely abhorred my school life. I was that kid that dreaded Christmas break ending or summer being over...I would lean down to "tie my shoe" to avoid being called on or going to the board to do a math problem or something of that nature.

I was an EXTREMELY shy kid who lived in fear of getting something wrong. Most who meet me don't believe that I'm shy by nature, but it's true! I never even ordered at a McDonald's myself until like my senior year in highschool and I still loathe the thought of calling to order pizza...all for fear I will stumble over my words!! Crazy, huh...what's CRAZY is this kid who was so scared of school is now planning on teaching her own kids...ha ha!!

I went to a huge highschool to begin with. After my sophomore year my parents saw me drowning sent me to a private school my last two years. It was WONDERFUL!! I ended up graduating in a class of 21 kids altogether. My parents could not believe how I came out of my shell there. I ended up being the captain of the cheerleading squad even - not that I was any good...ha ha just loud! The smaller setting and knowing the teachers cared about me and wanted me to succeed made all the difference in the world!!!
I'm hoping the same will be for my kids. I want them to LOVE learning!! I want them to realize their potential and know that I have the utmost confidence in them. I want them to know they are loved and that they are supported 100%. I want to not be in such a rush each day that I don't get to tell them MULTIPLE times each day how much I love them and cherish them!!
I want them to feel each day and be confident in both mine and my husband's pride in them!!

I love my kids and I want them to know it without a doubt!!!

But let me be clear. My kids had wonderful and gifted teachers at their public school. I will always be thankful for what they provided for my children. The 3 teachers they had were what I would rank as some of the BEST and I'm indebted to them for what they provided for my children and I pray I can continue building on the foundation they created! Everyone always wants to know 'what happened?' ugh...I feel like I'm always telling people NOTHING...not one specific thing happened...this was something we have been pondering for over a year and it just happened to that with some other things (honduras, Aaliyah, Daddy being home now etc) that we felt like the timing was right. But if you were to ask me about their public school I would recommend it and encourage you to get your kids in the same teacher's class that my kids were!!

Classroom update 2

Well, we are keeping the shelves!! hooray!! we both woke up yesterday morning and had considered a few different options. We moved the room around a couple times and even though it doesn't look as 'cute' as it would have in the original plan, I actually think it's more functional for me, the teacher (aaaahhh!).

So HOORAY, the shelves stay and the kids love their new "classroom"!!

Classroom update

arrrrgghhh!! Hubby and I stayed up til nearly 2am assembling the 'classroom' furniture last night. The shelves were my favorite part....a measurement got done wrong when he chose the shelf and they don't fit....only like 1-2 inches off, but nothing to do...we moved them all around the room tried every which way to redo our orginal plan...but it just won't work...which means they have to be disassembled and driven back to IKEA (about 45+ away)...arrgghhh.....and they don't have another one that fit like we had wanted so we are tweaking our plan once again....hubby sat down last night and lamented "we don't have any idea what we are doing do we?" in our frustration with the furniture the reality of the overwhelming nature of this whole homeschooling thing struck...are we NUTS??!! Most would have told you years ago the answer to that question is a resounding YES! But what are we doing....we had 7 hours every day without the kids and I got to go to the grocery store, run errands, etc....what am I thinking??!!

Actually I know exactly what Im thinking SEVEN HOURS a day where I'm not with them to be the main influence and SEVEN HOURS A DAY where I have no control of their discipline, what they learn, who teaches them, etc etc....Yep...starting to breathe again just remembering exactly why we made this choice to begin with.

Our classroom

We decided we wanted a learning space in our house where school will take place. We have a 'formal living room' that we've always called our 'library' only because the main piece of furniture has always been a big bookcase so we would do lots of reading and such in there...So this room we decided to transform into our classroom.

I'll take a picture and post when we finally get it put together. We want to make it a fun positive space in the house, where the kids are comfortable, but where they are encouraged to do their work in learning environment as well. It will probably take some time to get it exactly how I want it with curtains, etc. I don't have to rush other than my own desire to get it finished looking!! I wonder if other homeschoolers have classrooms or just use their dining room table or whatnot? I know very few homeschoolers so I don't really know. hmm...so many curiosities...oh well, the great thing is I can make this what I want...wow...no pressure!! ha ha
I do one friend at church who is also homeschooling. So we plan to get together some for field trips and crafts, etc...
She has 4 kids all together and me 3 so should be interesting!!

which one to choose??

When we made the decision to homeschool the first thing we started looking into was curriculum...how completely overwhelming!! There is SO much stuff out there and many just use bits from this and bits from that, etc....Me, I'm the typical new homeschooling Mom scared I won't teach them what they need to know. So, we decided to go with a curriculum that is very structured, monitors their progress daily, provides assessments, etc
It's www.k12.com
I'll keep you posted on how we like it after we really get into it! I'm curious to know if I change my views of how I want our 'school' to run

In the Beginning....

...there were a Mommy and Daddy who decided that what was best for their children was to withdraw them from their schools and begin the adventure of homeschooling. This blog is really just for me, I'm doubting anyone will really ever read it...but I thought it would be good for me to look back on and see where we've been and where we are going. Will we make it or fail miserably? If others ever read this...I have no real plan for this blog. In all honesty I just don't really know what I'm doing in this whole homeschool adventure. I have looked for other blogs from Mother's but they all seem to know just what they are doing and have it all together...I so don't...maybe one day someone will think that of me, huh??

but here's the deal...In the end of my life I pray that I can say I have done all I could to raise my children to be happy, healthy people who serve God in everything and strive to improve the world around them and share the love of Christ with all they come in contact with. So homeschooling is one way we see of helping mold these wonderful gifts from God into the adults we pray for them to be. I will surely make mistakes...probably daily...I will be lazy some days, I will get frustrated, I will get overwhelmed, but I will hopefully not give up on my goal...I pray that one day God looks at me and says "She Hath Done What She Could." Because what I'm striving to do, through any measure that is available to me is to raise my children to love Him, share Him, & be kind, respectful, loving human beings!

So....here goes nothing....preparing myself for a bumpy ride....