I had a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE revelation over the past couple of weeks! Once my kids got accepted into Meridian World School and I turned them down, I just *knew* what the next step for us was! Since then, I've been on FIRE! I have been consumed with reading, reading, reading....consumed with curriculum....consumed with used swap sites.....just consumed!! And I am LOVING it!
When I first took the big kids out of public school in January 2013, I really had no idea what I was doing. I sought out advice from a few different moms on curriculum and mod podged it together. It was wonderful. Then, the more I researched and the more moms I met, the more pressure of "doing it right" I felt. This was pressure I solely put on myself. I questioned if what I was doing was "enough". Therefore, I went ahead and purchased a more structured curriculum for this past fall. It just didn't work. I'm learning that every family dynamic along with every child is different. While there are SO MANY wonderful curriculum choices out there, we have to buckle down on one type/style and feel confident in that decision. I was reading Pioneer Woman's post on Five Different Homeschooling Styles (LOVE HER) and realized fully that we are more of an Eclectic type (SUPRISE!) sprinkled in with some Charlotte Mason and a splash of Unschooling all wrapped up in one! YES, it is possible. Each of the three kiddies have different personalities but share some similiar learning styles.
I am going back to more of the way we "did school" when I first started. I took out the First Language Lessons for The Well Trained Mind that I had last winter and the kids are loving it, wanting more. They LOVE Unit Studies and Lapbooks, SO DO I! They love learning about other cultures and the world which is why Five in a Row was such a hit....we're bringing it back! They are consumed with learning about the presidents so our Geography will be what I purchased and didn't use last year, Road Trip USA. I am purchasing a few of the Critical Thinking and Writing Workbooks from Timberdoodle from swap sites and Ebay (cheaper) and we are continuing on with Math U See for Christopher and Teaching Textbooks for Anna. I'm still deciding on History but I'm leaning towards Story of the World. I purchased Latin Primer and All About Spelling too already. I'm still on the hunt for Saxon Phonics, hopefully used because it's pricey too! We are going back to our Artist and Composer studies because my kids miss it (so they said). I'm still at the beginning stages of planning our school year as we wrap up this year over the next couple of months, but I feel SO much more knowledgeable and prepared this time. :)
This homeschooling thing is not for the faint-hearted, that's for sure, but when they are begging not to go back to public school and for me to homeschool what else can I do?! It has stretched me in ways you wouldn't believe, but it has also grown me in ways I didn't imagine something like this could. I'm excited to see where my heart leads us for next year! These three little people are my life!! I am a better person because of them and am thankful for the opportunity to spend every day with them!!
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