Homeschool Recap

So now that homeschool is completely at an end (at least for now, at least for Gracie)I thought I would write a little recap of our year. I love homeschooling. I do think it is the right thing to have Gracie back in school this year. I am looking forward to some more time to focus on the younger ones and enjoy Lottie and give Gracie a chance at more social stuff that she has been missing out on. She missed out mostly because of me, the move and my pregnancy. I am a big bump on the log when pregnant and we really didn't get out and do many of the fun/social things that I had planned. So that was the big down side. Not really anything to do with homeschooling, just that last year in general, I wasn't at my Good Mommy best. I am a little sad about the missed opportunities. I had a lot of great ideas--science activities at the zoo, visits to ethnic food restaurants matching the culture we are studying, art club with other HS girls. Sigh. It didn't happen.

Still, I think their were a lot of great things that came out of our experimental year. I am a lot better and more confident as my kids' teacher. After working one on one with Gracie to fix her reading skills from my shortcomings and the public school's, I am developing a great teach-your-child-to-read program that will be getting a post here soon. Thinking about different curriculums (curricula?)used to make my head spin. Now I have a good grasp of what I want my kids to learn each year--mostly by what is outlined in the Core Curriculum. (I love you, Core Curriculum!!) I think the curricula (curriculums?) I love will have to get their own blog post. I loved AZVA's curriculum. The art lessons were fantastic. I'm still looking for my own source of art appreciation lessons. There were a lot of things that really impressed me and I think that Gracie made a lot of progress. I am realizing though, that I tend to take shortcuts and did not use repetition enough. Gracie is still a little slow at some skills that I should have focused on more.

I was able to outline a fabulous summer school curriculum using my new skills. We practiced a lot of the things that I didn't push enough during the school year. I now know, though, that I need the accountability that AZVA provided in having to check off my lessons every day and enter in attendance every day. We definitely leaned toward slacking and fun over the summer. We were never bored, though! If/when I homeschool again, I will definitely use AZVA again. And hopefully have my Good Mommy groove on. I also have a lot of plans for fun enrichment activities after school.

Gracie really matured, though. Probably part of turning eight. Even with a year off of lots of social activity, she is really handling the drama of school well. I am really proud of her. I think our fam gained a lot of skills too, in getting along with each other. She and Brian have great anti-quarreling skills. (Not that they don't quarrel, I just don't have to resolve it for them.) I am really happy that they had that year together.

All in all, it was a great year and I am super happy that we did it. I felt really good about it then and I definitely feel like it was the right decision. Now, I think that it is the right thing for Gracie to be back at a brick and mortar. But who knows what will happen next!