Ok....it's official! We've decided to pull the boys out of school when the semester ends next week. We know that if we move we will NOT be able to afford private school, and I refuse to return my boys to public school. So, based on all of the information that we currently have, we made a decision to not start the boys back at their current school in January. It makes sense to us to use Christmas break as a natural transition, and it will make it easier on the school too. Even if we are here for a few more months, it will be easier to start homeschool now than in the middle of a semester!
The boys are excited..we'll see how long that lasts! So the next big hurdle is curriculum. Since we're starting mid-year, there's no way I'm going to try to piece things together, so I've decided to go with a complete curricula choice. The best part about whatever we choose is that we're only stuck with it for the rest of this year if we don't like it. I know that I can expect to have to experiment with different things and that each child may have their own preferences, so I'm trying not to get too hung up on my choices. That said, I still want to get off to a good start and keep the kids happy!
I'm currently looking at A Beka Academy (the videos) and Switched on Schoolhouse (computer-based learning). The reviews are good, and I know that the Duggar Family is currently using Switched on Schoolhouse, so that gives me some confidence in the program. I know that Josh (7th grade and has ADHD) and Noah (3rd grade) prefer to learn with something that's a little more exciting than me sitting there trying to teach them out of a book. We figured THAT out last fall when we tried homeschool and ended up with lots and lots of tears.....most of them mine ;D So we definitely need some sort of online program. I'm having a hard time finding online demos of the Switched on Schoolhouse, so I'm not able to completely commit to it yet. I found great examples of the A Beka videos, and we like the fact that the child watches an actual teacher teaching an actual class, but the videos are really dated, and I'm also unsure as to how the child's portion of the work is completed.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions or have actually used either of these programs I would LOVE, LOVE any advice you might have :D
On another note, we decided to take the bull by the horns and start making some decisions about what WE want to do instead of waiting on (what feels like) the world to call us back with answers. So, in addition to pulling the boys out of school, we just finished planning a house-hunting trip to Atlanta for the week between Christmas and New Year's. We decided that we have nothing better to do, and the company that wants to hire my husband has offered to pay for gas and hotel to get the whole gang down there for a few days....so we're going!
Nice to finally have some plans!
4 hours ago
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4 comments:
Go to the aquarium while you're in ATL. It's awesome! We just took our big kids this fall!!
This is a really exciting post!! I am very curious to watch as you enter the homeschool world. We would like to do this with our girls but I have no examples to follow. Please share everything and anything :) Enjoy your trip to ATL. Your kids are sure to have a good time with all the new fun things to see while there.
Blessing my online friend. Still praying for you guys.
Lexi
I would go with Switched on Schoolhouse. Abeka is A LOT of busywork and is hard to jump into if you haven't been doing it from the beginning. Just my opinion. Once you get your feet wet and some homeschool confidence, you'll be piecing your own curriculum together in no time. On a side note, there are some awesome homeschool groups in and around Atlanta. I have another friend that lives there and am alway so jealous of her field trips and co ops. Good luck on the house hunting!
I have no idea how dated these ABeka videos are, but I can speak to the ones I watched in school back in 1992-93 (6th grade). That year of video school was the Worst Year of Education. I was an excellent student who loved learning, but I didn't learn much that year. I simply could not tolerate watching a teacher on television.
That said, the videos were dated then, so I'd imagine they've made new ones at least once. Perhaps they learned something in the interim?
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