This is it. We are "officially" homeschooling one week from today. I'm turning in our Declaration of Homeschooling this week to our local BoE and I'll begin keeping records (ugghhh - not my forte). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
In our state, homeschoolers are required to log 4 hours per day, 180 days per year. Although my rational self realizes that this is very manageable, my irrational self (who, sadly, remains in control more of the time) immediately started freaking out. Four hours a day? How will I fill four hours of every day with something educational? Then, I took a deep breath; several deep breaths and gently lowered myself from the ceiling. Ok, I thought. You can do this. You are already doing this, you just aren't cataloguing your days for possible review by the BoE.
We did not purchase a curriculum for kindergarten; the "real" schoolwork will begin in earnest next year. Or at least that's what I think today. In kindergarten, we will be focusing on fluency with reading and numbers, encouraging her burgeoning writing efforts (without correcting spelling errors or attempting to teach technique) and pursuing other interests as they come up. For example, DD asked about astronauts and fireflies today, both worthy subjects to explore.
I'd also like to teach her to identify coins and their respective worth. We checked out a book called Bennie's Pennies, but we haven't read it yet. Interestingly, since we began reading chapter books at night, we've not read as many picture books during the day like we used to. We rectified that today by reading a couple of wonderful picture books, including Ella's Big Chance by Shirley Hughes. Definitely check it out if you get a chance. It's a wonderful retelling of the Cinderella story. I really loved the twist at the end.
4 comments:
Don't worry--all you have to do under our laws is mark that calendar present for 180 days. You don't have to log what you do for four hours everyday--just whether you did them or not. As the law stands now, no one from the LEA has the legal right to ask to see any documentation of what you're doing beyond that marked calendar. We really have some of the most lenient laws around. :)
Aw... Just remember that public schools use TV and pep rallies frequently. If you do three hours of serious study and want to see Grover go over numbers and colours, who are they to tell you no?
You'll be fine! All is well, dear! We officially registered today as well. Sounds like you have a great plan.
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! We are going to officially register tomorrow, that is, if I can gather all my paperwork together. Why am I such a procrastinator?? A post for another day.
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