Our new adventures into Homeschooling!

Whaaaat? You don't hear anything from us in 2 months and see we've plunged headlong into this crazyland area known as homeschooling. What are we thinking?!

Oh? Really, you wanna know why? Okay.

We're spoiled. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. How so, one might ask? You know how the scriptures say that there must be opposition in everything in order to learn? Well... we have experienced opposition here in sunny Orlando Florida. Let's just take a moment to compare: Holland, Michigan to Orlando, Florida.

Winter in Holland: Snowy, overcast
Winter in Orlando: Sunny with cool mornings and evenings and warm afternoons

Landscape in Holland: 4 seasons - changing of colors, bare trees, to new growth and lush green
Landscape in Orlando: sameness (some variations - pruning happens in February)

Flowers in Holland: Uh, can we say tulips??
Flowers in Orlando: Yeah, no tulips here. When I bought cut tulips at Publix, the cashier (okay, he was male, but still!) didn't know what they were called. Travesty!

School System in Holland (Specifically, the awesome West Ottawa School District): Superb!
School System in Orlando (Specifically, the budget-slashing Orange County Public School District): Uhhh... depends on what you're looking for?

Teachers in Holland: Olivia had the very, very, very, most bestest teachers evah!!!
Teachers in Orlando: You get bad apples in the bunch.

So, there are several factors with our decision to homeschool the kiddies. Olivia's teacher was the deciding factor to do it now instead of waiting for the next school year. Maybe we got really, really lucky and Olivia was able to be with great teachers from Kindergarten - 3rd grade in Michigan. Four years of great teachers and then she gets stuck with a teacher who appears, from my totally biased opinion, to just be showing up for the job. There have been little things along the way that bother me about the teacher or the school's policy of doing things.

My first big beef: OCPS does letter grades. You know - A's, B's, C's, D's and F's. How joyful it is as a parent to see your daughter, who is a smart little cookie, come home with a nice "F" on her progress report. Why? Homework was missing. Well, okay, then! Why not just say "missing". Why issue a letter grade on it in the first place? What does that create? I'll tell ya - drama, drama, and more unneccessary drama. What parent's heart doesn't beat a little faster when they first see an "F"??? Even if then we find out the reason. Okay, so there is missing homework? Where is it? You lost it? Okay, you need to make it up. Oh, wait - there's a stack of papers on the teacher's desk with no name on it? Well, guess you better find your paper so you can get credit for it. And then get a delayed progress report to tell me that the missing homework from last month has been made up, but now there are other issues to distract me. Now, I notice that she is being graded on her homework. Whoa! You mean, now I'm supposed to be looking at her homework and making sure that the answers are right? Okay, I can do that for the most part - but if they are doing science homework and looking at energy and how a light wave is different from ultraviolet - I'm gonna need a textbook, which is, of course, not at home, but at school! And really, if I see that Olivia got a B on her science test, that only tells me that there is something she didn't learn all the way, yet, and is in need of review. But, they move on to the next concept.

Social factors: So, we are in a bigger city now, and that means more diversity of all kinds. The kids tell me more often now about other kids who say bad words. There is more teasing, calling names, and even more rough-housing on my 5 year old boy! And I see the high school kids waiting at the bus stop and the outfits worn by some of those girls is concerning. One could accuse me of being overprotective, but I don't care. Homeschooling allows us to more freely ensure that the kids' peer pressure is of the positive nature.

Teacher factors: So, I'm not impressed with Olivia's teacher. I suppose every parent has had the experience of hearing who the best teacher is for their kids' grades, and secretly hoping that their child gets him/her. Some teachers are great, some are mediocre, and some are lousy. Homeschooling erases the risk and gives the kids the best teacher - us! Wahoo!

Learning factors: I am keen on the idea of kids learning at their own pace, which makes them excited to learn even more. I know Ethan's reading will flourish with more one-on-one time. He's doing pretty well with math - his assessment put him at the 1st grade level. The beauty of homeschooling is that the child can do whatever level they are at and can advance whenever they are done - not dictated by a calendar year or the slowest kid in class.

Flexibility: Both hubby and I work from home. He far more than I. Homeschooling allows us to work school around our work schedule. Also, the kids get to take cool classes during the day! Like art, spanish, cooking, sewing, magic classes, etiquette, piano and so on! Yay! When school takes just 3-4 hours a day instead of 7-9 (with homework), there is more free time to do cool stuff. Also, we'll have time to do a mini-seminary at home in the morning when Josh gets back from his high school seminary class. Aaaaaand, if we feel like taking a vacation during the traditional school year, well, homeschool travels well!

So, those are our reasons! There is a chance that our public school system will partner with a virtual education curriculum company next year for the elementary school grades (right now, they are partnered with middle and high school). They vote on that in April. If they say yes, then they pay for the materials next year. If no, then we continue to pay.

We picked www.k12.com for our kids' curriculum. We liked the idea of not reinventing the wheel to find a good curriculum that would fit for both kids. k12's curriculum is research-based. They created a phonics reading program that'll reach all kids. It is computer-based. So, the lesson plans are all in place with intriuging text, animation, sound, and video. They'll keep track of what they are learning. So, now I don't have to worry that I've forgotten to teach Olivia how to do something basic, but really important - like fractions or something. They've got it all laid out, step by step, what they should be learning in order to build up their knowledge. Like a nice solid brick wall. Layer by layer, ya know.

We are scheduled to start on Monday, March 2nd. That is, if all our supplies come in by then. If not, then we start whenever they come in. In any case, the kids' last day of public education is Friday. We'll keep you posted on the happenings.

Wanna know what Olivia called our homeschool? BYU for Kids. :)