Book It Program

The veteran homeschoolers probably know all about this, but I just found out that I can register my homeschool for the Book-It program from Pizza Hut. They ask for your name, address, phone, email and the number of kids (ages 5-12). If you have more than 5 kids they ask you to call to register. They are registering for the 2010-2011 school year until June 30th.

Thanks http://helpmyhomeschool.com/ for the info!

Registration form:

http://www.formspring.com/forms/bookitprogram-homeschool_enrollment_form1

Flip-Flop

If politicians can do it, why can't I?

No, no flip-flopping on homeschooling. If anything, I'm more committed than ever to do it. At first I decided to start hs next year, but then I thought, why wait? So then I figured I'd take them out at spring break. I got all fired up and started working on IHIPs and ordering curriculum materials, but it just didn't feel like the right thing to do. Now the plan is to wait until next school year.
I think it will work out better for the kids this way. There's no "clear and present danger" for them at school and this way they get to say goodbye to friends and teachers that they care about. The problem is that I don't want to tell them until the end of the school year, but I'm just DYING to tell them. I'm terrible at keeping happy secrets.

Books Books and More Books

The hardest part about getting started, is knowing where to start in the first place.  Lucky, I have gotten lots of recommendations of books, but most of them aren't sold at any of our local book stores.  Living in rural upstate NY has it's disadvantages.  I'm not comfortable spending a bunch of money on books that I haven't gotten to look through.  That's one where Amazon's "look inside" feature just doesn't cut it.

I went to Barnes and Noble on Monday and looked through their section of educational books.  They didn't have much of anything.  They did have a few of the Singapore Math books that I had been wanting to see.  I decided that they looked like they would be good for my kids, but I still went to Amazon to order them.  Search Amazon.com for singapore math

I think I'm set to go with math, but I still have a whole lot more to find.  I'd love to hear what has worked for you and why you liked it.

The Library is a Dangerous Place

Every time I check out a book about homeschooling at the library I start thinking about doing it all over again.  I've thought about it now and again for the last 4 years, but I just wasn't ready.  Then I picked up The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at home at the library.



Just a few pages into it, I realized that I had found what I was looking for.

I knew I wasn't an unschooler; I'm just not built for that.  I need more structure and order in my life.  I knew I couldn't do school at home, because that kind of defeated the purpose of removing them from school.  I wanted something different, but I didn't know what it was until I read this book.

Now I am getting myself organized and ordering books on the internet the way a drunk orders at an open bar.  I have joined various homeschooling groups on the internet and spoken to a few local homeschooling parents.  The only thing I haven't done yet is pull my kids out of school......or tell them that they won't be going back.

I have talked to them in the hypothetical about homeschooling.  My son, Aki, is excited about the idea of getting to do things at his own pace.  Hanachan wants to do both, which is not doable in the state of New York.  I still have lots of time to talk to them about it and discuss the pros and cons.

My hubby and I both want to let them finish out the school year (there's only about 50 days of school left).  I'm curious and nervous to see how the people in our lives react.  Most of them will probably think I've lost my mind.  I can't say that I entirely disagree with that.