"Homeschooling"

Time goes by too fast. WAY TOO FAST!

I just had to say that because I have no idea where the last few weeks have gone. Every time I have set my mind to blog or work on photography stuff or simply catch up on emails and regular mail, I never get around to getting it all in. Pffffhhhhew! 'Tis the time of year, no?

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Well as mentioned, several times, I have been wanting to blog about our decision to homeschool our son this year. We have actually wanted to homeschool for years, even prior to having kids. I have three older sisters and two of the three homeschooled their children. I grew up seeing their kids blossom from the home-learning environment. Up until our move back to my hometown we had it in our minds we were going to looking to homeschooling. But when we moved back to this area we began considering the idea of open enrolling him in a great school district just 7 miles from our home. We made the decision and had everything ready for him to start there this fall. In June when we registered it seems great and I felt like it was going to be a good choice. But as time went on I began to question myself and my husband in our decision to send him there. Something just didn't feel right about it. It is a great school and we know several parent who have children enrolled there. But I just didn't feel right. I never told anyone about these feeling, including my husband. I just chalked it up to butterflies about my baby going off to school. And I have to add that my son kept saying "Mama, I want to be homeschooled." Again, I just chalked it up to him having butterflies too. But, he is a very social child and I knew he was not afraid of being with other kids or away from us. I guess I just blew off those feeling from both of us.

About 3 weeks before Camden was set to start school I had a very dear friend of mine call me up to chat. She then began to share with me about her feelings to pray for my hubby and I and our feelings about Camden's schooling. This friend knew about my desire to homeschool for years and yet did not know how conflicted I was inside about him going off to school. She continued to share with me how she felt lead to pray for us and what ever choice we made she would support us. But she wanted me know that she really felt to pray about our current decision. I began to cry as we talked and shared with her about conflicted I had been. She assured me that she would continue to pray. It just so happened to be that the day of our conversation my hubby was off. So after our talk I went out to speak to him. I prefaced the conversation by saying that I did not want to be upset and that I just wanted to be honest about my feelings. I then proceeded to tell him about my friend and I's conversations and how I felt. The whole time he was sitting there nodding his head. After I poured out my heart through tears, he too shared that he too had been having reservations. He has always supported the idea of homeschooling and has wanted to be an active part if we so choose to. So again the tears began to flow as I knew those feeling were real and that maybe we had made the wrong choice to send him to school.

About an hour after my husband and I's conversation another friend called to chat. We began talking and I was sharing with her what was going on. As we continued to talk she told me that she had wondered how long decision would last because she always felt that we would homeschool. And she then offered to help us with Merci so that Camden and I could have time during the week alone. She just so happens to have a daycare at her home and my kids LOVE her and have gone over many times. It sure seemed as though things were lining right up just in a matter of a couple of hours!

Almost every day since there has been some form of confirmation that God has lead us in this direction. The support from friends and family has been UNBELIEVABLE! I was so worried we would be judged for making this choice but it has been the complete opposite. And I have also found out that two friends of mine have made the decision to also homeschool this year. I have not been out looking for confirmation, God has just been bringing it to us to show us we made the right decision. I believe that it was He who lead us to teaching Camden at home. I really could list sooooo many other forms in which it came to us but it would make this already long post that much longer.

So after our decision was set to homeschool I contacted two different online schools that we had looked into in the past. Though the route in which we are going is done at home, it is not really considered "homeschooling" because we are not purchasing a curriculum. All of his curriculum is sent to us and some of his work is done online. But before I get off onto all of that, I want to tell you that the schooling we chose is wonderful! His teacher, Mrs. Pearcher is wonderful and is in constant communication with us. We can email, call, or fax her any time. I really look forward to meeting her in October when Camden has an open house.

The program that we use is a free program called DELA. And yes, I said FREE! And I mean TOTALLY FREE! We were shipped, for free;

-A full computer. Monitor, tower, keyboard, speakers, microphone, webcam, mouse, and 4-1 printer, copier, scanner, and fax.

-A 4GB flash drive.

-A box full of box.

-4 curriculum books.

-A packet of lesson tools for 3 months.

-A box full of learning tools such as play money, different shaped rings and foam pieces, and counting dots.

-I also just received an email from his teacher that we will be recieving a $25 gift card to Staples within the next two weeks for supplies.

We are also reimbursed up to $35 a month for internet access. And for the first year he is in the program we will receive up to $100 in funding for extra activities. If he stays in the program his second year it will go up to $200, the third year it goes up to $300 and the fourth year and beyond (I believe) it goes up to $500. CRAZY, huh? It seems to good to be true, but it is. Because this kind of program is government funded, it is considered a form of charter school or public school. All of our funding that would go into our local district will instead be put back into ODELA which is Ohio's branch of DELA. There are several different online programs similar to this but we went with ODELA for several reasons. We have actually been in contact with ODELA off and on for the last 2 1/2 years because this is the school we leaning towards.

Camden started his second week of school today and he is doing extremely well, as I knew he would. He took his first pre-test in Math and aced it! At the risk of sounding boastful (which is not my intent) our son is a bright boy. He has been told by several outside sources, who happen to be teachers, that he is advanced for his age. He has been reading on a 1st grade level for months now. He does basic addition and subtraction and has been moving on to double digits. He has a mind that is a sponge and absorbs everything he is told. By the time Daddy comes home at night Camden is able to tell him everything he learned with very little coaching from Mommy. It is because he has such a sharp mind and is self-motivated to learn that we choose this direction for him. Or should I say God lead us in this direction for him. I really see him excelling in this environment.

As for me? I am loving every moment with him. Each morning we get up and have breakfast then start school by 9:00 (most days before). Merci joins us most mornings for half of our lessons. She has been learning right along with her brother, as I knew she would. Yet another great reason to be doing this. I love seeing both of grow and learn together. I love what I am doing. I have no regrets. Even now as I think about it I get teary because I would seriously have it no other way. I am thankful to my friends obedience as to what God put on her heart to pray for and share with us. I am thankful for the support of all my friends and family. I am so excited to be on this journey with Camden. I can't wait to see how he grows.

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone while doing our work last week. Please excuse the quality.





And here are a few pics that I took of some of the supplies that we received. I still can not get over this program. How blessed we are!

Well I could probably go on for a long time about this. But at least I have finally filled ya'll in on our schooling journey. I will be sure to keep ya up to date as much as possible.

On that note it is time to head off and start dinner. Hmmm, turkey burgers on the grill!!! Hmmm! Until next time my friends...TTFN.