- I am only homeschooling Cate and Lucy for those of you who have asked. Harper and Sadie will continue attending public school.
- The goal here is absolutely to get them back in school eventually. When? I don’t know.
- Yes, I have a background in education. I have a degree from Baylor University in early childhood education and taught 2nd grade for a few years before deciding to stay home with the girls.
- Alaska is an AMAZINGLY supportive state for homeschoolers.
- I’m really nervous but mainly just excited.
- I want to apologize to every homeschooling friend who I inadvertently hurt by saying oh, I could NEVER homeschool or yeah, I like having a life or that’s what teachers are for. It’s easy to throw stones on the other side of that big glass wall, isn’t it?
- I thought I didn’t miss teaching. I was completely wrong.
- Where the heck was TPT when I was a young teacher? BEST RESOURCE EVER.
- How in the world did I not know about HP Instant Ink? I’m an idiot!! Best $9.99 I’ve ever spent.
- Just ordered All About Reading. I’m so pumped to use this program with my girls.
- I’ve been listening to the Read Aloud Revival podcast, and emailing questions to my literacy guru Jen Jones. The plan is this. Read, read, read, read, read. And write. And read some more. 2-3 read alouds a day, 45 minutes – 1 hour of guided/individual reading, and 45 minutes of writing.
- I’ve been at the library almost every single day.
- I have the FULL support of Jimmy and my family. My parents have been incredibly supportive and generous, helping me prepare my curriculum and school room.
- Organizing and planning is sooo fun.
- I have some INCREDIBLE master teachers in my corner. I’ve talked to them on the phone, emailed them, and gotten so much valued input and advice.
- I’ve gotten lots of questions about curriculum. I’m doing a lot of different things. I’ll let y’all know what we settle on.
- I sent an email to their teacher about a week ago telling her I am going to pull the girls. I had a yucky feeling in my heart and I didn’t want things to be awkward when we see her in the future. The girls will still be taking 2 electives at the school and seeing the speech therapist there. I just told her honestly what was going on, what my fears were, and that it’s not about her or me. It’s about these girls getting all of the help they need this year so that they can be right back on track next year. I got a really lovely response from her and that calmed my heart.
- Cora will be attending hourly care (she loves it and calls it baby school) from 9-12 daily. This will be my core “teaching time”.
- Cate and Lucy are SO EXCITED. Every day they go in the school room and look around and you should see their grins!
- I have a really strong, abiding sense of peace about all of this. I know, with zero doubts or qualms, that it’s the right thing to do.
xoxo
S
You got this!!!!!!!!!!
So excited for you all!
That’s great that you have the support! I really wanted to homeschool my youngest for 1st grade, then send her to school for 2nd. But I had no support from anyone (husband, family, friends). My husband was fine with “homeschooling” for my three kids in kindergarten, because kindergarten is not required in PA. Our extended family/friends weren’t supportive, but it didn’t matter what they thought, they weren’t the parents. I hope it goes well for you, with all the support you are off to a great start! I can’t wait for your updates! As a former teacher, you have great experience! So happy you are blogging!
I’m cheering you on all the way from London! You’ll be amazing, I’m sure!
Heya,
Please know this isn’t a criticism but more that I am curious…in your room I feel like there are SO many resources (I feel the same about my 5 year olds class at her school here in NZ) and I’m just wondering how all that much stuff is necessary? Like how much gets used daily or multiple times in a day and how much is there for the odd occasion? Does that make sense? I’m not a teacher so have no idea but it seems like a lot. ♀️ No judgement here just interested.
I’m not Stephanie but I just started home schooling my first grader due to issues she was having. I have to say I have a corner of a very small basement and I’m having trouble finding places to put everything. I also have that drawer system thing Stephanie has in the picture. I use that for daily work. Almost each drawer has a different subject & assignment per day. I then have a container on top of that with all the resources I will use for the week. I THEN have folder upon folder and drawer upon drawer of books, teaching books, manipulatives, games, puzzles,and THEN a binder with each subject that holds all the curriculum items I will be using. So those things are not used daily but need to be close by. Then on my daughter’s desk the daily items like crayons, glue, pencils, markers, chalk board…I am in shock about all the items I need to teach. And I feel like I am just starting and probably do not have everything I need. I’ve only been doing this 3 weeks. I have a few charts on the walls with the hundreds chart, some word wall words and alphabet. All of those she will use during the day right now while doing math and writing work. AND this doesn’t even cover my boxes of books. Each week I take out books I will use for the week. I feel like I need SO much! I was not expecting that when I began.
I’m not sure I’m following. Are you asking why I have so much stuff?
Or are you asking if having so much “stuff” in the school room is distracting?
The room in the photo is the “school storage” room and also my craft room.
The actual course work will be done at a table in another part of the house.
You got this Stephanie! You know what to expect curriculum wise, you have lined up a great support system and most of all both you and the girls are happy and excited about the change. Congrats on recognizing that a change was needed and taking this hard step for the good of your girls.
You rock!
Cheering you on from Washington State!!!
You are well on your way. Wishing you all the best!
Good Luck on this latest endeavor. Homeschooling is never easy for a mother. However, I support your decision and I pray that you all have a wonderful learning experience each day to nourish your quest for knowledge.
The weather up there definitely cooperates with homeschooling. Everyday you are blessed with frozen snow and freezing weather. It might start snowing now. I remember when we were up there that taking the kids anywhere involves a big production number. snow suits, snow pants, snow boots, extreme weather gloves, insulated snow hats and a couple of long johns. None of them are cheap specially with four kids to dress up plus myself and the husband. I was thankful that the goverment housing had a heated garage. It is a blessing for us.
Enjoy your time up there and make the most out of it. Take them ice fishing, ride a snow machine and enjoy the frozen lake. Kids would love it.
I went to a story time at the Eric Carle Museum in Massachusetts. It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve witnessed with my kids. Anyway, there’s a woman there who wrote a book called Reading Picture Books with Children: How to Shake Up Storytime and Get Kids Talking about what they see. I believe that what made story time so special there was the tactics they used from this book. And I just think of it whenever you mention the love of the actual book, the feel of the paper, the smell, the covers. Anyway, I just thought I’d mention it. 😉
I just want to say that you are amazing. To me, one of the signs of a good parent is the willingness to change things based on the needs of each individual child. Your girls are blessed to have you and I can not wait to follow your adventure!
You are going to be amazing-have fun!!!! Second grade has been my very favorite year to homeschool. I only have one more kiddo to teach second to, and I am actually kind of sad about it! I am glad you got such a positive response from their teacher-this was something I really dreaded when I pulled my son.