And the big news; I decided to homeschool. This is something I've been thinking about and researching for a long time. I've considered it before, but at this point it finally feels right. Adam and I discussed the endeavor at length and then came to a consensus that we would give "the experiment" a year. We'll evaluate the viability of our plans next June.
So why am I doing this? I don't have a problem with the schools in Kent per se. I wasn't upset with their school teachers. I don't plan on teaching them about Jesus all day long. I actually enjoyed having free time to myself while they were at school, so have I lost my mind? This is what some of my friends have questioned me about. :) And I don't blame anyone for thinking I'm crazy.
It all started getting real on the last day of school. Teryn came home from Kindergarten with a stack of papers to work on over the summer that represented her curriculum for first grade. Reading, math, sight words. I decided I wanted to find out what she could do with these assignments and sat her right down to test her. Out of 86 sight words she could read 79. She finished three pages of math within 5 minutes and didn't make a single mistake. I asked her to read a few pages from the readings, no problem again, no mistakes. That's when I realized she was capable of progressing in a timeframe different than what the public schools would expect of her.
I'm practical. I'm not going to expect the system to change for my child. She's not "gifted" or "highly capable" from the school district's perspective. So I decided that if I wanted Teryn to do more than just review the stuff she already knew I was going to have to teach her myself. I recognize that not everyone can do this, for a variety of reasons. I can, and I'm going to try. I may fail. But for this year my children are going to learn in our home from me. We'll see what happens and I will happily share what I find on this blog.
I have one week of experience. Just one. So far I feel pretty great about how things are going. We are reading, writing, adding, subtracting, studying French, cooking, cleaning, harvesting our garden, sculpting with play dough, learning to play the piano, and having great discussions throughout the day. My kids are delightful to me. They seem genuinely interested in everything I've tried to teach them so far. My days seem to have a fluid, natural flow. We rest, we eat, we talk, we learn from books and CD's and DVD's. So far, it's really actually, unbelievably working.
The kids are happy. On our second day of class their aunt and uncle came to town from Idaho and they got to go fishing in the middle of the perfectly sunny Seattle afternoon. It was lovely.
I am happy. I feel a sense of satisfaction I hadn't anticipated. I expected this to feel more like torture, but I'm finding it feels totally pleasant.
I'll keep you posted, but, so far, so good. Tres bien, tres tres bien.
