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Monday, August 11, 2014

Back to School

I LOVE the Back to School time of year. I am a super dork and pretty much love everything about school actually. I used to eagerly anticipate the beginning of each school year. I loved the crisp folders stacked in my backpack and the process of walking through a brand new classroom to find the desk with my name on it. The smell of pencil shavings instantly takes me back to Wekiva Elementary and I could probably hold a seminar about the best materials and methods for covering a textbook. Do kids still have to do that?

In spite of my own fond memories of institutionalized education, B Daddy and I are making a different choice for our children. Squirt is officially Kindergarten age, but he didn't board the school bus this morning and I won't be picking him up from the carpool lane this afternoon. At the present moment we have all intentions of raising our kids as granola eating, chicken raising (but hopefully never denim jumper wearing) homeschoolers.  

Before kids were even a thought on the horizon, I devoured this book by John Taylor Gatto because I am a giant nerd. After the first chapter I was completely hooked and somewhat flabbergasted. Public education has only been around in its present form for 100 years?? In ancient Greek society (revered to this day for its highly educated populace and incredible accomplishments) there "were no schools?" What?!! This was all news to me.

B Daddy and I are both products of public education (I did have a brief stint of private high school while living overseas) and I never imagined I would make any other choice for my children. But after reading Mr. Gatto's opus and contemplating the benefits of a home education for over 5 years now, we've decided it's right for our family in this season of life.

Here's why: 
1. We get to maintain control of our family's priorities and schedule
2. We're able to tailor their education to each of our children's aptitudes and interests
3. I think we'll enjoy it :)

We were planning to do this homeschool thing entirely on our own until my 8th month of pregnancy - when I suddenly decided (hormones anyone?) that it would be wise to have help on the homeschool front. We found an amazing homeschool hybrid school here in our area and rushed through the process to get the Squirt enrolled for the coming year. He will be going to that school two days a week and will be at home with us the other three days of the week. He'll be introduced to new concepts in a traditional (although small) classroom setting and then we get to reinforce, practice and follow up on those concepts at home.
I'm thrilled that I didn't have to wake him up before the crack of dawn to get to school this morning and also that I don't have to re-invent the Kindergarten wheel here at the house with a newborn in my arms and two toddlers entwined around my legs.

Tomorrow will be his "first day of school" and we couldn't be more excited.


Are your kids back-to-school yet? And more importantly could you still re-cover a textbook if you had to? 



2 comments:

  1. And his name tag is an owl...love it!

    Aunt Allie wishes you the best first day! I can't wait to hear all about it! Xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! So I know I’m late to this post, but I stumbled around your blog after a friend shared the “crowd-pleasing pasta” recipe. What hybrid homeschool program did your child attend? We are looking around, and the only one I know in our area is Legacy Community academy in Atlanta. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

 
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