So We've Decided to Homeschool...

After finally coming to the decision to homeschool, I spent a solid month researching homeschool philosophies and the plethora of curricula available.  To say there are a lot of options is a gross understatement. I have initially chosen an "eclectic" style - borrowing a little from a few of the various approaches and tailoring to the needs of my kiddos. I think [hope & pray] I have chosen well, but my heart is not set on anything in particular, so if something just doesn't jive with the boys then we can look for something that will be a better fit. I've chosen what I think will work well, but also something that I will actually enjoy teaching too. Only time will tell. Here's what we're starting with:

 Social Studies: A.J. and I both think Alex will love this.

 My first choice was actually Excellence in Writing, but the price point was a little high for my first go around. This comes with good recommendations too so I feel okay with it. Excellence may be in our future in the coming years though.

 This is by Rod & Staff for Alex's grammar/language arts. It's a little dry but it reminds me of what I was taught when I was in private school as a kid, and I loved it (nerd!). I'm hoping maybe I can make it fun for Alex...

 At the end of Alex's school year, I really felt uncertain about where Alex was in his math. While he had straight A's, he still struggled on the benchmarks and STAAR, not to mention he seemed to hate math class. Since they didn't use textbooks, we never were able to truly follow what he was learning and when he was learning it. We chose the "kinder and gentler" Teaching Textbooks to start off our first year. I'm thinking this may be a little behind his level, so we may boost him ahead and move to the next level if we find that necessary, but for now I think he'll be quite amenable to it, and I think it'll help fill in any potential gaps that he may have (if any).

I'm pretty excited about this Apologia world view study. It is solid! And it will really challenge Alex's thoughts on our modern culture and to examine closely and learn to discern truths, rights, wrongs, etc. in choices. Ample conversation material here.

For reading, I'm going to be using a number of age-appropriate classics. I'll be utilizing some great online literary guides to assist us in our study and discussions. 

We've registered both boys for a class at a school in Fort Worth that A.J. and I really like. There, Alex will be taking his science class. We think he is going to absolutely love it. Big classroom space, unique and multiple teaching styles, and good lab time. And Ayson will take his reading there as well. And, it will give them an opportunity to meet other homeschool kids - that's just a bonus.

Ayson will be focusing on handwriting using Handwriting Without Tears. He definitely needs work in that area as it's been a struggle for him in pre-K. We'll be tossing out the d'nealian handwriting in exchange for good, old-fashioned printing. For math we'll be using some online sources. And then for his reading we'll be using Abeka in partnership with the reading class he'll be taking at the school in Fort Worth. I also have some "themes" that we'll have for a focus each month that will be fun too. 

Finally, once or twice a week I'm going to be teaching my babies some French and art. One is what my degree is in, the other was something I really enjoyed in high school and college. I'm not sure how far we'll get in French this first year but I'd like to get them going so that they're at a sort of introductory conversational level, and know a bit about the French culture. It'll be fun.

I have a number of other ideas for things we'll do over the coming year, but these are the main "everyday" things we'll be working on.  I'm just going to take a couple of deep cleansing breaths, remain flexible and then dive in to this big adventure. We officially will begin in exactly three weeks!  :)