I am so incredibly excited to say I am 99.9% sure I am homeschooling Maddy. It's amazing what one encouraging talk can do to show you that yes, you CAN do what you wanted to do all along. I feel so very overwhelmed at the moment and very anxious and like I have no time to figure anything out, but that's just who I am. Maddy does not start school until next year, I have one year to figure this out. The biggest concern is choosing the best curriculum for her. I know it will be a christian based curriculum, but there are just so many. I've narrowed it down to a few from what I have found online so far. I am finding it is definitely more expensive than just sending her to a public school, but knowing WHAT she is being taught and HOW is worth it to me. I started looking into what is her "zoned" school in our school system. I specifically prayed to live in an area that our house is zoned for because it had the best ratings. In looking at the website I was not really THAT impressed with what it had to offer. I'm sure the school itself is great and I am NOT knocking public schools, but I just know it isn't best for Maddy. I feel schools have too much of a say as to things that are taught and not taught and allowed and not allowed and then of coarse attendance. In our state if your child has 5 or more unexcused absences, and they do not have to be consecutive, it is required they call a social worker and some other organization to have me investigated. So if I can't work a vacation into the allotted days off school than we would just be tough out of luck...I don't like that. I don't like that prayer is not allowed in school. I don't like the science curriculum in public schools as I do not believe in evolution. I do not like the required reading list books. If I'm being real honest, I don't like the peer pressure either but that is something that she needs to learn to handle as there can be peer pressure anywhere. I want to equip her with the tools and resources I feel are best to create a godly/biblical foundation.
Right now I am feeling so very excited to prepare for this journey, but I'm sure I will feel nervous about things along the way. I'm a little nervous as to what the laws are in my state, but I have found a little bit of information to help. I'm also trying to figure out which homeschool group would be best to join as there are also quite a few of those. I have one that I am leaning towards, but again I just don't know. Right now I am not making any concrete decisions...just brainstorming. I do plan on working still as I have to have an income to support us. I have read that she only has to attend 4 hours of school a day for 180 days. I think that is something that can be worked with as far as my work is concerned. I have definitely felt like my life would be changing in a big way next year, but not once did this cross my mind. I wanted to homeschool, just felt it was out of the question, but it's really not. If you homeschool please share any tips or information you have as I am a fish out of water where this is concerned lol. Some of the curriculum I'm looking into is Sonlight, A Beck A, Alpha and Omega Publications, My Father's World, and ABC Jesus Loves Me. Next summer I will attend a curriculum fair that will have several vendors there and I can actually look through the curriculum and then decide which is best. I am also going to be praying for God to direct us and show us which path we should take. It's nerve racking because this is her future. I want the absolute best for her and will do whatever I need to do to give that to her. I am documenting several things at the moment, some I will publish right away and others I am saving for when the time is right. My blog is going to be all over the place, but luckily my blog is just a place I come to write about our life and this is something major going on in our lives. I plan on documenting every step of this journey from brainstorming to actual steps I take. For now these are all the ideas I have come up with so far, so it's time to end ;p
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