First Day of School!

It's that time of year again.... fresh school supplies, new clothes, excitement and nerves. It's time to get back to school! :) Evan is in third grade this year and Asher is in first. At our house, though, "back to school" means homeschool!

Evan and I started our homeschool adventure last year. Besides being a very energetic kid, Evan was also way ahead of his first grade curriculum. He learns extremely quickly and has no patience for down time, which led to some behavioral problems and left him feeling extremely frustrated (a feeling shared by Ben and me as well... and probably his teacher, too).

Evan practically begged me to homeschool him last year and it turned out to be a really, really positive experience for both of us. I could teach at his level, he could go at his own pace, we could take a more hands on approach, and he had more freedom to move around and to speak his mind. I was so grateful to see his enthusiasm for learning return. He's a big sponge and just breezes through curriculum, eager to learn more.

I let Asher choose what he wanted to do for school last year and he chose to go to the local elementary school for kindergarten. He LOVED it and totally flourished in the public school environment. He made lots of friends, loved his teacher, and felt super important being big enough to go to school.

In the middle of the year, Asher tested at a second grade reading level and I was worried we were headed for more of the same experiences we had with Evan the year before. His teacher and his school were really awesome about working with him though, and they moved him up to the first grade classroom for reading time every day. He finished out the year with a great report card that included glowing comments from both his kindergarten and first grade teachers.

With a baby due to arrive in the middle of this school year, I briefly considered sending both boys to the elementary school this year. I dreamed about all the free time I'd have with them in school all day. It was short lived, though, as I worried about how it would effect Evan and all the wonderful progress we'd made together last year. I knew I needed to offer homeschool as a choice again this year.

I wasn't surprised when Evan chose homeschool over public school again this year, but I was a little surprised that Asher did, too. I think he saw some of the cool stuff that Evan got to do last year and felt a bit left out. I'm happy with his choice though, because I will be able to tailor his curriculum to his level (rather than having him continue to split his time between grades) and I think it will be really good for him!

I have to admit, I'm a little surprised by how much I enjoy knowing what my kids are learning and having so many options available to them. You want to learn Spanish? Ok! Sewing? Sure, why not! I have also really enjoyed letting them be involved in choosing some of what they learn and do in school, and I think it's empowering for them, too. I've started to look at their education in a completely new and different way, and it's exciting!

I realize that this post was a bit wordier than usual. I'm more of a pictures person (in case you haven't noticed), but I really wanted to type out some of my thoughts on our homeschool journey so far (and it ended up being surprisingly difficult for some reason!). Don't worry... there are still pictures! ;)

We started school on Monday and so I took the boys outside for some "first day of school" pictures. The weather was gloomy, but we did our best. Ellie wanted to get in on the action, too, of course. :)






















I just love these little munchkins. I'm excited to see what this year of homeschool brings!