Well, I left my last post with a bit of a cliff hanger. I recently visited a local private school. I had read they do scholarships and had hoped my daughter might be able to get one. I found out once I got to the open house that they do not do full scholarships and the $9,000+ tuition per year would never be pushed down to a level I could afford without a full scholarship. So, I did take the tour of the school and speak with the teacher in her grade level that was present. The kids in the same grade level had perfect penmanship and were doing amazing things. I couldn't believe what they were learning versus the public schools. It seems like all they do in public school is reading and math and writing because they HAVE to get certain scores on tests and reviews to get their grants. Money is always a thing. Well, I decided that I was going to homeschool. Why? Well, no it wasn't just because the private school kids were learning about the solar system when public school had yet to teach my first grader that the sun was infact a star, not a plant. No it wasn't because I don't want to get up in the morning. No, it wasn't because I feel like she should be a recluse. In fact, the rumor that homeschooled children are terrible at socializing is just that. There are so many wonderful support groups and resources for homeschooling. We have joined a local secular homeschooling group that has several events planned just for this month. A benefit of homeschooling is that your child gets to socialize with other people of all ages instead of a bunch of kids the same age. They get to learn from life and they get to see more than the inside of a classroom for 180 days. I don't have to wait for the public schools to decide to go to the Arts and Sciences museum for a field trip. We already have one planned with the homeschooling group on the 12th of this month. Yep. I don't have to worry about my daughter being bullied or some psycho with a gun coming into my house with a gun to kill off everyone. Nope. I know where she is, what she is doing, what and if she is learning. Best of all I DON'T have to send her to school for someone else to teach her for 8 hours only for her to come home and me have to spend 2 more hours with her doing homework, reading and developing an understanding of her words.
Homeschooling may not be for everyone, I am not by any means suggesting it is the best or only way to go. I am simply saying it was what I decided to do. At first, it seemed over whelming. How in the world am I going to teach my child these things she's supposed to be learning when I don't even know what she is learning?! How can I possibly spend the entire day everyday entertaining a 6 year old when I also have a baby to take care of and a home business to tend with? Well, I decided that if I worried myself to death it would get me no where. I knew time management would become my best friend. However, this new adventure will not be without its ups and downs. Her folders are all filled for the week with worksheets. My computer has been running word, IE, and powerpoint non-stop, there is a USB to USB cord on it's way to me in the mail, and we went to the library Friday to get the books we needed for the next week or two. I am a little nervous about how this will work out. I am confident in my ability to teach her. It occured to me I have been doing it for 6 years.
Being a parent that is what we do. We teach them from birth, how to eat, how to roll, how to crawl, how to walk, how to talk, how to brush their teeth, I could go on and on but you get the point. I have been her teacher all along. When her baby sister was born she had a noticable change in behavior. It seemed as though she thought that she was falling into the background. At six they don't realize that mommy HAS to get up a million times to feed and change the baby. That when the baby is asleep we have to keep the ruckus below a 5 on the richtor scale and that Mommy is VERY tired! I tried to keep up with giving her attention. She just seemed to want to go to her great grampa's all the time which made it hard for me to give her the love and attention she needed. However once I started keeping her at home she realized that Mommy was still there for her and she has gotten back to being a sweetheart who randomly walks up to me for a hug and a kiss which still melts my heart. I know that before long she will grow out of that. I used to work full time at one or two jobs all the time and quite frankly I feel like if I am going to be stuck at home instead of working I should be able to spend as much time with my girls as I can because we all know how fast they grow up. Time flys and I don't want to miss another minute of it.
As for business as usual, well it is slow with all the new activity at home. I have a few new patterns working up and am getting ready to do up a lovely pattern I purchased from BonitaPatterns, Crocodile Stitch Booties. These are absolutely ADORABLE! I bought the pattern a while back having fallen in love with the yarn she used in her photos and didn't realize it took sock weight yarn. Whoops. Well, I couldn't find fingering weight yarn locally so I went on the hunt for a decently priced fingering weight online. It took me a while but I found a beautiful hand dyed yarn on ebay! I have it now and am ready to rock this pattern out. So hopefully I will have a picture posted soon. I would like to add this, Bonita Patterns has absolutely amazing patterns and I purchased two from her I would and probably will get more they are easy to read and understand and the finished products are always amazing. Not to mention her ability to make crocodile stitches into wonderful wearable art! So of you like to crochet and know how to read patterns please visit her site, she is also wonderful at customer service if you need help with a pattern! So definately be sure to stop by her shop by clicking on the link in the text above or clicking HERE.
I am off to do something important as usual. Have a blessed day!
Ape
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