What I've learned from my first homeschool month

1. Homeschooling freaking rocks! Don't make fun of me. We are really loving it!

2. Scheduling minute by minute is definitely not my thing: I tried using a lesson plan book and scheduling every single second of the day. But, freaking out because we are 2 minutes late for "snack time" is too stressful to be worth it. I'm thinking that making a list of objectives for the day is a much more productive and Loving family appropriate way to do this. We just don't do well with overscheduling.

3. I'm more organized than I thought I was: I found some awesome organizers and record keeping sites for homeschoolers/unschoolers and it has helped me to recognize and record just how much we are doing at home. It is amazing to see how much education a child unintentionally receives over the course of the day.

4. I'm definitely a homeschooling/unschooling hybrid: I don't fit into one category. **Shocking, I know!** But, I have come to think I am definitely some kind of cross between these two styles. I need a bit more structure than some of the hardcore unschoolers and yet I just can't embrace the whole single curriculum/home classroom model either.

In the end, we've ended up having a learning objective list for the week and the month with activities, worksheets, books, videos, and field trips planned throughout the month. We do alot of hands on activities and not so many work sheets. We're learning math at the park, science through art projects, and history through story books. We're learning traditionally and unconventionally and we're really enjoying every minute of it.

5. It's seems to be about finding your child's rhythm: Kai tends to pay better attention in the morning to subjects like math and science. Worksheets that are going to be done for the day need to be done then. But, afternoons she's more creative and experimental and those hands-on projects are best saved for after our "siesta" time. Any extracurricular classes that require paying lots of attention we do in the a.m., but ballet/tap/physical activities are best planned for later in the afternoon to help her work off energy and settle down for the evening. Of course, rhythm can be fickle and we are learning to be flexible to what her daily needs are.

6. I have very little figured out. As with any journey into education, I think half of the experience is realizing how little you really know. There is so much I am figuring out and I am in awe of those career homeschoolers who have been doing it for years. I don't know know how long we'll do this. I don't know whether all of our kids will be a fit. I don't know whether or not I'll ultimately be able to pull off everything that is involved. But, I do know that for now it is working and that we'll keep it up as long as it is...