The 12 Days of Homeschooling

(sung to the tune of "THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS")

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you
homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about
P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?"

On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO
STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "How long
will you homeschool, YOU `RE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Look at
what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO
STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Why do you
do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school,
YOU ARE SO STRANGE, hat about P.E. do you give them tests, are they
socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss
the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long
will you home school, YOU `RE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you
give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about
graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what
they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!,
what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you
homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "I could
never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do
you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them
tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go
to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll
miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how
long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you
give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can
go to college, yes you can do this, and they can graduate, we don't
need the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they aren't missing anything,
we'll homeschool forever, WE'RE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., life
it self's a test, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can
I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum,
when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think
we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we'll
homeschool legally.

Author Unknown

Rachel's first book

Rachel picked up There's a Wocket in My Pocket and read it from cover to cover. She's been reading the BOB books and she will read others if I ask her to, but this one she just picked up on her own. Like a real reader. :-)





I like the ZABLE
on the TABLE
And the GHAIR
under the CHAIR

But that BOFA
on the SOFA
Well, I wish
he wasn't there.

Instructional Funds

Items to order this year:

Explode the Code
Singapore Math - Standards
Story of the World
Handwriting Without Tears
What Your First Grader Should Know
BOB books
Art Supplies
Maps

Halloween party

Charter School

We've decided to join a charter school. The main reason is financial. The school provides some funds that we can use to buy curriculum and provide classes for Rachel. She really loves her art and science classes and those can add up quickly. We had a great meeting with our educational specialist (ES). She is a former teacher who homeschooled her daughter while her son goes to SOTH (school outside the home). She seems like a terrific fit for our family.

Places we would like to go...

Huge field of dinosaur tracks found.

More than 1,000 dinosaur footprints along with tail-drag marks have been discovered along the Arizona-Utah border. The incredibly rare concentration of beastly tracks likely belonged to at least four different species of dinosaurs, ranging from youngsters to adults.

Rachel's art class

We are official!

I just filed our Private School Affidavit with the California Department of Education. I think we need a t-shirt. :-)

Kids nowadays!

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
-Socrates

How we got here

Our story is long. I never imagined we would be homeschoolers. Only 6 years ago I was a fervent supporter of the public school system. George and I went to some of the worst schools in CA and still managed to get an education. I figured we were in a bit better neighborhood now, so the schools should be fine for Rachel.

Well, we do attachment parenting and it just seemed to be the antithesis of the philosophy to put our child in a school for 6-7 hours 5 days a week. Preschool was a bit of an easier transition. Only a few hours in the mornings. However, none of us were thrilled with our preschool choice (just went with a friend's recommendation) and I happened to get laid off at the same time. I was getting a nice severance package and decided that after a 20 year career, I would take a break.

It turns out alot of AP parents turn to homeschooling. I found a local group and started attending their classes for little kids. I also, started selling children's books and booked a stall at the local homeschooling convention. I liked the idea of homeschooling, I liked the people I was meeting, but I was still fine with public schools. However, the convention opened up George's eyes. He was not to sure about homeschooling at that time, but he attended a session on teaching gifted children and it clicked for him.

After I went back to work, George quit in order to get his license. He became Rachel's primary care giver and started teaching her at home. Nothing formal. Just your basic ABC's and numbers. Rachel picked things up quickly. She was on the verge of reading when she started kindergarten.

She did go to kindergarten last year. They had her reading in two months! However, we kept getting the feeling that we didn't quite fit in that environment. While other parents were gushing about how much the kids were learning, we were blowing off the homework. Rachel was sick alot (remember no preschool) and sometimes
she just preferred staying home. No problem for us, but we got a letter from the school about all her absences.

For us, it's also a lifestyle choice. Every night I had to worry about getting home, having dinner, cleaning up, taking baths and getting to bed on time for school. And she started school at 10am.

For first grade, she would be starting at 8:00am. That meant that when I got home at 6:30pm, we would have exactly 2 hours before she had to be in bed. I didn't like that idea at all. I also saw that as she went through the higher grades, the homework would get more intense. Don't these children learn enough in 6 hours of school?

Rachel is sensitive, smart, and inquisitive. She loves art, dance, and music. She seemed to learn lower case letters in one day. ?? And can sometimes do math in her head. Yesterday, she learned about the continents and how fast the Earth spins.

We actually had a very difficult time deciding to homeschool. It would mean George would have to restrict his private practice. His work is something that he *loves*. However, we are figuring out ways for him to have his work and also to homeschool our daughter. Although we talked about it for years and went back and forth all summer, we didn't make the final decision until a week before school started.

The day before school began, I withdrew her and we went to return her uniforms. She chose a bunch of pretty dresses instead.

From Scientific American Mind

June/July 2008

When children are very young, they all express creativity, but by the
end of the first grade, very few do so. This is because of
socialization. They learn in school to stay on task and to stop
daydreaming and asking silly questions. As a result, the expression
of new ideas is largely shut down. We end up leaving creative
expression to the misfits - the people who can't be socialized. It's
a tragedy.

-Robert Epstein, visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego

Our homeschooling adventure

This is where I will try to keep track of our homeschooling journey. Maybe it will help out another family just starting out. :-)