homeschooling

This week I have spent at least 20 hours on the computer researching homeschool curriculums.  I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do but I needed to look into several things and make decisions.  I have to say, it's pretty overwhelming.

I have never been one of those moms that was overly pro homeschool (my whole family has worked in public education) or knew from the moment I conceived that I would choose to do it.  It has been something that I was always open to and with our living situation it is a must.  The only other option would be to send Kirby to a local school which would be pretty difficult considering the language barrier.  Not to mention he wouldn't learn to read English for several years.  I don't even have a clue what choice we would have made were we living in the States, cause let's face it, it's not worth the brain power to think about something that isn't a current reality.  So here I am, gearing up for our first year of school.

I've been trying to focus solely on the positive aspects of homeschooling, like being able to determine exactly how our children learn, going at an individual pace, and so on.  But it's incredibly intimidating.  I am a little sad that they won't get the socialization that a classroom offers and at the same time so very happy that they won't pick up the 'bad' habits of anyone other than me and Stan.  You know, they may be a little sarcastic but not with an accompanying potty mouth.

So for Kindergarten we are going to focus mostly on, first and foremost, creating a love of learning, and secondly, learning to read and basic math.  I've found curriculums that I like but haven't ordered quite yet, so if you are interested I will share all that I am using once final decisions have been made.  My plan is to find readers (oh how I will miss not being able to use a library) that will cover some topics in science and history in addition to some fun topics but not cover either of those subjects on their own just yet.  I am also planning on picking a fun Bible learning program since they aren't getting anything on a regular basis that is directed specifically towards children.  That is something I'm going to go ahead and do with Bennett too, in addition to some preschool stuff.  I know if Kirby is doing school there will have to be something for Bennett as well.  And I'm pretty set on not using the tradition school calendar for planning out our year.  With celebrating both American and local holidays and having random times for likely vacation, my thoughts are that it will be easier to keep up if we try to find a year round type calendar that works for us.  Maybe with a few modifications.  Still looking in to that though.

Once all final decisions are made and materials ordered I will start on my Summer to do list.  #1 on that list is potty train Bennett, or die trying.  Pray for us as we are making these homeschool decisions.  I know I can't mess up too bad at this point but I have to be honest, I'm still pretty nervous!