Warning: Before you begin reading this, please get a cup of coffee...this could take a while.
As my mom would always say, "The cat is out of the bag." And for today, yes it is. I have decided that today would be the day that I would officially let the cat out of the bag and pour my heart out to you. As some of you may have already figured out we have made the decision to begin homeschooling our girls in the fall. This is something that I have always wanted to do (I think that for whatever reason homeschooling is on my bucket list of things to do before I die) and as a sorta kinda teacher myself it is something that I think will really work for our family. After much prayer on my end (and I mean MUCH), my big daddy boy, out of nowhere, asked me what I thought about the possibility around Thanksgiving. Now to back track a little bit I have been really praying and desiring this since my oldest was in Kindergarten when I was so super jealous over all of the time her precious teacher had with her and how I just got the sloppy seconds of her very tired and worn out self every evening. Not to mention that after around 3:00 I tend to give sloppy seconds...or at least that is what I have been told. As I continued to just block the feelings out the Lord really began to impress the idea on my heart around this time last year. I began researching as much as I could, reading everything I could get my hands on, and joining various homeschool groups in my area just to get their newsletters to see what they were doing...even though my kids were at school (I told y'all Im a stalker). But, time seemed to creep up on me and out of fear and uncertainty we registered the girls for school this year. And not that I regret that. We go to a wonderful school with wonderful families and wonderful teachers. It is like our second home and saying goodbye will be so difficult that I will probably be sedated for much of the month of May.
But, it has just not felt right all year.
So after much more prayer than you can really imagine, many many long talks, and Wootie kicking and screaming that she just wants to be at home with her family we have made the decision. There, I said it out loud. I have had such a desire to go public with this decision that I have been holding in since Thanksgiving, and it feels so good to get it out there. Here is what I know so far about what next school year will look like for us...
- I will be using the "Kellye method" of homeschooling. Im sorry there are just some things I feel that every teacher must have (even if she is in her pajamas and only has two students) and that is a desk, an apple, and a class pet. I am a little quirky and OCD so I don't really fit any one mold, but for the most part I am classical meets Charlotte Mason meets Montessori (kind of but not really) with a little traditional thrown it just to keep it "school-ish". For all of you non-stalker, non- homeschool folks out there this is called eclectic...or as I like to call it the Kellye Method. I am very into nature studies, classical literature, Im not a fan of text books and want my kids to be reading every waking second of the day...that is my classical meets Charlotte Mason side. But I am a realist and I know that there is no way my kids will ever learn to do math outside of horrendous, tedious, completely ridiculous very necessary worksheets so we will be sticking with Abeka for that, at least for now. That would be my traditional side.
- We will follow a four day curriculum and use Fridays for Home-Ec (aka...get the house cleaned) and outings. Friday will be our field trip day, library day, etc...you get the point. Also, Thursday afternoons will be the day that we meet up with my 3 bestest friends in the whole wide world and their children for our own little co-op that I am sure would make any veteran homeschooler just cringe. Here we will focus on some kind of specific academic something and will do a little P.E. First on the P.E. list is me teaching all 12 of our kids to jump rope...and I mean seriously jump rope. Double dutch y'all okay (Cinderella dressed in yell-a, went upstairs to kiss her fell-a).
- Our history and geography will be Exploring Countries and Cultures and we will be taking a trip around the world (from the comfort of our own home) learning about how everyone else lives so that when we start history from the beginning of the world the following year, they will know what in Sam Hill I am talking about. Im most excited about this part of our school for sure!!
- Our science will be Apologia Astronomy so look out folks you just may find us on the moon.
- I have read more books than you could ever imagine and have become BFF's with folks that have been dead for hundreds of years...I think I am crossing over.
- As of now I am not wearing denim jumpers or a bun and am currently not pregnant...but you never know what is to come!!! Im just kidding, my wardrobe will continue to be pj's and ponytails!!!
- Finally, our school room will be our current playroom. Im not sure yet how that will work out but I do know that every school room has massive bookshelves, bulletin boards, and lots of bean bags and oh yeah that class pet..LETS GO SHOPPING!!! I will be posting pictures of our progress as soon as it all begins!
Im very excited to begin this journey, wish I would have had the courage to start from the beginning because goodbyes are not my strong suit, and hope that I will have the support of my friends and family who really don't know yet!! Oh boy, here we go!!
