Apr. 30, 2009 - Our Homeschooling Adventure
Our homeschooling adventure has officially begun. Okay, maybe it began last August when Beth, my daughter who was four at the time, announced that she wanted to start school when the big kids did. I had been dreaming of homeschooling and planning for the day to come since before Beth's birth, but I thought I would wait another year before doing any "formal" school work with her, so I was unprepared.
I thought four was very young to begin school. I also had Matthew, my 2-year-old son, to care for, and was pregnant with Nathan, my youngest son. I had my hands full. However, I did want to take advantage of her interest in learning, so I pulled together some things I had accumulated in the years since Beth's birth.
We started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and finished it in December. I am happy to say that Beth reads fairly well now.
I had always planned on taking an eclectic approach to homeschooling. I thought I would put together a little bit of this and a little bit of that, kind-of doing my own thing. Then this spring we heard David Hazell speak at a homeschool convention, and I felt that My Father's World curriculum offered, already put together, what I hoped to accomplish. We purchased the first grade package for Beth and the preschool package for Matthew.
Beth was so excited when she saw her new school books that she began asking, almost on a daily basis, when she would start first grade. (We have been trying to tell her that this year is kindergarten, since that's the grade her age-mates in public school would be in, but she won't go for that!) I finally gave in this week, and we started My Father's World First Grade on Tuesday. So far, three days into the program, Beth and I both love it. She is ready to start school each morning before I am. I'm looking forward to a fun year.
