I've not been posting too much these days because I'm working 32 hours/week, plus was hosting for Christmas this year and was busy getting ready to homeschool Penny. She brought up the idea of trying homeschooling back in September, but then decided in December that she definitely wanted to do it. We've just about finished our first week and so far we're both really enjoying it. It's made for some good bonding times together, already. Now we can go back and get her caught up on subject areas and English at her own pace.
For Thanksgiving, we went over to Jay's parents, who just live across town.
For Christmas, my (Chandra's) parents came from SD, as well as my brother. Jay's sister also came from Limon along with his folks.
Having my dad and brother here was very helpful, as they helped me move furniture into our homeschooling room. My mom also helped with some organization. We've been blessed that we have so many people who have gone before us in this homeschooling venture. So, we've already received lots of advice and even free materials that we can use for our homeschooling. Penny decided to dub the name of our homeschool as "Happy Homeschool". I was pleased to find out that I qualify for an educator's discount card at Barnes & Nobles. Thanks to the kind gifts of some of my preschool families at the school where I work, I was able to use gift cards to purchase some books and a calendar/planner for my lesson planning, all for free. Not to mention, that Jay won a free laptop computer from his work's Christmas party. It just seems that God is providing everything that we need to begin this new journey. We're sensing lots of affirmations along the way. We're privileged to be in a town with some great home school networks/associations. In fact, just in the Christian homeschooler's group, alone, there are at least 140 families as members. In fact, we have a nice Christian family just about a block away from us who are welcoming Penny to come over and work on her homework while I'm at work.
One thing I can say for sure, it sure is nice to know that Penny is starting to relax more and sleep better. Public high school was turning out to be way too stressful for her. And when your child is feeling distraught it can really make parents upset, as well. Having never been a part of the large public high school, myself, it was quite a major culture shock for me, too. I like the teacher to student ratio much better now. If only we could always have those ratios at preschool! Hope you all had very Happy Holidays! And we'll check in when we can now that we've launched our new "Happy Homeschool"
She visited the Recycle Center at the "Garbage Garage". And the last two days we've modified the home schooling plans, as she's been fighting a stomach bug. Again, love the flexibility! Penny's been able to meet with other kids at church for youth group on Wednesday night and they've been practicing for their musical every Sunday afternoon for three hours. This Sunday she went over to her friend's Chinese church to join their Chinese New Year's celebration. But, unfortunately, she couldn't enjoy much of the food, as her stomach was starting to bother her. We're doing a lot of reading and writing for our home schooling, as that's an area where Penny has plenty of room for growth. And we're using a Science curriculum that I feel comfortable with teaching, especially because it's from a Creationist perspective. Even in her Math we're having her write some about what she's been learning in a journal. I think she's already starting to gain a little more independence and confidence in her own ability. I know that creative writing is hard for her. But, I'm so proud of her progress, already. Jay and I have already attended our first ever home schooler's association meeting. There someone told me that we'd be amazed by how quickly we'd see growth and progress while home schooling. I believe I can already see that, even though it's been less than a month. We'll let you know how things are going next month.
