The Long Wait

While talking with a friend today, I realized I could find out exactly when we received our Calvert material last year by checking my old blog posts! It seems things arrived August 1st. Now I can stop getting excited every time I see the UPS or Fed Ex truck coming down the road...it's probably not coming yet. I really don't want the Calvert material in order to know what we are doing for the year, I actually want to see it so I know what we are NOT doing. After I see how much of it we can toss aside, I'll know how much other material I can squeeze into our days.

In the last week, I realized that our first year of homeschooling was not what it could be for one big reason. We were trying to create a 'school at home' instead of homeschooling! I found this comparison in the book I am reading, "Homeschooling" by Sherri Linsenbach. She says in her book, "A school is an institution or a facility. A home is where you live with your family. Homeschooling is a way of living." That really struck me as where we had gone wrong. Instead of homeschooling, I was playing school. I am trying far too hard to make our day follow a school-like routine.

So, I'm scrapping the old plan! This year may be a bit messier, but it should also be less stressful. That will be important since I want to lose as much of the Calvert script as possible and explore JT and EM's interests as often as possible.

I have been spending lots of time on the web looking for the perfect things to supplement this year's learning. So far I have purchased Susan Wise Bauer's "Story of the World: Ancient Times" text book, activity book and test book. I think I will use this series for both boys. The reading level will be beyond our 1st grader (for now) but he will still be able to participate in the study. I also ordered, "Mysteries in History", by Wendy Conklin as a supplement for JT.

At a yard sale last year, I picked up a set of science activity books put out by the PA Energy Office in the early 90's. The material appears to still be valid and is put together very well. Each unit has teaching tips, reproducible worksheets and suggested activities.

I also borrowed some study guides put out by Educational Impressions for a variety of children's literature. I am planning to order a few for this year, mostly for JT.

My problem now is deciding what I want to do for EM. He is more of a hands on kid. He does not enjoy reading as much as JT, but when he wants to, he does a great job. I think I'm going to use the provided material to begin and get a good feel for where he really is. His Calvert work should take no more than 2 hours a day from what I have seen on their website. If he joins JT for the science activities and the Story of the World, he should have a pretty good day.

I am STILL tossing around the idea of traditional homeschooling. This will be the year that decides. If I can find a way to use the Calvert only as much as necessary and still provide what I would like for the boys, I will stick with PACyber. If not....we'll strike out on our own.