Homeschooling So far.....

I have been homeschooling the boys now since the end of July and we are making it. No one has been harmed in the making of most of our days :)

I went to a homeschool convention in Orlando in May and I have to say that was a really eye opening experience for me. I signed up for every "Special Needs" type class I could and researched a lot of curriculums. I enjoyed the time away and the affirmation I felt after being just totall immersed in a homeschool mindset. I'm in this for the long haul!

I have a dear friend Delynn who has been mentoring me along the way. She has 3 boys all older than my boys whom she has always homeschooled. Her middle son has struggled with learning and speech issues and her youngest at times struggles with attention. She has been a great help and encouragement to me. She has provided me with so much information and life experience that it just totally eases my mind and helps me keep focused on my goal with my kids. She has become a great friend in the process! :)

Speaking of the goal....the ultimate goal is to see my boys succeed in school...not just skate through but actually succeed. The goal is to do things at their pace and not slow them down or push them too quickly. The goal is to help them gain confidence in their abilities!

One thing that overwhelmed me with homeschooling was picking the right curriculums. So this is where both Delynn and the Homeschool Convention really came into play for me.

The curriculums I'm using are as follows:

1. Math U See : After speaking so several different types of homeschooling mom's I saw that this curriculum was good for all different types of students. I liked the way it was laid out and that the worksheets were not too overwhelming for my boys. I really liked having a Math DVD that I could learn from and the boys could watch as well. Logan in particular has really done well with this curriculum. Cole has as well, but he tends to be distracted by the blocks. We're working on that, but other than that he gets the concepts. The concepts that Logan is learning in the Alpha book of MUS is supposed to be a review for him, but I have seen he still very much struggles with the concepts (Adding right now) and so I'm thankful we can go at his own pace and work through problems one on one. He gets less frustrated that way.

2. The Phonics Road this curriculum I have mixed feelings about. I heard great reviews of the product and had several friends say they used it. I love it and I hate it. There are videos where they teach the phonics concepts etc. They are really really boring and LOOONG. Too long for even MY attenion span. I don't make the boys watch those...anymore. Too much for them. The curriculum is VERY expensive. It's about $200 for a year and you do get everything you need for a year's worth of work and it's very detailed, however, I don't know that a binder with copied off pages is really worth $200. I was able to land a set on ebay for $50 and I was happy with that. There are lots of long and boring DVD's that go with the lessons. I *think* that as we keep pushing through it will all start to make more sense and it'll work. We are doing spelling lists now and will eventually work up to sentences and paragraph writing etc. They will eventually draw and write their own readers. I was excited about this idea and I hope that it works out as planned. The boys do OK with it, but it's not my favorite.

3. Reading -- I really struggle and have always struggled with reading with my kids. I don't know why....and it makes me feel bad. But I am forcing myself and them to work through this struggle! One thing we read everyday is a Children's Bible called "God's Word for Me!" I just started this and I think so far this is my favorite "Bible Time" thing we've tried. It's not devotions, it's just reading a story straight from a Bible. I read it to them and check periodically for comprehension. Eventually, I may add something to it such as word searches or something internet based that I can print off to go along with whatever Bible story we are on. The other thing I've done recently for reading is purchase the First Readers Series of books from Usborne Books. I recently met a fantastic consultant who has really opened my eyes to how great these books are. They are really high quality readers and I really love them. The First Readers books do not interest Logan though. He's really into books that are non-fiction based. He likes books with scientific facts and things like that. So we are working through some other books about things he likes like Sharks and Trucks. Cole on the other hand loves the First readers and is a GREAT reader! He is working on comprehension and has done very well recently with that. The First Readers from Usborne have Reading Comprehension and ordering built into the book so at the end you can quiz your student about the book. I have also subscribed to Scolastic to receive the Weekly Reader. I haven't had a chance to really work with those yet, but I'm excited to see how those work for the boys. My friend gave me a bunch of them as well so I will work through those as well.

Science -- Right now my choice for Science is an Alpha and Omega curriculum. It's great b/c it doesn't go in order or build on each lesson so you can do any section that interests you. I'm not 100% sure I will continue using this. Delynn gave me this curriculum to try. Logan has enjoyed it!

Social Studies / History -- If anything is my weak spot it is this subject. I really need to purchas a curriculum that will walk me through History Step by Step. I seem to do best when I do that. For now, for Cole I am focusing mostly on the "social" aspect of life in general. I'm just teaching him about manners and social interactions etc to help him sharpen these skills. He's very extroverted, but sometimes struggles with what is and is not appropriate. For Logan we have done some state study about Texas when we learned we were moving there. I believe in January we will start working on a Presential/Government type lessons for the boys. Since 2012 is an election year there will be plenty of opportunities to put real life experience into their studies. Such as going voting with mom or whatever the case may be.



That about sums up the curriculums I'm using. We do have other activities that we are doing through out the week.

First, we started back at PTS doing therapies for the boys during the day. The Private therapy helps them SO MUCH more than the school therapies they did. For now we are able to receive services. I'm not sure what will happen with this after we move. I believe I will enroll Logan in Speech in the public schools out there. It should be a small one on one environment for him and help him. I would love to continue to see Cole receive Occupational therapy. I really think it would be beneficial to him. I guess that's something to seek the Lord and pray about.

Second, we also started participating in Cub Scouts. At first, it was for both of the boys, but right now we just have Logan attending. It is still a little over Cole's head at this point. Logan seems to enjoy it as I believed he would. He loves hands on learning. Once we get to Texas I will work more with him on his Boy Scout requirements and incorporate them into our day.

All in all, it has been a positive experience. We don't homeschool every single day of the week...yet. We have had a lot of things going on since we found out we are moving to Texas. Whit left for Houston in October and so I have been in survival mode trying to do everything here by myself. It has been a struggle, but we are going to get at least 2 solid weeks of homeschool in before Thanksgiving. And we'll hopefully catch up on some math and other things so that we are so behind. We'll likely go to school through out the summer to make up for what we missed, but in Texas we don't have to keep a record of what they've done. The homeschool rules are very very easy. I am thrilled about that for at least the first year. I believe eventually they will catch up and succeed!