Homeschooling

Today ends the second week of my homeschooling adventure. So far - easy breezy.

Fears:
1. I would lack the self-discipline.
2. I'm not patient enough.

1. It doesn't take that much discipline. Honestly, it's fun. It doesn't take too long, and I find myself excited to spend the time with my girlies.
2. I'm not patient enough. But I'm working on this one.

Criticisms:
Most people who know me, know I'm more the capable of homeschooling my children, and that their education will probably be superior to public school, and so I don't receive a lot of criticism for that. However, the number ONE criticism I hear - over and 0ver - is that my kids are going to be some sort of anti-social freaks.

I could give some long drawn-out response to that, but I will say, that my children spend several hours playing with their siblings every day. They fight - and learn how to resolve it. For the most part, the get along well, respect each other, and learn much how to interact with each other. The world is a cruel place, and if I can teach my children how to behave and react in an encouraging home environment until they mature, I believe they'll handle social situations with more dignity than students who pick up baggage from the insecurities that those early school years develop. This is one criticism that has not been a fear of mine.

Joys:
1. Freedom of scheduling. I've always been a free-bird of sorts. So the freedom to do school after dinner, if needed, is awesome. Today, we didn't do school. We did half of today's stuff yesterday, and we'll do the other half, which is reading, over the weekend. It's BEAUTIFUL today and the girls have been outside playing all afternoon. I have the freedom to let them play today :)

2. Sonlight. I was extremely overwhelmed when I decided to homeschool and really started researching what all there is. Sonlight makes it so easy! I pull out the lesson plan binder and it's all right there. I really can't believe how easy it has made it. We're doing a Pre-K 4/5 curriculum with Evelyn (5) and Riley (3.5). And I'm doing K math and Language Arts 1 with Evelyn. We're moving slowly with those as she's not technically in kindergarten yet, but I can't believe how well she is reading!

3. Being part of the milestones.

4. This one is embarrassing for me to admit, but I really don't spend a lot of 'quality time' with the girls (at least not when I compare myself to other moms - tsk, tsk!). I work at the church part-time and like my house to be semi-clean, and it's easy to just pop in a video or send them outside. I've enjoyed spending the time with them - it's created a real bonding opportunity.

5. Surrounded by Faith. Our curriculum is so faith based. I love having Bible as a daily subject. The girls love reciting their verses for Daddy. It's definately a cool thing. :)