Our newest adventure: Homeschool. :)
Soon after we had Bridger I started thinking about it, we talked about it, we prayed about it, we fasted about it...and then we talked some more about it and I pretty much never stopped thinking about it. Because if you know me, you know that big decisions take a long, long, long time for me to make. This decision has been about five years in the making at this point, so much time has already been invested in just making sure we have made the right decision. We don't take it lightly. Bridger would have started "Kindergarten" today, and it's difficult for me to describe my feelings. I'm sort of feeling relieved/intimidated/nervous/terrified/grateful/motivated and a whole bunch of other feelings. I've sort of been waiting for this day...we are officially homeschooling. The thing that held me back from homeschooling the most was the fact that I actually enjoyed school. I'm not homeschooling because of some traumatizing social experience or anything like that, we just feel like we've received promptings to go this route for our kids. I've been seeing everyone post their "First Day of School" pictures and it was hard not to wonder *would he be excited?**would he love his class?**would he have lots of friends?* etc. lol. I don't want my kids to miss out, so then I stepped back, said a little prayer, and the spirit reaffirmed our decision and I was fine, knowing that they might not have the same schooling experience as I had but that doesn't mean they are missing out.
And just to throw this out there, I don't judge other parents, whether they choose to homeschool or not. I believe that every parent will receive their own inspiration and I support them in their decision, I also hope we can be supported in ours. I've learned, like with a few other things, to not bring this topic up in casual conversation, mostly because I just don't like arguing, lol. One of my biggest fears, actually, was the stigma attached to homeschooling. I think what a lot of people don't realize nowadays is how much homeschooling has evolved, it's amazing. The resources and programs blow my mind, I had NO IDEA. It's so cool. Back to the stigma though, a family member told me that all the homeschooler's they knew were weird. I just said, "so there were no weird kids in school?" Honestly, it's the parents who socialize their kids, if your parents are weird, you will probably be weird no matter if you are homeschooled or not. I had to come to the realization though, that I would have to teach my kids to be confident enough to overcome that stigma, since I'm not sure it will ever go away. Anything different they do will most likely be attributed to homeschooling, which is a little sad but, whatever, right? :) lol.
I was seriously surprised to see how many people have started homeschooling in the past few years!! In our neighborhood alone there are six families besides us, which is awesome because that means more friends to play with, go on a field trips with and do projects with. I also have had other friends decide to homeschool, so we are going to stay in touch to give each other support and make sure our kids have plenty of friends. :)
Anyway, we are doing a program called My Tech High, it's an online charter school. They basically give you the money the state has set aside for your child to buy curriculum and school supplies and then you take that money and do what you want with it as long as it's in their guidelines, all they require is that you do a weekly learning log (2-3 sentences per class sharing what you learned that week). It's a STEM program, so they encourage things in line with that, but it's seriously awesome. They give you a "tech allowance," as well. We are doing Life of Fred for math, McRuffy for English and reading, and Mystery of Science for science. Bridger and Beckham don't know this yet, but we are using the tech allowance to buy a couple of LEGO rc trains for Christmas that they can build and we will use with school. We also say the Pledge of Allegiance, have prayer and read a few scriptures together every morning. This My Tech High program also will pay for what they call "3rd party providers," so Bridger gets to take swimming lessons that are paid for through this program with a group of six other kids who are his age! So fun. :)
Here is what our Kindergarten schedule looks like (for now):
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: Life of Fred and English/handwriting for 1-2 hours in the morning
Tuesday: Swimming lessons and art
Thursday: Mystery of Science and piano lessons
Some quick phone pictures from swimming lessons!
He was pouting because he wanted to swim too, lol.
One of the first things I wanted to do was take the boys to Temple Square. This is going to be one of our beginning of the school year traditions, along with Father's blessings. :) Last Thursday when Jeremy got back from his trip we headed there. I wanted some pictures to print out of the boys with the temple for their bedroom, and I thought that there is probably no better way to start out the school year than to go to the temple. :)
President Thomas S. Monson once counseled,
"As we touch the temple, the temple will touch us."
We want our boys to know that the temple is so powerful that just touching it can bring that power into their lives. They literally know in their young minds that Jesus lives there, they point to the temples when they see them while we are driving and tell us that Jesus is in there. I hope they always believe and know that, because it's true.
I love this one. So much meaning in this picture for me as a mother.
I have realized that is is almost impossible with three small boys to get a picture with all of them looking, lol. Benson just really loved that water.
I hope everyone has an amazing school year!! :)
