There's Always a Twist!

I've decided to homeschool, dear friends. I wanted to share this with you because I am shifting the focus of this blog. I believe that all of my personal homeschool trials and triumphs can provide an excellent resource for both myself an other families striving for the same thing in their home. I also feel like I would love to be able to look back and reflect on the beginning of what I hope to be an amazing journey. (And honestly, if I fail I feel that can be helpful, too.)

Lucky for me there are very busy, very active homeschooling groups here in Tampa, Florida including a Homeschool Resource Center where my soon-to-be first grader can take specific interest classes. Because Gaia is very interested in speaking Spanish with her relatives, we've signed her up to attend a Spanish class in the fall. We're also on a waiting list for a STEM class which includes elements of  Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

I've already made some friends, too. One woman let me borrow a TON of readers for Gaia's reading lessons next year. I am so grateful for that because after pricing them online I wanted to cry!

I mostly picked up a ton of used books at local curriculum sales over the course of the past month or so. I don't really *know* what I'm looking for, so I have a few things to try out. I started by getting my hands on RightStart Mathematics (Level B) including the Math Games because I knew it was similar to what I was looking for. I had a hard time with history. I settled on buying Story of the World including the workbook, maps, and tests. I will be supplementing with living books as well.

For writing and grammar I plan to do a mixture of things, but I'm also kind of excited to try my hand at using English for the Thoughtful Child.The Amazon reviews had a lot of talk about lessons being drawn out because the context of each lesson require some research on the side of the parent. That's exactly what I want! I want my daughter to ask questions. I want her to come to me knowing that I'm curious, too. I can't wait to sit down and figure out the phases of the moon together! (I know them... shh!)

I also have some random books like sight words for grade 1, vocabulary workbooks, and activity books for specific areas I want to cover. I have math manipulatives taking over my table right now. All that's really left is sitting down and planning each day and organizing my "teaching space."

I feel like working towards a degree in education is beneficial. I am also planning on teaching in some way upon completion of my degree next year. I'll either substitute a few days a week, do private tutoring, or come up with another plan to put my hard-earned education to use. Rest assured that it was not all for nothing!