This is our first year homeschooling using a cyberschool.  I was a little worried we would not like it since I do not do well with structure, but so far we love it.  It turns out you don't really have to have it that structured or do any of the busy work.  The older kids like structure and keep it a little more structured, but Xander and I are really having fun with it.  He's more like me and learns better this way.  I love to hear him explain in details what he has learned.  He's doing phonics as part of language arts.  I personally do not like phonics, but it seems to be the only thing helping him learn to read and he is really enjoying it.  We have really been struggling with this department. 

School started out a little rough with the move, getting used to a new way of doing things, and our new (very fun) surroundings.  It's hard to keep the kids indoors.  Funny, before we moved I couldn't get them to go outside.  I've been wanting to take pictures and blog so that we have something to look back on and reminisce, but things have been so hectic.  I was able to remember to take some pictures on Thursday, September 3.  I didn't take too many of the kids outside which I regret.  The farm needs a lot of work and as a family we are looking forward to tackling it.  We will start today.  I Hope I remember to take pictures! 

We went to bed late the night before as we are still unpacking and cleaning.  The kids stayed in their PJs and had blankets and pillows downstairs as we started the school day.  I didn't mind since It starts out very cold in the mornings and everyone was kind of sulky from the night before.  Our classroom isn't finished.....it's actually become a little of a storage room as we continue to unpack (I'm going to have to remember to take before and after pictures).  For this reason we were in the living room, which is a huge mess right now.  You will notice my chaise is in the middle of my living room right smack in the middle of the couch and television.  My bookshelves that belong in the classroom are still in my living room.  We still haven't figured out what to do with the extra living room set since we have three, so right now it's sitting in the classroom.

Well here is a slide show of the fourth day of our school.  I really wish I would have taken more pictures of when we were outside.  Lots of "Science" time.  Not the boring "school" science, but the fun natural way of learning science.  We chased and studied crickets (wow, they sure do jump high), followed a caterpillar and discussed it's life cycle before turning into a butterfly, plus many other outdoorsy life learning.  We were so excited when Dad (dh, not "my" dad) got home, that I completely forgot to grab my camera.  I did manage to get some pics of the kids helping Dad with the mowing tractor.

We just saw a commercial for the curriculum we will be using (K12.com).  The kids and I are real excited to start our new program.  Their laptops should be mailed sometime after the 17th of this month.  They took their placement tests last week; including Xander who did very well.  I was really impressed that the enrollment placement teachers kept me in the loop the whole time.  The decisions were made with my input, as a team, with my children's best interest in the center.  Very impressive; So far so good!!!  So unlike brick and mortar public schools.  I have watched a few live orientations they do online and feel very comfortable with the school.  They explained what is expected from us (the parents) and answered all the questions I had.  This took care of any fears I might have had left in the back of my head.  I will pretty much be doing what I am doing now, but they will be taking care of all the record keeping.  My kids will also have "teachers", so if I need help with something I have dependable back up.  Some parents have issues with the "titles".  They are the "teachers" and we are the "learning coaches".  Titles do not bother me.  I am the one who will be "teaching" my children who will be home with me 24/7.

My niece will also be staying with us this year.  I am waiting for my sister (who is deployed out of the country) to send me the power of attorney for my niece.  She has already ordered her birth certificate and I should be receiving it soon.  Then I will be signing her up for PAVCS also.  

Wizdom's enrollment teacher emailed me asking for approval on his courses.  He did not do too well in Math and will be placed at a lower level for Math.  He did well on everything else and will be placed accordingly.  They have already emailed me the list of his courses and we should be receiving his books shortly.  I didn't think I would be so excited about receiving books, but it feels like Christmas in our home right now.  tee-hee

AnaMaria's enrollment teacher called me yesterday to go over what courses AnaMaria should be taking.  We spoke for a while and although I am not completely happy with AnaMaria's math placement, I did agree with it.  She really does need more help in Math.  Like Wizdom, she will be placed in a lower level for Math.

I'm starting to wonder if I dropped the ball with Math.  When we started homeschooling we decided that dh would teach math (he's so much better at math than me), but when we moved to MD it became difficult for him since he had to take a second job.  I should have really picked it back up after that, but we left it with him teaching on his spare time (mostly weekends).  All the other subjects were taught by me and since we all LOVE reading (even Wizdom now, woohoo!), they did very well on those.  What I really want to kick myself for is that when we moved I wanted to buy the kids Math U See.  I've heard this is an awesome curriculum and I really think they would have excelled with it.  Oh well.....No use crying over spilled milk now. 

Anyways, this was "quality" time my dh got to spend with his kids.  God does everything for a reason and I have to Trust in Him.  I'm sure something good will come out of it.

All in all I am happy with the courses being sent and honestly a little excited about the change.  My only dissapointment is that my kids are requesting more structure.  They want a classroom with posters up and everything.  Uuuugh!!!!  How are they so different than me.  Looking at our new "old" farm house, there really is no room for this.  Like I stated in my last post......I will have to turn our living room into a classroom, which means my dining room will be turned into our family/living room.  Not really too big of a deal.  Our kitchen is a eat in kitchen with plenty of room.  The dining room is bigger than our living room and I don't mind the sacrifice for the kids.  It's just a house and they are the loves of my life. 

So far I have 3 desks and will now need 2 more (hopefully 3 more so that I can keep my sewing desk as my sewing desk).  We are still debating how we want to decorate our classroom.  They want structure, but it does not mean it can not have a warm homey feel to it.    I might also use it as my sewing room during non school hours.  The room I have as my sewing room now, was actually a small room used as an office behind the kitchen.  I am thinking of turning this into a walk in pantry and also placing our upright freezer in there.

Our Lord is bringing so many new things into our lives.  As I look around, every new day is really being received as a gift.  It seems all our dreams are coming true.  We are even receiving gifts of things we didn't even know we wanted, like homeschooling.  It makes me look back on all our trials and I now realize what a wonderful gift they were.  Who would have ever told me when I had to quit my job to stay home with Xander, that it was the greatest gift I would ever receive.  Since then I have broght my older two home to homeschool and we have moved way up north.  We are now starting our farm (you can read about our farming journey at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/angelswithapurpose/), of which we have been discussing and dreaming about for years. 

I am truly Blessed to serve such an Amazing God!  Praise the Lord!!!

My face to face meeting with the PAVCS Assistant Director of Enrollment went great!  I actually first got a phone call from the High School Enrollment Specialist the day before my meeting.  She was really nice and went over the application process with me.  I was a little nervous about the meeting, but speaking to her helped a lot.  The reason I was so nervous is because I have been homeschooling my children for almost 3 years now (around Nov '06).  I have learned so much from my little ones and education.  My daughter who wasn't too fond of Science is now studying to be a Marine Biologist.  My son who hated reading (well hated school and learning period...to the point of tears) now absolutely LOVES reading.  He has even surprised me some mornings when I make my way downstairs after morning prayer and exercising just waking up (and making a dash to make tea) to find him already doing his school work without being asked.  It made me real nervous that allowing a cyber school run by the public school system would ruin what we have worked so hard to achieve.

Well after speaking with the HS Enrollment Specialist and my meeting with the Assistant Director of Enrollment, I feel confident about our decision.  My children are really excited and my dh and I have peace.  The K12 curriculum we will be using is great.  The staff at the school are phenomenal and the other parents are just as great.  Most share the same Christian views as my family, which helped a lot in giving me peace.

As of Wednesday, we are officially enrolled in PAVCS.  We should start receiving our materials within 15 days and the children should each receive their laptops sometime after the 17th of this month.  The children have decided they would rather take a more structured approach this year, so we are dedicating a room in our home to their "classroom".  For the days they feel like having a more laid back day (since the laptops are wireless) we can go upstairs to the attic.  We have an amazing walk around attic the length of the house (I LOVE old farm houses).  My dh is setting it up as the children's playroom with couches, TV, kitchen sets, and all their toys.

On another note, we also have a lot of new changes happening in our "farm life" that you can read about at: http://www.homesteadblogger.com/angelswithapurpose/

My daughter and my son have both decided they really do want to do the Cyber School.  After researching many different schools and weighing out the pros and cons, we have decided that PAVCS would be the best fit for our family.  Initially it was only supposed to be for AnaMaria (my 16 year old) and I would continue to homeschool as usual for the boys, but after an in depth research dh and I have decided to add the boys.  Of course I will be treading lightly.  Right now everything sounds too good to be true.  I am leaving it all in God's hands, as I still have trust issues with public schools.  This time it will be different since they will still be homeschooling and I will still be in charge of helping them through their learning process.  The staff seem super nice and very helpful.  I've interviewed a lot of parents too.  Some who have already left the program, but still had great things to say about it.  Some had silly issues, like being dissapointed on the refund they received for their internet service.  I'm just grateful they give you something to help out with the way the economy is right now.  No one else had anything really bad to say.  On the contrary, they made it sound better than the staff did.  They went on and on about everything that is provided, from laptops, printers/scanners, textbooks, science equipment, art supplies, musical instuments, etc....  Pretty much everything you could think of that will help your child with their education.  They stated that the staff is great, very respectful of what goes on at home and work with you as a team.  One parent explained that they brought up their Christian beliefs and were excused from completeing certain assignments and at times were allowed to supplement with something else.  All and all dh and I feel comfortable with our decision for now.  We've sent in our application along with our medical exemption (as we do not vax) and so far everything looks good.  We are now waiting for a face to face appointment. 

In the meantime, since the curriculum is not Christian based, I am now looking for a good Bible study we can do as a family before school starts.  We used to do our own individual Bible studies (theirs through their curriculums), but I believe this is another way our Lord is bringing us together as a family.  I am also thinking of continueing The Mystery of History.  We really have not done much in it.  I'm not sure  entirely why because we enjoyed it very much.

I feel this year our Lord is bringing a lot of new things in our lives.  The move, the farm, the animals, Cyberschooling etc...I am leaving everything in His hands and trusting He has the best things planned for our future even if we do not understand them at the time.  I honestly was totally against the idea of Cyberschooling when my daughter first brought it up. 

Let's see where our Lord takes us with this even if it is just for a season.

We will be moving to a small (6 acre) farm in PA.  My 16 year old daughter has decided she would like to try one of the Cyber Charter Schools the public school is offering in this area.  She will basically still be homeschooling using a laptop, but the public school will be reviewing her work and she has to use their curriculum.  The pros - she will get a laptop, free curriculum, art/music supplies, science lab supplies, and everything she will need for her "school work".  The cons - the curriculum is not Christian based, although she doesn't have to complete assignments against my "religion".  We can supplement.  She has to complete 180 days of school (norm for even unschoolers in our area; PA law), but fieldtrips count as school.

At first I was totally against it as it goes against what I thought homeschool is about.  I felt I wouldn't have control of what she is learning and the curriculum is not Christian based.  I didn't tell her "NO".  Instead I told her she should really research it.  I was thinking when she saw how strict it was and how much freedom she would be losing (we are currently eclectic, leaning way over to unschooling), that she would change her mind.

Well she has really impressed me.  She really did her homework on it and to my dismay, was even more excited about it.  Uuugh!

Then I started thinking ....OK, one of the main reasons I homeschool is because I want to give my children the freedom of making informed choices for their future.  I trust that they know what they want to be when they grow up and what choices they need to make to get there.  I am more of a facilitator in their quest for their future, listening from a young age at what their interest are.  I teach them from God's Word and pray they will follow morally the way they ought to go.  This is the choice she has made for her future.  She has shown great maturity in researching information on different schools and at 16 years old I have to trust the choices she's making.  At first I did not agree with them (I lean more towards an unschooler frame of mind), but I honestly have been very impressed and proud of the way she has handled her education for her future.  At this point all I can do is continue to be a facilitator and pray over her choices giving her advice along the way.  Trusting that our Lord has her in His hands and knows what He has in store for her future.

Well in researching the school myself I was really impressed.  My 13 year old, who was sitting at the computer with us as we researched, has decided he would like to try it also.  Hmmmm....I guess our homeschooling adventures are taking a whole new direction. 

Worst case scenario, I will pull them out if it does not work out.

BTW..... We've been dreaming of homesteading for years now.  I have been going over to homestead blogger and drooling over everyones homesteading adventures.  I am so excited that we get to finally start our own little homestead.  I started a new blog to document our new farming adventures there.  I will keep this one for all our homeschooling adventures.  Please visit my homesteading blog over at: http://www.homesteadblogger.com/angelswithapurpose/