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...but to be honest, I wasn't sure I was welcome here anymore. See, we DID go with the charter school. I know that lots of people don't consider that to be truly homeschooling. But we felt like it was what our family needs right now. They pay for our curriculum, which we get to chose (within certain parameters), and we have to submit to state testing. They also pay for extra-curricular activities within a certain price range. We feel like we went with the best charter we could find. Our charter was made by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. So, while they are "technically" enrolled in a public school, all of the administrators and staff and everyone truly involved are or have been homeschoolers. They understand that we don't like being under the control of the public school and try to make things as painless as possible. It is a great fit for us.
That being said, we are so grateful to have the financial freedom to provide things for our crew that we couldn't normally. The crew is now taking horse riding lessons. This is something S has wanted for years but we could never even dream of affording. We have also been able to purchase art and music curriculums. Again, we've never been able to afford those. We now have art supplies coming out our ears, much to the delight of my crew.
We have been using Odysseyware curriculum, which is the secular version of Switched on Schoolhouse. If I'm not mistaken, they are both made by Alpha Omega. At least, the Odysseyware demo disk said AO and SOS on it. Oddly enough, much to my shock, S HATES it. He is nearly in tears every day when we begin school. It seems like there is too much information thrown at them in each lesson, they answer the questions, take the quiz, then move on. There is really no retention. At least for S. C is doing somewhat better with it.
But we will definately be getting something else for S for next school year. We are probably going to try Sonlight. Especially with their new money back guarantee. We can try it for a while and if it isn't a good fit, we'll send it back and try something else. I love the idea of having that option. We have really struggled with finding something that works for S.
On other topics, we are LOVING Alaska. We do have one minor complaint...we are READY FOR SPRING already. The past couple of days have been much warmer and we are getting excited at seeing the roads wet with melting snow and ice. We can't get over how gorgeous everything is here. And seeing moose in the yard is always a big deal. You wouldn't believe all the moose pictures we have taken, just out our windows! It is truly an amazing thing to me.
While I do get a little Spring Fever when I read other blogs, where people are having 80 degree days and planting gardens, I don't feel so jealous when I read the stories of severe storms and tornados. Yep. I'll take my longer winter if it means no tornados for me!
I hope to able to update this blog a little more often, if I'm still welcome. |
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Posted by Anonymous 