....homeschoolers.
Well, at least, I think so. Our state, Pennsylvania, is one of the states that is most regulated as far as homeschooling goes. We have to jump through a number of hoops, including submitting a notarized affidavit with our intent, share our objectives, prove that we learned in a number of predetermined subjects, submit all the same medical exams that the school would do anyway, and take tests in certain grades. Whew, right?
So, we've done all that. We've met the Director of Student Services, the big kids are withdrawn from their previous programs and entered into the "Home Education Program" and we're waiting to hear whether our objectives are approved. We weren't told when we would hear, so that is why we don't know our official status.
But... shhhh... we've been learning all summer! Not as much as we'll be learning when "school" starts, of course. Summer is still summer, ya know.
We've joined a meetup on meetup.com to get out with some other homeschoolers in our area. Yes, I know there's
tons on facebook, but that's not exciting enough to drag me into the wacky world of pseudo-friends. We're scheduled for a few things locally, like bowling, the zoo and Homeschoolers Day Out Adventure Camp in the mountains.
Around town, when I'm out with the kids, now that it's August, the normal comments have started.
"Well, back to school soon!" "Won't you be glad to get these kids off your hands?" "Soon you can ship them off and relax!"
Let's just be clear here - I've always secretly hated these comments! And never have I felt that way about my own kids!
Back to school was always exciting, but not in a get-rid-of-my-kids sort of way. We had clothes shopping, school supply shopping, guesses on teachers and hopes of being in the same class as friends. Excitement over what they'd be learning, and new opportunities like band or sports. But were we ever excited to be rid of each other? I can't really say that we ever were.
In fact, it was kind of stressful to have to plan 5 days a week around the varying schedules. We can go to the store at this time, but only for this long, and must be back by this time. Or else!!!
So this time, instead of just grinning and nodding and pretending that their comments make sense in my world, now we get to say, "well, no, we're homeschoolers." And then we pass right by the school supply section, since after combining ALL of the learning tools we had in various places in the house, we have more than enough to use all year long.
So far, we've gotten a bit more positive (and intelligent) responses than when word got out a few months ago. It seemed to be a subset of people, I won't say any further, that really couldn't distinguish between home education and farming cows and pigs.
The older lady at the clothing store the other day was curious - "How does it work?", she asked. She thanked me for giving her a summary.
"I hear you're homeschooling next year?" asked a parent at Bible Camp drop off last night. "Yes, you know some homeschoolers around here?" I asked, hopeful. "Uhhhh.... no." Well, at least she wasn't negative about it.
The bank cashier said, "Oh, yeah, that online stuff, right?" Nope. Actually, the online schools and cyber charter schools are still considered public schools, even though the students learn primarily at home.
The good thing is, that we're not afraid to say it outloud. We were, at first, not knowing what we'd get in return. It will probably get weirder, once school is actually back in session, and we're still wandering about like truant little ne'er-do-wells. We'll probably get more eyebrow-raising like at the grocery store the other day, when I asked Riley in the check-out line to tell me how many bags of cheese was equal to 1/4 of what we were buying. That sort of stuff has always been normal for us, but now we can count it towards homeschool, and because of that, I guess we're now a little more aware of the looks we get.
Not that we care. Your kids can go back to Angry Birds, we'll stick with math and vocab (seriously, the grocery store ALWAYS turns into vocabulary updates...). And honestly, if I get ran into by one more kid staring at an electronic device instead of watching where they're going... I'm going to assign his mother a 600-word essay on where she thinks her kid will be in 10 years.
Here's some pics of our learning at home so far:
Coloring letter sounds. All of our grade K and 1 workbooks (and we have some really good ones!) were acquired over the years from other parents who bought them and whose kids never used them. Score for free!!
Riley does Money Math. She tells me she doesn't like it, but then requests the next page, and the next page, and the next...
Building Portfolio Binders and trying to organize. The office was already a shared space with all of our learning materials and two kid computers (one on a desk, not pictured, and one on this kid-sized wooden table that our down-the-street neighbors put out for trash years ago), so we just made sure ALL of our stuff made it up here.
The closet needs some work...this is what it looked like BEFORE we were homeschoolers...
The other desk, hopefully for independent work. Riley's first poster-board of sight words is posted for review.
We combined the velcro-tipped letter-making sticks (that my kids came up with but can also be found on the web somewhere, I'm sure) and the cups from counting bears (Mom's sale score!) and RJ can sort by color while we work. I refuse to make most of the stuff listed under "preschool homeschool" or "toddler activity trays" on the web... there is so much natural learning that happens in a normal environment and I think it is a waste to create specific trays and basket systems to "teach" what a toddler or preschooler can learn when you take the time to explore a topic of interest with him. Here we took what we had and made something age-appropriate for him to do. He loved it, of course, and felt included in our day.
Pictures of the big kids? I'd have to dig for them... no time to dig right now!
All I can say is... Wish. Us. Luck!!
